cities of mars
On the year 2222, there are thirty-nine large cities spread along the Marineris Valleys and in the adjoining plains and plateaus. Each one can contain a maximum of thirty million people. Additionally, there are many outposts on farther regions of the planet, but these are only inhabited by workers such as miners and researchers. Most of the mineral resources used by Martians are extracted from the planet itself; one exception is water, most of which comes from Earth or the Asteroid Belt – and even then, some of it comes from Mars' icy polar caps. The research centres are dedicated, amongst other areas, to areology – the study of Martian geology – and climatology.
In spite of some peculiarities, the cities are basically similar to each other in what concerns structure. They are divided into a surface and an underground sector: the latter, popularly known as the “Hive,” is a vast and complex system of artificial chambers, caves and corridors, all acclimatized and sheltered within reinforced-glass walls; that’s where most residential areas were built, always as condominiums; the only residences on the surface are those of wealthier individuals, such as politicians. It is in the Hive that public transportation is found, with a vast network of maglev trains and trams connecting all areas of the city. Many lifts and rolling stairways connect the many levels of the underground to each other and to the surface.
Also in the underground, there are some leisure and medical centres, as well as restaurants and shopping malls, but it's on the surface that social life takes place. There, the city is divided into a handful of sturdy, gigantic domes of glass and steel, connected to each other via highways and corridors protected by glass tubes. There, on the surface, is where one may find the main buildings of the city: the city hall, the larger hospitals, the nuclear and the antimatter power plants, the Elenag Embassy, the ministries, the police departments, the media centres, the university and minor schools, shopping malls, parks, sports centres, electronics and vehicle shops…
Some domes are designed for specific functions. For instance, there is always one built as water reservoirs and environment control centres (which regulates and treats the flow of pure air and water); there are also the Gates, entrance domes whose main function is to minimize the loss of air and the intrusion of Martian gases due to the in and outward traffic of vehicles. Moreover, there's always at least one dome reserved exclusively for a siderport – airports adapted for spacecraft –; and, finally, there are the Greenhouse Domes, where immense high-tech farms and orchards are cultivated.
In spite of some peculiarities, the cities are basically similar to each other in what concerns structure. They are divided into a surface and an underground sector: the latter, popularly known as the “Hive,” is a vast and complex system of artificial chambers, caves and corridors, all acclimatized and sheltered within reinforced-glass walls; that’s where most residential areas were built, always as condominiums; the only residences on the surface are those of wealthier individuals, such as politicians. It is in the Hive that public transportation is found, with a vast network of maglev trains and trams connecting all areas of the city. Many lifts and rolling stairways connect the many levels of the underground to each other and to the surface.
Also in the underground, there are some leisure and medical centres, as well as restaurants and shopping malls, but it's on the surface that social life takes place. There, the city is divided into a handful of sturdy, gigantic domes of glass and steel, connected to each other via highways and corridors protected by glass tubes. There, on the surface, is where one may find the main buildings of the city: the city hall, the larger hospitals, the nuclear and the antimatter power plants, the Elenag Embassy, the ministries, the police departments, the media centres, the university and minor schools, shopping malls, parks, sports centres, electronics and vehicle shops…
Some domes are designed for specific functions. For instance, there is always one built as water reservoirs and environment control centres (which regulates and treats the flow of pure air and water); there are also the Gates, entrance domes whose main function is to minimize the loss of air and the intrusion of Martian gases due to the in and outward traffic of vehicles. Moreover, there's always at least one dome reserved exclusively for a siderport – airports adapted for spacecraft –; and, finally, there are the Greenhouse Domes, where immense high-tech farms and orchards are cultivated.
However, natural food is relatively expensive on Mars; the Martian diet is composed basically of nutritional supplements – either in pill, powder or cream form – and ready-made food. All these are produced in specialized factories at the Industrial Dome, when all factories are built.
The cities are all connected to each other via ample, sheltered surface roads built both for wheeled and maglev vehicles. Inside the domes, however, car traffic is strongly regulated: to minimize the risk of accidents, the maximum speed allowed is between 20 and 40 miles per hour, depending on the province in question.
As for the traffic of people, citizens of a province may visit another as tourists and for work, but migration is severely controlled, and usually only allowed for professional or family reasons – such as marriage between individuals of different origins. Still, every Martian province promotes – with the help of the Elenag – interchange programs to encourage cultural understanding; in these programs, it is fairly common for students to end up marrying natives of the city they travelled to. Migration between cities within a province is free, unless a specific city starts getting overcrowded; for citizens from Earth, the Moon and the Star Rings, the system is usually the same as it is for inter-province Martian migration.
Unlike the Moon and the Star Rings, Mars is not open for all countries yet; the USA/CSA, Brazil, India, South Africa, the European Union (including a few non-member nations, such as Russia and England), China, Japan and South Korea are the only ones to own cities on that planet, since they were their main funders. These countries administer the thirty-nine cities of Mars in the first decades of the XXIII century, supplying them with money, resources, goods and people through the Elenag. They’re not autonomous, and can’t undergo any great reform unless it is approved by their own respective Earth metropole. Each has a mayor, and all the cities of a same country form a province headed by a governor.
The cities are all connected to each other via ample, sheltered surface roads built both for wheeled and maglev vehicles. Inside the domes, however, car traffic is strongly regulated: to minimize the risk of accidents, the maximum speed allowed is between 20 and 40 miles per hour, depending on the province in question.
As for the traffic of people, citizens of a province may visit another as tourists and for work, but migration is severely controlled, and usually only allowed for professional or family reasons – such as marriage between individuals of different origins. Still, every Martian province promotes – with the help of the Elenag – interchange programs to encourage cultural understanding; in these programs, it is fairly common for students to end up marrying natives of the city they travelled to. Migration between cities within a province is free, unless a specific city starts getting overcrowded; for citizens from Earth, the Moon and the Star Rings, the system is usually the same as it is for inter-province Martian migration.
Unlike the Moon and the Star Rings, Mars is not open for all countries yet; the USA/CSA, Brazil, India, South Africa, the European Union (including a few non-member nations, such as Russia and England), China, Japan and South Korea are the only ones to own cities on that planet, since they were their main funders. These countries administer the thirty-nine cities of Mars in the first decades of the XXIII century, supplying them with money, resources, goods and people through the Elenag. They’re not autonomous, and can’t undergo any great reform unless it is approved by their own respective Earth metropole. Each has a mayor, and all the cities of a same country form a province headed by a governor.