Cities in 'Star Wars'

[Virtue City]

Anybody else happen to analyze urban form while watching movies or tv?

I went to see the new Star Wars this weekend, and I randomly found myself analyzing its cities (i.e. whether they were space efficient, how infrastructure would work with it, etc.). For the most part, I really enjoyed seeing what kind of places the writers dreamt up.

Interestly enough, there was one planet organized like something Le Corbusier would create...if you've seen the movie, it was the water planet.

Anyone else have feelings about the cities in the new 'Star Wars'?

 

[Dan]

I do the same thing. I haven't seen Episode II, but the city-planet had me thinking about its ecosystem first -- what generated the breathable air on the planet? Where did the natural resources for construction come from?

I'm very fascinated by Gotham City, the "worst case scenario" large American city that is portrayed in the Batman movies. I remember an interview before the first Batman movie came out, and the interviewee asked about Gotham City. Gotham City was, in their exact words, "New York without planning or zoning." Superman's Metropolis, then, must be the idealized New York -- clener than Toronto, friendlier than a Southern small town.

An unusual form of imagiary city can be seen in many elaborate model railroad exhibits, such as Northlandz or those featured in magazines like Model Railroader. Usually, it's an idealized version of a small Pennsylvania city, circa 1960; a dense Altoona or Williamsport, only hillier with more infrastructure. Their hilly landscape would, in most cases, prevent the city's formation to begin with; the natural resources must be so rich that the city's presence becomes financially feasible.