Londinium

Londinium
—  Urban Region  —
Greater Londinium Agglomeration
The Aerelon River and Central Business District of Londinium
Flag of Londinium Flag Official seal of Londinium Seal
Nickname(s): Ivalice's Industrial Heartland
Country	Ivalice
State	Forriedor
Incorporation	1800
Named for	London, England
City Hall	Londinium Assembly
Government
- Mayor	Tom Hooper
- City Assembly Chair	Luke Schrodinger
Population (2008)
- Total	1,540,351
- Est. (Q4 2009)	1,568,920
ME Code	FO001-FO100
Regional Telephone Code	301

Londinium is the capital and largest city of the Ivalician State of Forriedor. Londinium is a chief city of the Midlands Crescent region, and the chief production center for manufactured goods in Ivalice. While it lacks a sea port like the other three state capitals of Ivalice, Londinium is the center of trade in the nation, with its busiest airport and host to the state-run mail system, the Ivalice Mail and Parcel Service.

The city is governed by a legislature, the Municipal Assembly of Londinium, and the executive office of the Mayor of Londinium. The current mayor is Tom Hooper. All State and Federal property in the city are under the jurisdiction of their respective owners; however some areas critical to daily municipal operations are controlled by the state government, which has led to minor political clashes between the city and state governments.

History

The area which now makes up the Greater Londinium Agglomeration was first settled by farmers of the Kingdom of Saint Ivalice around 1378, growing tobacco and corn along the banks of the Aerelon River. The region experienced a population boom after the Industrial Revolution and was named capital of the Forriedor territory under King James II in 1542. When the Republic of Ivalice was founded in 1612, Londinium became capital of the state of Forriedor.

Government and Politics

Londinium's municipal government is a hybrid Mayor-Council government. The mayor of the city possesses overarching executive power, while legislative power is divided among eight district councils, one for each city district.

Cityscape

Like Ivalion, Londinium's streetscape is organic. The city lacks the neat grids of Koiwai and Randgriz City, but contains many public squares and circles serving to regulate traffic throughout its vast area. The most publicly known of these is Randall Square, named after Marche Randall, the first Vice President of Ivalice. Londinium is divided into eight districts, named First through Eighth.

Neighborhoods

Downtown

Downtown Londinium is located in the Second District. The core of downtown, a ten block square zone, is completely pedestrianized. Only government and emergency vehicles are allowed to enter the center city, and as such, walking, biking, and transit are the chief means of transportation in the city center. Downtown is the center of the Londinium Subway, with the City Loop transporting commuters in, out, and around downtown.

Faulkner Court

Faulkner Court is located in the Second District of Londinium. Situated directly to the east of the Downtown core, it is the location of the headquarters of the Mail and Parcel Service. It is named for Faulkner Court Square, a park in the neighborhood's western periphery.

Financial District

Londinium's Financial District is located just east of Downtown. It includes the area surrounding Londinium King Marche Station, the busiest rail station in Forriedor. The Financial District is home to several companies' national headquarters, and is the primary commercial office zone in the city.

Langley Ridge

Langley Ridge is located in the Second District, just south of the Aerelon River. It is primarily a residential neighborhood, with blocks of mid-rise condos and several primary and secondary schools. It is named for the slight ridge formed downriver where the river passes through a short canyon.

Madoka Woods

Madoka Woods is an upscale residential neighborhood, east of Langley Ridge. It is generally designated as an area 8 blocks east and west from Madoka Woods Way between Forest Haven Road and the Aerelon River.

Moncaster Mills

Moncaster Mills is the heart of Londinium's industrial base. Named for 19th century industrialist John Moncaster's steel mills, the area is home to factories, warehouses, and processing plants of over 50 companies. The area has been heavily scrutinized by the national Department of Environmental Protection for historically high industrial emissions. The area is home to Aerelon Valley System's Capital Power Plant.

Old Moncaster

Old Moncaster, once the site of John Moncaster's 2000-acre estate, is now a psuedo-suburban neighborhood of mostly single-family homes. It is north of Madoka Woods, and is not far from the Moncaster Steel Mills.

State Center

State Center, part of which overlaps with the downtown core, is the government center of the city of Londinium and the State of Forriedor. The state legislature building and City Assembly building are located here. State Center takes its name from the Forriedor State Offices Complex, located in the area.

Economy

Londinium is at the heart of Ivalice's main industrial region' the Midlands Crescent. As such, it plays host to all of the major manufacturing companies in Ivalice, such as Consolidated Moncaster, Jones-Wilson, Wright Steel, and CloverWorks. Its proximity to mainland North America has also given it an international business reputation, with many multinational corporations headquartered here, and the busiest airport in Ivalice by number of passengers, Londinium Skorcolum International Airport.

Londinium, with a historical record of poor air quality, has become a national center for healthcare and medical research. Some of the largest employers in the metropolitan area are hospitals, including the famed Children's Hospital of the Northwest. The unemployment rate in the Midlands Crescent is 9.4%, largely due to a focus on manufacturing in an economic downtown. Several regional companies have heavily laid-off or furloughed employees in response to lower demand and greater competition from developing countries overseas. The top five non government employers in the city are iCom, Consolidated Moncaster, CloverWorks, Western Life, and Jones Parker Thomas.

Transport

Londinium-Frontier Transit operates the city's rapid transit system, the Londinium Subway as well as local buses in the area. The Londinium Subway opened in 1956, and consists of 86 stations on seven lines. Inter-city and regional rail services call at Londinium King Marche Station, with high speed ICS Express service to Randgriz City and Ivalion. The Thealla Mountains to the south and far east of the city impede travel to Koiwai by rail, disallowing a high speed link. National Route 3 connects Londinium with Koiwai.

Londinium is home to Skorcolum International Airport, located to the northeast of the city in the unincorporated town of Willard. It is the principal hub of IvalAir, and the busiest airport in the nation by number of passengers served. Many domestic flight also serve Dale Roberts Londinium City Airport, which is two miles from downtown in Aerelon Highlands.

National Route 5 crosses the city north of Downtown, through Moncaster Mills, and is known as the Central Freeway for its length inside of the city. National Route 3 passes Downtown to the west, intersecting NR 5 near Skorcolum International. National Route 23, commonly known as Western Parkway, runs to the east of the city in Salvor Park along the Salvor River.

Demographics

The 2008 inter-census survey conducted by Statistics Ivalice found that Londinium within city limits has 1,540,351 residents. Population has been on the decline since the 1970s, with much of the shift going to the nearby suburban and exurban areas. The median income has risen over the same period, as real estate prices have increased with the improving quality of life. The Midlands Crescent, for which Londinium is an anchor city, is the third-largest metropolitan area in Ivalice.

Londinium's ethnic composition is more homogeneous than other large cities in Ivalice. Londinium's populace is 72.6% White Ivalician, 12.4% Hispanic (of any race), 8.8% Black or African Ivalician, and 6.2% being of other races. There are approximately 12,870 foreign immigrants in Londinium, chiefly from the United States and the United Kingdom.

About 84% of respondents to the survey spoke English as the primary language in their households. 10% spoke Spanish as primary language. 76.2% of respondents adhered to a Christian religion, with most being Protestant Christianity. 15% adhere to Judaism, 1.3% adhere to Islam. The remaining 7.5% were of other faiths, or non-religious.

Environment

Whilst Ivalice is generally known to be an environmentally friendly nation, Londinium has the highest levels of pollution in the country, due to the vast amount of industrial factories in the Aerelon Valley. The Clean Air Act of 1978 has cut down on the most severe pollution in the area, but the frequent fogs in the valley combined with industrial exhaust can cause health problems for citizens.