The State of the City

A city defined by disparity and mismanagement, Doxley City has come to be known as the British city most clearly segmented into those who have and those who have not. Austerity policy has been strictly enforced, which means that public infrastructure is lacking in almost all aspects ranging from housing and transportation to public healthcare and support for the impoverished. Much of the local landscape has been defined by land owners who maintain a small but powerful oligarchy, serving as the city’s chief policymakers despite protestations to the contrary. The only exception to this is the city’s remarkable shipping industry, which has served as a vital source of income and employment.
Despite the above, things are not all bad. A strong sense of international community has seen the creation of a city largely free of the homogeneity of its neighbors, with more than half of Doxley City’s population considered non-white. Recent centuries have seen a mass influx of immigrants from all over the globe, with the 2000s leading to a large boom in the creation of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and policies to support said business owners. The 21st century has brought with it the internet, allowing this relatively isolated pocket of England to quickly connect with the world at large in even larger numbers. Even so, it is a struggle for relevance and survival, particularly with regional planning heavily favouring neighbors in the North and city planning critically at odds with the needs of the human populace.
While a difficult place for those humans who live here, in many respects it is a veritable haven for the Unawakened. Diego Armand is one of the few Keepers whose Land is open to all comers, but whose gentle temperament have allowed comers from all factions to run rampant within the city. An uneasy truce between those of the Brother’s Wrath and the Sister’s Wisdom has cleared the way for both factions to gain strong footholds, with a human population made intensely vulnerable and easily manipulable. Although never quite breaking the Shroud, Awakened within Doxley have been able to pull the strings in the elimination of green space, the reduction in health and fitness programs, and a state of struggle that has created a population under relative control.
However, the past few decades have begun to see a shift in the tides. Increased use of technology and the internet has put the Awakened under more scrutiny than ever, and the more people enter the city the more difficult it becomes to maintain the Shroud, leading to increased emphasis to subtle action. The Unifiers have also begun to gain in strength due to the arrival of Gregor Toska in Doxley City fifteen years ago, bringing with him nothing but the coat on his back and a little black book. Taking on a role as city councillor, he has witnessed an uptick in pro-human policy, empowering them as they head into the 21st century. Not that he’ll ever say he was involved.
Of significant note is the election of the new Mayor last year, one whose candidacy was supposedly not fixed by any faction of the Awakened, and whose electoral campaign was predicated on creating a better, revitalized Doxley. With this promise has come an increased interest in the city by outside parties, as well as marked concern by the wealthy and powerful within.

THE ECONOMY

Past the first World War the former town of Doxley was unable to compete as a shipping town, largely because of the inadequate infrastructure in place to meet demand during the age of industrialization. However, the 1940s brought with it something of an upturn when immigrants and opportunity came into the picture, and business owners in the city were gently directed to the wealth of opportunities that critical expansion provided.
Today’s Doxley still struggles economically, a sign of the immense wealth gap within the city. Nevertheless, the 21st century has shown signs of the gap beginning to close, with initiatives being instituted to bolster the city’s ever-growing number of independent businesses. The shipping business has been more vital than ever in an increasingly globalised world, with Doxley’s international population proving vital in the expedient transport of goods across the planet.
A major driver of Doxley’s slow but steady economic growth is the high graduate success rate from the University of Doxley. Despite its mundane levels of student satisfaction and lack of status on university league tables, the university has an astonishing 90% rate of graduate hires within their first three months out of university. Many of these students work in larger cities before returning to Doxley, bringing their expertise and technical know-how and effectively rejuvenating the city.

