The Democratic Plutocracy of RioDebarcos

[GrindPepper]

HISTORY
Riodebarcos was founded in 1211 by a rich medieval Spanish Scholar, Edgardo Suarez who embarked on creating a micronation in the area of Spain.  He succeeded, and Riobarcos was founded on a small area in the south-west coast of Spain. Two small settlements were formed ("Cicuadriobarcos", the current capital, and "Oso-Selva", the largest city in Riodebarcos by a small margin). To this day, these two cities are the only major settlements in the country besides small towns.

Riodebarcos became a refuge for rich British people,  most importantly the Oso family (hence the city Oso-Selva). These immigrants resulted in the current Spanish/British demographic in the country. As a result, the rich families became the main political figureheads of the area (hence Riodebarcos being a plutocracy). Peasants were allowed to "vote" (although, being the middle ages, the voting systems were very primitive) but there votes were overshadowed by, at the time, mostly british wealthy people. This resulted in an ongoing feud between british people and Spanish people in the two major cities.

To this day, due to nepotism in elections, a descedant of Edgardo Suarez is in office as the president - Hans Suarez. Hans is rumoured to be passing the power to British socialite Janine Lockier - also rumoured to be an Oso descendant (she is yet to deny this - it is assumed she doesn't know).

ARCHITECTURE
RioBarcos has an equal mix of Spanish/Mediterranean and British buildings. It is different from most European cities as it's density devolves as the cities moves away from the CBD. Generally, "classic" mediterreanean architecture is not widespread in major cities. Tramways are used as major throughfares in older parts of the cities, but in any areas designed and built past the 1850's use streets and roads. A motorway was built only 40 years ago.

DEMOGRAPHICS
Country pop: 2,173,634
Ethnicities: (as of Oct. 2007)
British/UK: 40%
Spanish: 38%
Korean: 12%
Lebanese: 5 %
White American: 5%

Crime:
"Spanish/British" ongoing gang wars: related to 23 % of crimes (including assaults, armed robberies, murders and drugs).
Rates:
90,078 crime rate in 2006. (Considering these gang wars and an uncertain political status, this is a low rate).

WHAT TO EXPECT
Over the course of this CJ, not only will you follow the growth of this city, you will also watch it evolve from a plutocracy orientated nearly socialist state filled with Spaniard/Brit gang wars into, hopefully, a democratic country in which the wealthy are merely figureheads - not the primary voters.

A typical older block in Cicuadriobarcos, the capital city of RioDebarcos (the city I will show you in the next few updates).



Another older block.



Stay tuned for updates,

please comment on what you would like to see in this CJ!

[Simpson]

Great star on your new MD
Your city is looking super 

[art128]

nice start on your MD GrindPepper  ! your city is very good looking 
looking foward to more

[Sheep49]

Nice start on thet MD. The city looks good.

I also can't wait for the next update!
Piotr

[nerdly_dood]

Nice tram network

[Schulmanator]

A fine start! You have the beginnings of a really nice MD here. 

[GrindPepper]

REPLIES
simpson: Thankyou so much!
art128: Thankyou for commenting!
Sheep49: well, i hope you enjoy it!
nerdly_dood: Yes it's very fun to build.
Schulmanator: Thanks! Schulmania rocks btw lol.

UPDATE - PART 1

This following update will be an extended history.

This the Spanish man who originally governed Riodebarcos in 1211. The portrait was by his wife, Sylvia Suarez, a woman who became famous after he husbands death for painting the famous "Streets of Oso" series.



And THIS, is Hamish Oso, the patriach of the founding family the Oso's. The image was painted before he came to Riodebarcos in England, 1210.



These two men  founded Cicuadriobarcos and Oso-selva respectively. Oso Selva is the predominant British city of the country, and Cicuadriobarcos is the Spanish capital.

Finally -

This is the area with the tallest buildings in either city, located on the riverside in Cicuadriobarcos.



Here's only about two kilometers away, is a popular tourist attraction - some Mediterranean commercial blocks.



The next part of this update will include some close ups the british and spanish areas of the city, and an overview.

[Sheep49]

The update is nice, I have to admit.

I love the downtown next to the Cicuadriobarcos! Can't wait for the overview.

Keep up the great work!
Piotr

[art128]

I have to say , it's a nice update to  I like the first picture

[GrindPepper]

REPLIES:
sheep49: Thanks! That picture is not the CBD of Cicuadriobarcos! The CBD is much smaller.
art128: The first SC4 picture or the potrait of Edgardo? Anyway, thanks!

UPDATE:

Just a quick update with some pics of OSO SELVA. As you can see, this is a very different city to the Spanish
Cicuadriobarcos, despite being very close on a regional scale.







Ofcourse, Oso Selva isn't all historical neighbourhoods. Here's the financial district, Linear De Velvof at night.



And here's Linear de Velvof at day, showing the contrast between the newer district and the older.



Thanks for reading! Request any area you'd like me to focus on next update, which may have a region shot!

[art128]

art128: The first SC4 picture or the potrait of Edgardo? Anyway, thanks!

the first SC4 picture   
Also great update my friend 
but the transition Skyscraper=> house is a bit to "brutal" 
Looking faward to more 
Arthur