Cities that could have been much larger

[Putincho]

Some cities in Argentina like Rosario (it had congress approval) or Paraná (it was a temporary capital) if they remained the capital, not at the same time of course.
Even Montevideo if remained a part of the confederacion instead of going independent (this would probably mean less populated Buenos Aires)

 

[WILDGEESE]

Some cities in Argentina like Rosario (it had congress approval) or Paraná (it was a temporary capital) if they remained the capital, not at the same time of course.
Even Montevideo if remained a part of the confederacion instead of going independent (this would probably mean less populated Buenos Aires)

Rosario? . . . I thought that was a military operation in 1982

lols

 

[WILDGEESE]

How about in the UK the "New Town Acts" forbidding the building any New Towns at all. Instead they expand 'county; cities/towns instead.

For example instead of Redditch, development goes instead into expanding Worcester.

Instead of Milton Keynes you expand Bedford

Instead of Stevenage you expand Cambridge.

There's around 2 million inhabitants of "New Towns" in the UK plus knock London's population down by half you could expand loads of 'county' towns/cities such as what happened to Peterborough.

Just a few examples . . . South of England only

Aylesbury. Colchester, Guildford, Ipswich, Norwich, (over spill from London)

Salisbury, Shaftsbury & Winchester (over spill from Soton & Portsmouth

Gloucester, Hereford. Shrewsbury. Stafford, Warwick (over spill from Birmingham area)

Lincoln (over spill from Leicester)

Swindon (over spill from Bristol)

Regards filers

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

Note how many major railroads converge on Lviv (Lemberg). Seems like it'd be massive in a surviving A-H.

 

[TheKutKu]

Note how many major railroads converge on Lviv (Lemberg). Seems like it'd be massive in a surviving A-H.

Well without the horror that Ukraine saw irl chances are that it would naturally be larger, not even talking about regional importance in A-H.

Could Vienna ever reach a size comparable to London or Paris (10+ millions)? Or is there a geographical limitation

 

[Lautréamont]

Could Vienna ever reach a size comparable to London or Paris (10+ millions)? Or is there a geographical limitation

Not really, except the Alps to its south-west. So... Vienna grows eastwards until Bratislava becomes the Yokohama to Vienna's Tōkyō?

 

[anotherlurker]

Well without the horror that Ukraine saw irl chances are that it would naturally be larger, not even talking about regional importance in A-H.

Could Vienna ever reach a size comparable to London or Paris (10+ millions)? Or is there a geographical limitation

Iirc (Museum visit was a few years ago), by the time war broke out they were planning/already building for a 5 million sized city by 1930s or so, when war broke out it had 2 million inhabitants already and was quickly growing. By today it's certainly possible for it to have 10 million +, and it's not just migrants, as it grows it swallows the surrounding towns/villages and creeps towards close by cities, so the city gets more people, the surrounding state has less. A-H too was a late comer to industrialization like Germany and Russia was, people were still moving in droves to the main cities and would have continued to do so for a while longer as it catches up.

 

[Quintuplicate]

Basically any Alaskan gold rush town, like Flat or Fortymile City, if the government had settled down there, like Fairbanks.

 

[Thomas Jefferson]

New Orleans. With a more export-oriented US economy in the 20th century, it's position at the mouth of the Mississippi could have enabled it to remain the largest city in the South.

 

[Mark E.]

New Orleans. With a more export-oriented US economy in the 20th century, it's position at the mouth of the Mississippi could have enabled it to remain the largest city in the South.

The problem is that development of the swamp terrain would be difficult. That is why so much of the development went to Baton Rouge and the North Shore.

 

[Thomas Jefferson]

The problem is that development of the swamp terrain would be difficult. That is why so much of the development went to Baton Rouge and the North Shore.

It would make for an interesting cityscape because you'd have a big financial/industrial center but you wouldn't be able to build the sprawl of Houston or Atlanta.

 

[TheKutKu]

The problem is that development of the swamp terrain would be difficult. That is why so much of the development went to Baton Rouge and the North Shore.