LAND-USE AND TRANSPORTATION

On paper, Doxley City was created with clear sectionality and simplicity in mind. One central district, with four others in the cardinal directions, and as per the original plan meant to be clearly segregated into distinct usages. Historically the Center held the seats of politics and civic works, the now Old Town all business and industry, the West End major retail and entertainment centers, Downtown residences and services for the well to do, and the East End all services and residences relating to the lower class.
Over time, this has changed significantly for a few reasons. First, the change of major industry from manufacturing to shipping has meant a rapid increase in business within the West due to its proximity to the coast, shifting much of its previous business and entertainment venues elsewhere in the city. Second, the mass influx of immigrants and new residents in the past hundred years has forced a shift from segregated zones to mixed-use planning, leading to a crisis of crowding in order to accommodate the intense number of residential businesses required. A hotly contested issue is the increased prominence of the tower block for residential housing, and whether these Brutalist behemoths are a godsend, an eyesore, or a violation of resident rights.
Lacking in size and scope comparative to its neighbours, the state of Doxley’s public transportation can best be described as “functional”. Bus services run every 45 minutes instead of the standard half hour, no doubt in order to save on fuel costs and vehicle production. Taxis and private vehicles are prominent in their usage, in no small part due to city regulations placing a cap on the price of diesel and a relaxed driver’s education policy comparative to the rest of the U.K. Urban design has shunted out the pedestrian, with narrow sidewalks that can barely accommodate two residents side by side and a notable lack of crosswalks in critical urban centers. This has, however, led to an increase in the number of cyclists of both the pedal and motor based variety.

CRIME

Doxley City is a hotbed of both organized and individual crime, due not only to the difficult conditions it finds itself under but also the very real presence of Awakened instigators. Most crime is petty in nature, with a higher than average number of petty thefts and burglaries per year than the rest of the nation. It must be stressed that while this number is higher than the national average, it is not significantly so, and in a strange turn of events most such incidents typically end with the money returned anonymously to the victim.
Organized crime in the late 20th century was dominated by a single criminal organization, although the new 10s has seen new parties entering the city and attempting to muscle in and assert dominance. Only time will tell whether the tension between parties will escalate to full violence.
White collar crime such as tax evasion is by no means uncommon in Doxley, although statistics on the incidences of this are difficult to come by. Due to persistent budget cuts to emergency services, the police force and fire department are notoriously understaffed and undersupplied. As such, incident records are not always filed correctly and are often filed haphazardly - at least on the side of the humans. It is said that records kept on the part of the Awakened are far more complete, although the means of accessing said records is uncertain as of this time.

WEALTH AND POVERTY

While there are employment opportunities in the City of Doxley, the unfortunate truth is that taxes are high, wages are relatively low, and the cost of rent and land is prohibitive towards actual meaningful growth. This has the effect of increasing the already large disparity between the city’s wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population in a manner not dissimilar from cities within the Global South. One could almost see it as an effect of deliberate design and policy intent.
However, recent years have seen something of a shift towards the empowerment of the lower and middle class. With a rise in initiatives to push for making and supporting new businesses, enterprise has begun to thrive in Doxley. Unfortunately, this has had the effect of leaving behind some of the poorest and most destitute who lack the ability to create these businesses, and who suffer from a lack of institutional support.

CULTURE AND DEMOGRAPHICS

The city of Doxley prides itself on its global population, in large part the effect of a history of immigration that began in the 1500s and spiked starting in the mid 1900s. While most wealthy immigrants to Britain flocked to larger and wealthier cities such as London or Manchester, Doxley’s immigrants were from the relative middle or lower class. Roughly half of the non-white population comes from countries under the British commonwealth or with strong diplomatic ties to Britain, although many residents are British citizens by birth, being second or even third generation immigrants.
There are rumors, although deeply unsubstantiated, that certain Unifier and Factionless members of the community have conspired to assist refugees and less financially well-off immigrants in coming to Doxley. While not a violation of the rules governing the Awakened, such blatantly pro-Slothful behaviour is generally frowned upon by the community as a whole.
In terms of demographics and statistics, the population of Doxley is over 60% non-white, a fairly large percentage of the population. Citizens are relatively young, with over 20% of the population being under 30 and another 40% between the ages of 30 and 49. On average approximately 1 in 10 of the population identify as being LGBT+. Over 35% of households are composed of 6 or more individuals, with the usual family size being five individuals or less.