Alexandria
The settlement of Alexandria on Mars is a very densely-populated city tucked away in Da Vinci Crater, on the coast of Xanthe Terra. Alexandria was a very early extraterrestrial human outpost, but the city has been modified over nine hundred years to produce a complex, multilayered web.
Demographics
Alexandria is almost exclusively populated by humans, with very small numbers of other sophont species comprising the rest. Calypsians are conspicuously absent, as the Martian atmosphere is poorly suited to their physiology.
Government
We went from the Commander picking us, to us picking the Commander. It was an odd switch, but we didn't have to worry about it for too long before Daedalus had the bright idea of implementing a system of citywide referendums that made the Commander's job moot. So we call him the Commander, now.Alexandria, as the first permanent extraterrestrial settlement, had a highly unusual governmental history as it transitioned from a loosely-followed standard space mission power structure (Commander > Lt. Commander > Officers) to an Athenian democracy as it gained more civilian inhabitants (as extraterrestrial societies have commonly done). This transition was assisted significantly by the habcity's AI, DAEDALUS, who coordinates the public votes on city policy. However, as the managing AI, DAEDALUS is allowed to nullify a collective vote if he perceives the outcome to be detrimental to the city and/or its inhabitants.
Architecture
Alexandria is perhaps the most storied city on the once-red planet, in both the metaphorical and literal senses. Its evolution can be tracked in the design of each module; decades upon centuries of technoarchitectural fads radiating in rings from the Ladder.Alexandria started out as a modular fabricated-habitat network with large sections bored into the floor of the crater, with sections added on as the need arose. Over the centuries, the city has followed the modular-necessity trend, but the change in technological architecture is visible as pseudo-bands outward from the 22nd-century core. At the waterfront, buoyant buildings are connected by a web of long pathways that float on the water's surface and flex with the swell and chop. Behind this, however, is a geometric tangle of habitat modules and corridors that span miles across the crater floor. Below this, a network of tunnels and chambers bored out of the Martian crust extend for miles, linking outlying homesteads to the main city with dry, dim halls.
Infrastructure & Industry
If you're lookin' to get off Mars for cheap, take the ferry to Alexandria. They got the Ladder there. Get a day trip up to orbit on that and you're free as the stars.
Energy
Alexandria's primary power grid is supplied by massive floating solar plants and several wind turbine arrays along the coast of Xanthe Terra. However, Jacob's Ladder is not hooked into the main city grid; instead, the space elevator is powered by a set of hydrogen fusion reactors deep under the surface of the crater.Orbital Lift
As of 2164, Alexandria became the site of an orbital elevator, called Jacob's Ladder, tethered to the IMRS in areostationary orbit. Jacob's Ladder is the most efficient way to transfer goods between the surface and orbit, and as such, the city is a hub for Martian offworld trade.Agriculture
In the early days of the base, Alexandria had to be largely self-sufficient due to the two-year gaps between BIFROST deliveries. As the city grew, however, the cricket farms and hydroponic gardens could not feasibly sustain the gradually blooming population, and the underground sections were expanded to accommodate larger livestock. As the sea level rose, it became clear that seafood would be a much more dependable and economical source of sustenance, and so began the now-abundant kelp and fish farms visible from the city's lower levels, below the waterfront.History
Alexandria was initially established in 2054 as Daedalus Base, a permanent research station with a contingent of just 10 semi-permanent human occupants. Each 10-member contingent lived in Daedalus Base for roughly 200 days before the shifts were switched, but by 2125 the shifts were extended to 400 days and the occupancy was doubled as well. By the time of Martian independence in 2210, Alexandria had over five thousand inhabitants, at least 80% of whom were permanent residents of the Red Planet. The city only continued to grow, experiencing a notable boom in both population and construction in the late 2700s when the Martian atmosphere crossed the breathability threshold. In the 30th century, Alexandria is the capital city of a mostly habitable Mars. It sprawls across the entirety of Da Vinci Crater, and is one of the most densely populated terrestrial settlements in known space (the single most densely populated city being the station hub Remus in the Procyon system, of course.)
Founding Date
Jan. 26, 2054 CE
Population
4.83 million (Sol System census in 2800)
Inhabitant Demonym
Alexandrians (broadly: Martians)
Location
by Unknown (unlocatable)
Jacob's Ladder as seen from low Mars orbit.
Hmmm. Sophont huh? I've heard that term before. Haha. Seriously though, this was a great entry into the competition! You wrote up this colony with a well-thought informative mindset You explain the architecture and the unique challenges, as well the history and functionality. One thing I am curious though which I thought was missing was what the colony provides besides a place for population? Is there any unique that New Thebes provides? Resources that can only be found on Mars? Or is population such a problem that just having that is a benefit on itself?
I’m so glad you liked it!! The primary function of New Thebes in the modern day is as a trade hub, specifically between the surface and orbit, thanks to the space elevator. In this way it’s essentially like a port city: it grew mostly thanks to the goods that pass through it. I should probably mention that its economy is embellished by both the agriculture explained in the article and a few commercial fishing operations. If you’re asking why the colony was founded, however, that’s an entirely different answer. Humans simply wanted to figure out how to live on Mars, so we could shift some of our more intrepid population from Earth to Mars to allow our efforts in repairing the damage to our planet to succeed. And succeed they did; modern Earth has struck a balance between ecology and society! (Only took a couple hundred years, lol)