You're probably thinking Netherlands, but look at historical maps and you'll see that surprising amounts of cities like Boston and New York are literally built on the silted-over trash-heaps of previous generations. Ports are usually at river mouths, due to rias forming natural harbors, so what was the shoreline once is usually silted up over centuries, either naturally or by the city itself dumping its waste in the harbor. Topography: Sea Access & Port Origin: It might seem obvious that cities cannot grow on water, but that's not actually true. Topography: Altitude: Settlements in plains tend to spread out like a circular blob, while those in hilly and mountainous areas would be spread like a snake or octopus along roads and valleys. If there is a river-bank, a city would not start off in the flood plains if that would mean catastrophic yearly or decadal flooding, but rather on a hillock nearby.ĭifferent climate modes would imply different construction technologies (so houses crowded together or spread apart with gardens) Topography and Climate: This will have shaped how it grew and where your city was located. Many were later filled up and paved over. Lots of canals would have historically been built and used for transportation purposes. Almost without exception, pre-modern cities would be placed along a river, since water was the cheapest form of transportation by far, and also a source of water for drinking and industry, and was also used for sanitation, and food.
Such cities were generally very small (a large capital city like London would only be about 40,000 in 1400 C.E.), and this is often reflected in the claustrophobic city centers of European capitals. Medieval cities (most European cities) have city centers that are shaped by their origin as forts built to control a strategic junction of trade-routes. For instance, the grid design (perpendicular streets, like in NYC and Chicago) was invented several times in history, starting with the Indus Valley civilizations, but was often overruled by defensive needs (walls, etc) forcing the city into a compact, circular format. This will dramatically affect the city's shape and growth pattern. Age: Is this a brand-new city (say Dubai or Brasil) or centuries old.
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