Slavery in Great Levantia and Housing in Urcea: Difference between pages

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'''Slavery in Great Levantia''' was an important social and economic institution which existed throughout much of [[Great Levantia]]'s existence. Slaves served a wide variety of purposes in ancient Levantine society, with a majority involved in hard labor related to the extraction of natural resources, though a considerable majority served in the role of {{wp|House slave|household slave}} and other urban purposes. Socially, slavery served as a means of control and also as a geopolitical tool to reduce disloyal [[Gaelic people|Gaelic peoples]] in the [[Levantia|Levantine]] hinterland and also as a means to repopulate strategically important regions. In ancient Levantine society, citizens could not be enslaved for any reason nor could an individual who served in the Levantine legions. Slaves were considered property and had no legal protections. Until 50 AD, no legal mechanism allowed for the freeing of slaves, though slaves would increasingly gain legal protections.  
'''Housing in Urcea''' is a vital sector in the [[Economy of Urcea|Urcean economy]], with housing development and adjacent activity comprising approximately a tenth of all economic activity as of 2020. Urceans have strong social views on housing and housing strongly relates to Urcea's view of itself and its relationship with both private property and {{wp|Catholic social teaching}}. Since the mid-20th century, [[Disurbanism|disurbanist approaches]] have been popular in [[Urcea]]. Much of Urcea's housing stock was constructed in the form of low density {{wp|suburban}} single family homes following the [[Second Great War]], although since the 1980s the priority has shifted to even lower-density exurban development due to both environmental and social concerns.


The original source for slaves in earliest ancient Levantia were non-citizen convicted criminals and those in debt who would be sentences to various terms of enslavement to an individual or the state as part of a sentence. In time, as [[Great Levantia]] expanded, the institution changed from a primarily penal institution to a broader one, including debtors, criminals, and those captured in war, particularly [[Gaelic people]]. In time, as Great Levantia reached its peak and prosecuted the [[Gallian Wars]], the vast majority of slaves were people captured in war. The [[Gallian Wars]] in particular lead to a historic influx of slaves, transforming the institution into a means of control of indigenous peoples while also transforming the economy to being increasingly reliant on slave labor.
In [[Urcea]], housing policy issues are typically regulated by the [[Ministry_of_Administration_of_the_Realm_(Urcea)#Agency_for_Housing_Development|Agency for Housing Development]] outside of cities and the [[Ministry_of_Administration_of_the_Realm_(Urcea)#Agency_for_Urban_Development|Agency for Urban Development]] within cities. The Agency for Urban Development also works closely with the [[Ministry_of_Administration_of_the_Realm_(Urcea)#Agency_for_Royal_Public_Housing_and_Royal_Dormitory_Aid|Agency for Royal Public Housing and Royal Dormitory Aid]] to identify and develop new public housing opportunities.


==Origins and history==
==History and overview==
===Enclosure===
{{wp|Enclosure}}, the process by which land held in common is transferred to private ownership (especially within the context of the {{wp|Feudal system}}) took place from approximately the end of the [[Saint's War]] in 1401 to the beginning of the [[Caroline Wars]] in 1740, during which time the vast majority of land held in common was enclosed for ownership. While much of the land was enclosed on behalf of local magnates, a great portion of it - especially following the weakening of the nobility during the [[Great Confessional War]] - was enclosed into relatively small parcels on behalf of the urban [[Social class in Urcea#Privilegiata|privilegiata]]. Unlike many other countries, however, anti-enclosure sentiments gained many successes in the period of the 17th century and onward. Balancing the various [[Social class in Urcea|social classes]] became an increasing concern to the [[Apostolic King of Urcea|Apostolic King]] and [[Government of Urcea|His Governments]] in the wake of the social upheavel of the Great Confessional War and subsequent [[History_of_Urcea_(1575-1798)#Gassavelian_integration_and_uprising|Gassavelian uprising]]. Accordingly, considerable amounts of common land began to be preserved beginning in 1620 onward, though these sentiments slowed rather than halted the process of enclosure. By 1740, further enclosure was prohibited by law, but conflicting and inconsistent land title deeds for enclosed lands existed, inaugurating more than two hundred years of legal disputes until land surveyance and commune reform efforts succeeded in [[Housing_in_Urcea#Proprietor_communes|in the 1950s]].


Most early Levantine slaves were individuals sentenced to limited terms of enslavement as a result of a crime or more commonly due to debt arrears. The earliest instituion of slavery in Great Levantia and its predecessor cities somewhat resembled [[Slavery in Caphiria]] and was viewed mostly as a penal institution rather than a core social and economic one. Captured foreigners were always part of slavery in the greater [[Adonerum|Adonerii civilization]], with many of the earliest [[Latinic people|Latinic]] settlements in [[Levantia]] having [[Gaelic people|Gaelic]] slaves in the historical record. Regardless, until the third century BC, convicts and debtors made up the majority of the slave labor force. Although Great Levantia underwent campaigns of conquest throughout much of modern [[Urcea]] and [[Dericania]], enforced enslavement was unevenly applied, and in many cases the Republic-era leaders largely focused on attempting to integrate local conquered people into Levantine society by means other than slavery. Gaelic slaves brought back to the Levantine heartland, if serving as household or agricultural slaves, were subject to a basic form of education. While slaves were looked down upon, they did not have the severe social stigma later associated with slaves, as the fact that many were convicted individuals meant that it could be reasonably anticipated they would be productive members of society at some future point. Captured foreign slaves retained temporary terms of enslavement until around 250 BC, when life terms for foreigners became a legal option. By 150 BC, it became functionally the only term of enslavement allowed to a foreign capture.
===Attitudes===
===Suburban rise and fall===
===Passage of the Family Living Act===
{{Main|Family Living Act of 2003}}


