Urbanisation in Hergom
Urbanisation in Hergom incorporates a fairly standardised format for efficiency within Hergom.
Key City Layout Features
City District Structure Overview
A district, as understood by Wolgos planners, is a symbiotic collection of mixed-use Wolgos complexes grouped together, typically separated by wide strips or large expanses of land known colloquially as the "Wastes" but officially referred to as "utility expanses" by the Wolgos. These Wastes serve as buffer zones between the complexes and are utilized for infrastructure such as ducts, pipes, electric conduits, and other utilities. The complexes themselves are interconnected by internal, underground, and raised utility paths, pedestrian walkways, and monorail transit shuttles. Externally, they are linked to the wider city and other districts by extensive road and highway networks, alongside cargo and passenger rail transport that runs between districts.
The spaces between districts and complexes are stark and utterly brutalist, with a utilitarian design that shows little regard for beauty. Emergency and open-air walkways are seldom used, contributing to an air of decay in public spaces. These areas are largely inhospitable to life, covered with dust, pollution, wind-blown litter, and barely surviving plants. The few people who occasionally venture into these spaces are destitute humans scavenging for valuable rubbish to recycle, those looking to sell suspicious goods to plotting Wolgos, or the occasional group of Wolgos seeking solitude away from the wider society for various reasons.
Arterial roads built around and between complexes serve as the main transport routes to and from the complexes and districts. Rail transport lines typically access internal stations within the complexes, often shared by multiple complexes. The arterial roads and highways occasionally have breaches along their walls or emergency stops. These breaches, though unofficial, are tolerated and serve as entrances to informal dirt roads between complexes, taking advantage of utility spaces to open routes that service the Wastes. These informal roads, created by the regular passage of humans and vehicles, are the lifeblood of economic activity within the Wastes.
Wastes
The Wastes are expanses of land officially designated for the future expansion of complexes and the routing of utilities. In reality, they exist as cheap dumping grounds for the Wolgos to dispose of trash, commercial, and industrial waste, which humans then process. Through the Wastes run cheaply built sewage canals that carry sewage away from the complexes, often fed by streams of greywater from broken pipes or industrial equipment. These poorly maintained canals meander through the Wastes and out of the districts into much larger municipal sewage canals, which eventually empty into putrid, manmade wetlands. Here, thousands of humans eke out a living processing the torrents of sewage.
Adjacent to the informal roads and between the canals are shanty towns, cobbled together from rubble and discarded materials. These settlements house thousands, if not tens of thousands, of humans per district. The inhabitants siphon water and electricity from broken pipes and errant electric conduits to survive and power their economic activities, which revolve around the constant flow of waste.
Food is often scarce, but an army of children works tirelessly to rummage through Wolgos commercial and domestic waste, scavenging scraps and leftovers that are then processed by the many kitchens in the Wastes into cheaply sold meals. Protein is commonly sourced from pigs and chickens raised on recovered spoiled food, as well as from hunting pigeons and rats that infest the structures. Some humans attempt to grow vegetables in makeshift pots on the rooftops of the expansive shanty towns, but there remains a heavy dependence on grain imported via the informal roads, purchased from Wolgos who trade with the humans in the Wastes.
Across the expanse, numerous burning fires and improvised smokestacks can be seen, alongside makeshift warehouses constructed from old bricks, imported concrete, and recycled steel. These are the economic hearts of the Wastes, where Wolgos waste is sorted and recycled into various raw materials and even finished products such as paper pulp, fire starters, steel, and copper wire. Some enterprising humans even process sewage from the canals, converting it into fertilizer and extracting metals like gold and other precious items that occasionally find their way into the system. These goods are often sold directly to the industries within the complexes or to the many outsider trucks that regularly visit the Wastes.
The Wastes are lawless places where humans govern themselves, yet they are acutely aware that they must never interfere with Wolgos complexes, infrastructure, or activities to maintain their tenuous existence. Wolgos authorities only intervene when the Wastes cause disorder or damage that local human leaders cannot suppress—not out of fear, but out of a preference to avoid dealing with the Wastes directly. Enterprising and cunning humans, along with their goons, establish pseudo-authorities to maintain control of the Wastes and protect their interests from Wolgos interference.
A human elite typically emerges within the Wastes, amassing wealth through their operations or by taxing the thousands of destitute inhabitants. These elites can become rich enough to build comfortable compounds for themselves, their families, and their followers, importing luxury goods from Wolgos society. Despite their wealth, they patronize entertainment and services such as restaurants, clubs, and bars in the shanty towns, making these venues hubs of activity and local culture.
The human elite also organize work gangs that are employed by the complexes for hazardous tasks or as cheap labour within the Wolgos complexes. These work gangs usually access the complexes through service bays equipped with changing rooms and showers, where they are required to sanitize before beginning their work. Those involved in heavy industry often wear jumpsuits salvaged from common bins, while others performing less strenuous tasks may have to work nude.
The Wastes can also become a refuge for misfit and exiled Wolgos, some of whom bring valuable skills, such as nursing or medical expertise, making them indispensable to communities across the Wastes.
Foreign analysts suggest that the Wastes serve a more insidious purpose beyond mere economic exploitation and cheap labour. They theorize that the humans living within the Wastes act as unwitting hostages, a grim deterrent against nuclear warfare. Any attack on Wolgos cities would inevitably result in the deaths of millions of humans, effectively protecting the cities by the mere presence of these vast, vulnerable populations.
Wolgos Complexes Layout Overview