At the same time it could be interesting if it forces To build higher density habitats, the city-parish of New Orleans could still be home to a few millions if it had european cities density

 

[AnonymousSauce]

At the same time it could be interesting if it forces To build higher density habitats, the city-parish of New Orleans could still be home to a few millions if it had european cities density

Or even San Francisco density, SF packs almost 800,000 inhabitants into 41 sq miles' worth of land, whereas NO has about 170 sq miles (some of which is unusable, to be sure, but still enough)

 

[Sol Zagato]

Cairo, Illinois? It seems like there should be a major city at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, yet it barely musters 2,000 people today and even at its peak in 1920 only had 15,000. The reasons I've heard for its small size is that St. Louis stole some of its thunder or that maybe it's because of its proneness to flooding. But St. Louis is 150 miles away - not exactly close and many major cities in the US are closer together. And plenty of cities have had terrible flooding but that didn't prevent their growth.

What I've heard:
1. Railroads
2. Mind-boggling corruption going back more than a century.

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

What's the biggest Savannah can be without tearing up its classic downtown?

 

[Tizoc]

Note how many major railroads converge on Lviv (Lemberg). Seems like it'd be massive in a surviving A-H.

I don't think so - it wouldn't grow faster than OTL (1910 - 206.000, 1921 - 219.388, 1931 - 312.231, 1959 - 410.678, 2017 - 727.968). East bound railways would see less usage than OTL (border, no strong trade links), south bound more, but there wasn't much Lwow and environs could offer Kingdom of Hungary tradewise either. Countryside was overpopulated, but poor.

Enough about Lwow. If Second Polish Republic survived with its borders unchanged, Chelm would be much bigger than today - pre-WW2 it was planned to move offices of Eastern Railway District to Chelm, as well as build a new west-east railway through the city, linking Lesser Poland with Wolyn. Plans envisioned city growing from around 25.000 to 75.000 within a generation (OTL Chelm reached 70.000 in 1997. Since 2001 population is dropping).

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

I don't think so - it wouldn't grow faster than OTL (1910 - 206.000, 1921 - 219.388, 1931 - 312.231, 1959 - 410.678, 2017 - 727.968). East bound railways would see less usage than OTL (border, no strong trade links), south bound more, but there wasn't much Lwow and environs could offer Kingdom of Hungary tradewise either. Countryside was overpopulated, but poor.

On the other hand a surviving A-H means either an understanding has been reached with Russia or that there's a ton of German client states to the east. In either scenario the east and north bound rails are likely to see more use than in OTL's pre-war years. Additionally it butterflies the Civil War and WWII along the adverse demographic effects associated with them.

 

[knightdepaix]

Churchill Manitoba if it was connected to the rest of Canada by road and oil pipeline. Also slap a Canadian Forces base in there to round out the government stimulus package.
I'm not sure why the government put so much effort into developing a port capable of servicing four Panamax ships at a time, only to do nothing with it, but it seems like a really dumb idea.

How about now? Churchill, Manitoba for these: Arctic sea routes - Northern sea route and Northwest passage

Current marine shipping uses in the Arctic

Development of fossil fuel resources in the Arctic, 2005

Population distribution in the circumpolar Arctic, by country (including indigenous population)

Towns and industrial activities in the Arctic

Arctic, topography and bathymetry (topographic map)

Arctic Graphics

Canada needs an arctic presence?

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

*snip*

Yeah, I think Churchill has many potential uses today. Immediately speaking, I think it'd make an excellent port for oil exports. An "Energy East" pipeline that doesn't step on Quebec's toes so to speak. And then a much more built up Churchill can be the northern gateway to North America once the Arctic is fully opened up.

But of course, "But muh Polar Bears!" will ensure that never happens...

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

On the subject of Churchill, it wasn't originally going to be Canada's northern port (not that it ever lived up to that mission...)

In 1912 the port selected to be expanded and linked up with the rest of Canada by rail was Port Nelson (also in Manitoba). And it received a massive investment.

Yeah, that's an artificial island linked to the mainland by a 17 span rail bridge.

And then WWI happened and and the plan to link it up by rail was put on hold, and when the idea was finally revisited, Churchill had somehow replaced it in the government's plans. Today Port Nelson is a genuine ghost town.

It is further south than Churchill, so it would have provided a shorter rail connection to actual demographic centres, and it would be less likely to have a polar bear reserve set up right outside it.