I just started it today. Any suggestions, thoughts, or ideas?
Underground
Above Ground
Indoors
Plants. And people for scale 
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Actually, part of the city design is no vegetation in the city. Pests like to live in plants, so removing vegetation from the city would help keep pests out of the city. Vegetation helps with air quality though, so that’s why the surrounding area is going to be a lush pristine jungle (void of any manmade structures, except nature paths & roads in and out of the city).
You’d have to choose plants carefully to be able to thrive in such low light conditions.
A cynic might say you’d have to choose your people carefully too for much the same reason!
What is the thinking here? How would you persuade people to live underground?
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It’s more of a fantasy concept than a realistic one. I’m mainly aiming to make an artistic render.
You’re right that there probably wouldn’t be enough light. I’m planning on putting some lights in. I’m not sure if artificial light can replace natural light for humans, but plants do fine with only artificial light if it’s strong enough. Realistically, light deprivation is only a fraction of the problems with living underground. I’ve read about a ton of roadblocks to living underground. There’s the water table to worry about, potentially hazardous materials underground (like radon), the difficulty of excavating hard rock, and much more. If living underground were easy, then people would’ve been doing it more. But it has been done.
I just think living underground is so cool because underground is a largely unexplored frontier.
No need to pursuade, people have been doing it for a loooooooooong time.
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Well, yes, but why? I have visited some of those underground “cities” in Turkey. Small spaces are joined by narrow rat runs that can really only be navigated by dwarves (I am short but still had to bend over). I believe they were built as early refuges for persecuted Christians (much like the hollowed out conical stone outcrops in other parts of Cappadocia).
These are not places people would choose to live voluntarily if they had the option of living above ground and in natural light.
As @Forestr says, this is just a fantasy. And they can be fun!
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How far along are you now? I would suggest more structural support, a’la the Johnson Wax building by Frank Lloyd Wright. The supports taper downward, creating an immense sense of scale.
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Have you heard of Paolo Soleri ? He proposed that people would live above ground, with light, fresh air and lots of plants. “automated” industries would be underground. I saw his models at Habitant for Humanity in Vancouver in the 70’s along with a friend, a mining engineer, who worked with Soleri on the practicalities of the underground bits. Take a tour of Argosanti in Arizona.
https://arcosanti.org
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