Cities are the lifeblood of modern countries. Some capital cities like Paris, London, Washington DC or Moscow are instantly recognisable, iconic testaments to the history of those people. NationStates allows us to name our capital city for good reason.
But not all cities are the same. Some, like Florence or Rio de Janeiro, are consistently seen as very beautiful, with all the benefits that come with it, while places like Norilsk or Houston are famously not. This is a very impactful distinction in the real world; from the mental health of the residents to the crime level to the reviews of tourists, the evidence consistently shows that visually pleasing towns enjoy a wide swathe of advantages over their less considered peers. I would like to argue that there should be a new stat in NationStates calculating that difference of visual stimulus.
For good reason, we have plenty of issues in the game discussing the architecture and planning of the nation's cities, from house style regulations to lawns to the old town. City style is certainly something that appeals to the kind of person who plays NationStates- just look at the vast effort many roleplayers put into describing their amazing capitals or tourist hotspots in the factbooks. Hell, NS even visually acknowledges how important cities are in the banners! Dozens of them depict cities or buildings as visual markers to instantly tell the observer something about that nation. Yet stats wise, there is no clear way to differentiate if we are running Venice or Brasilia,
But that can be fixed; with the implementation of an "Architecture" stat.
I believe architecture is a neutral, nonjudgemental way of expressing something that the player will instantly understand. It accounts for the beauty standards across cultures, climates and time. It implies quality and planning in building standards, something that generally trends towards desirable places to look at.
But what do you think, GI?
