Hello, fellow geofictioneers!

(The last time I wrote, I was responsible for a different country. I thought I’d mentioned that at the top to avoid confusion and questions about that)

So, I’m working on my new country - more specifically, one of it’s northern states. I thought I should start detailing with the biggest city / capital, and then spread out towards the rest of the state.

Since I haven’t mapped a big city in detail before, I thought I should use OGF’s guide on making realistic cities. It recommends to pick a model city. The problem is that I haven’t been able to find one that fits well.

So this is where I turn to you people. I’d really appreciate if you could take a look at my city and recommend me real life cities to model after. Any kind of related tips are welcome, too!

Here’s everything you need to know:

The city in question is Skarvienne. It’s about 196 km2 in size. The population is supposed to be anywhere between 300K and 700K (probably somewhere in the middle).

I don’t know the exact topography yet, but it lies in the 0 to 200 metres zone. Since it’s surrounded by rivers, I’m gonna say it’s pretty flat. The only exception being a hill in the middle of the city, by the river. That’s where the old town would be.

Culturally, the area is a mix of Baltic and eastern Nordic (Swedo-Finnish).

Cities I’ve given serious consideration to:

Berlin - flat, several confluences of rivers, vaguely northeastern. However, its old town is kind of weird and, uh, overly modernised? I’m also not a fan of the trams. There are too many marshlands surrounding it, as well.

Kaunas - flat with low hills, a confluence of rivers, hill fort/castle old town. However, there’s only one confluence, and I don’t like the reservoir.

Wrocław - fairly flat, somewhat of a hill fort (but not really), and I just like how the core of the city looks on the map. However, as I said, it’s not really a hill fort-type old town. Also, have I mentioned that I don’t like trams?

Vilnius - this one fits, but I’ve reserved it for the national capital instead. I don’t think using Vilnius influences for several cities would be a good idea. Unless you think it is, then feel free to tell me why you think that! Hahah.

Minsk - flat, several waterways, fairly equal distribution of development on both sides of the main river. However, it’s too squarish. Look at how they squared their river. Who thinks that’s pretty??? Lukashenko is a weird man.

I’ve considered many cities in East Slavic nations, but they’re all too squarish for my taste. Oh, and FYI, I hate the new world type griddy cities, too.

Yeah, I really don’t know. I’m kind of lost. Anything you have to say or recommend is welcome at this point. Feel free to even step outside of northwestern Europe into central Europe or northwestern Asia, or elsewhere.

Thank you for your time if you do decide to help out! ♥