The [[Gallian Wars]] are considered by most historians to be a significant turning point in the history of Great Levantine slavery. While foreign captured slaves had become a growing contingent of those in bondage in [[Great Levantia]], the wars imported untold numbers of [[Gaelic people|Gaels]] into bondage. Historical estimates range from as low as tens of thousands to a high of about a million, instantly transforming the Levantine economy as large amounts of cheap labor were suddenly available. The influx of slaves hastened urbanization in Levantia. Due to both changing attitudes and the sheer number of slaves, cultural integration of slaves was no longer viewed as a priority, and consequently slaves began to develop a rapidly divergent culture from their Latinic overlords, blending many Gaelic traditions from different regions and tribes. Post-Gallian Wars slavery also changed the perception of slaves, and they were largely shunned by society and viewed as untouchables. Post-wars domestic slaves retained a degree of the respect that slaves had held in earlier periods but were still largely unable to engage with citizens in any meaningful way.
==Public housing==
Public housing in [[Urcea]] is generally overseen by the [[Ministry_of_Administration_of_the_Realm_(Urcea)#Agency_for_Royal_Public_Housing_and_Royal_Dormitory_Aid|Agency for Royal Public Housing and Royal Dormitory Aid]] or by provincial and local governments. Since the 1960s, the Agency has had specific policies for public housing, preferring to maintain single or multi-family rent controlled units within the same neighborhood within cities rather than {{wp|tower blocks}}. The general prohibition on tower blocks came about largely as both an ideological one as well as problems encountered in constructing them in the Urceopolis borough of [[Urceopolis_(City)#Campori|Campori]] following the [[Second Great War]]. The Agency is responsible for the general property maintenance of these facilities in conjunction with the occupants in the case of single family houses. Several "legacy" {{wp|tower blocks}} public housing projects exist as well, especially in and around [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]].


In what would become [[Fiannria]] as well as areas of [[Carna]], [[Anglei]], and [[Hollona and Diorisia]], slavery was used as a method of control. Rebellious frontier populations of [[Gaelic people|Gaels]] would often be deported en masse in a disproportionate response to unrest or small rebellions and replaced with settlers from the [[The Valley (Urcea)|Great Levantine core region]], often Latinics or Latinied Gaels. The use of deportation in this manner, both in actual incidents as well as in the threat of deportation and enslavement, has been characterized by some historians as an early form of deliberate {{wp|genocide}}. These efforts left significant demographic implications in these areas, not only transplanting new groups of people but also leaving them significant depopulated and open to future [[Gothic people|Gothic]] settlement that would come with Gothic raids and invasion in the fourth century.
==Private housing==


Although Great Levantine conquests began to slow and come to a halt in the first century AD and immediate aftermath of the [[Gallian Wars]], foreign slaves continued to be readily available in the first century. Great Levantine armies establishing client kingdoms and other subordinate relationships with [[Gothic people|Goths]] as well as what would become [[Caergwynn]] and [[Faneria]] captured thousands of slaves, sometimes in a single campaign, for sale back home. Additionally, local client kings and other polities would sell groups of captured enemies to the Levantines; the [[Ninerivers Confederation]] and [[Imperium Vandar Orientalis|Vandar Empire]] would conquer and deport Gothic people living in northern Levantia to Great Levantia. While private slave trading was illegal, it was often difficult to enforce. Parties of raiders would often use the [[Vandarch]] as a method of raiding and capturing people from [[Gothica]] for sale in modern [[Fiannria]] as well as [[Hollona and Diorisia]].  
Most [[Urcea|Urceans]] live in a {{wp|single family home}} or low-unit multi-family home according to surveys conducted over the course of the 2010s. Urcean society places a high value on home ownership, and private housing enjoys pride of place among types of housing in Urcea. As part of these efforts, the [[Ministry_of_Administration_of_the_Realm_(Urcea)#Agency_for_Royal_Public_Housing_and_Royal_Dormitory_Aid|Agency for Royal Public Housing and Royal Dormitory Aid]] provides subsidies to lower income families as part of the Royal Dormitory Aid program in order to encourage ownership.


A major slave revolt in [[Tromarine]] in 150 AD lead to a mixed response by Levantine authorities. On the one hand, new laws were introduced against runaway slaves and a period of generally harsher enforcement was inaugurated against unruly and potentially rebellious slaves. On the other hand, new pathways to manumission and a maximum term of enslavement were both introduced in the 150s, although the latter was undermined inasmuch as an individual slave could face multiple consecutive terms of enslavement. Most historians believe more slaves were freed or gained their own freedom between 150 and 200 AD than at any other previous time in Levantine history. It was also made illegal for debtors to be sold into slavery in 178 AD, changing slavery to an almost exclusively foreign or foreign-descendant institution.
===Urban===
====Single family====
====Multi family and apartments====
===Suburban===
{{wp|Suburban}} development was the primary form of housing development during the 20th century in [[Urcea]] and comprises a large plurality of the nation's housing stock. From the end of the [[Second Great War]] to the end of the century, government policy, economic factors, and social attitudes drove the creation of Urcea's suburbs. By the end of the century, suburban sprawl comprised most of [[The Valley (Urcea)|the Valley]], with relatively close together single family homes extending out from [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] especially. Suburban development in other areas of the country also occurred but to a less sprawling extent given the population and relative population density of the [[Archduchy of Urceopolis]] and its surrounding provinces. Many social commentators by the 1980s had begun to grow concerned regarding suburban sprawl due to environmental concerns (including both waste and pollution) as well as social concerns, as many perceived a kind of isolation and alienation from the extended family and estate [[Culture_of_Urcea#Kinship|kinship groups]] on which Urcean society was traditionally organized. Suburban development began to wane during this time in favor of exurban development, which developed both due to public policy pressures and market forces interested in different models; this shift had the practical effect of causing massive disruption in Urcea's [[Economy_of_Urcea#Construction|construction industry]]. The [[Family Living Act of 2003]] essentially prohibited the construction of new, "core suburbs" and subsequent legislation has created large preservation areas around [[Urcea]] and particularly within [[The Valley (Urcea)|the Valley]]. The preservation areas, which not only preserve existing natural areas but also has properties and homes default to the government for demolition in the event of no property heir or in the event of foreclosure, has had the unintended effect of decreasing the Kingdom's housing stock according to many policy analysts and {{wp|Non-governmental organization|non-governmental organizations}}.


===Transition to serfdom===
===Exurban===
{{wp|Exurbs|Exurban}} development has comprised the large part of [[Urcea|Urcean]] real estate development since the mid-1980s reflecting increased distances from urban centers as well as changing social views.


As the prospect of foreign conquests came to a definitive end by the latter half of the 3rd century and as slaves gained increasing legal protection and possibility of manumission, slaves became harder to procure and more expensive to acquire. Accordingly, many of the large landowners of Great Levantia began the transition from slavery to free Levantine citizens from cities, particularly with respect to agricultural activities. This process precipitated a period of several centuries where cities would become largely depopulated, also reducing the need for large staffs of household slaves in urban homes of the elite. The slow transition to serfdom which began around this period not only lead to major economic changes but lead to a concentration of existing slaves to be sent to mines. Following centuries of improvement with respect to their legal position, the material conditions of slaves suddenly plummeted and life expectancies grew significantly shorter.
In [[2003]], the [[Concilium Daoni]] led by [[Michael Witte]] enacted the [[Family Living Act of 2003|Family Living Act]] (FLA), which establishes several rules governing the construction of multiple structures on a property by real estate developers intending to sell the land, known as {{wp|Subdivision (land)|subdivisions}}. Among other provisions, the FLA requires that contractors must first offer a condensed area within a development (intended to describe cul de sacs and other insular portions) to bidding by extended family groups before individually selling each house. In effect, this law has had the effect of making many portions of neighborhoods or even entire housing developments being comprised of related individuals. Since a considerable portion of Urcea's single-family housing stock has been constructed since 2003, the policy has had a large impact on Urcean housing and social relations, with many policy analysts calling the project a "major success" in restoring the proximity of extended families. Critics have said that the FLA has had the effect of artificially raising the price of homes and home ownership while suppressing housing stock and discouraging development.


The introduction of [[Catholic Church|Christianity]] as both a legal and eventually official institution was another blow to slavery. Not only did Christian morality require humane treatment of slaves and a general suspicion of the institution, but it also lead to the rapid decline of [[Religion in Great Levantia|ancient Levantine religion]]. As many temples began to close or be forcefully converted into Churches, the primarily slave-based industry of temple prostitution waned considerably in the 4th century.
====Urban town and country====
[[File:GlensFalls.jpeg|thumb|left|200px|Marchts, a small town in [[Hardinán]], exemplifies urban town and country design mostly utilizing older structures instead of new builds.]]
The primary design philosophy of exurban development in [[Urcea]] revolves around the notion of creating "urban town and country" (UTC), a design which has grown in frequency and popularity since the end of the 20th century. Though they existed prior to [[2003]], the [[Family Living Act of 2003]] introduced significant economic incentives for the design and construction of this style of development. Urban town and country design creates areas of moderate density housing, typically one to two blocks of {{wp|5-over-1}}s (or earlier mixed use structures) surrounding a {{wp|village green}}, {{wp|town square}}, or {{wp|roundabout}} park, surrounded by consistent low density housing with secluded cul de sacs and streets with large plots for homes separated by greenspaces and trees. This design is intended to allow individuals who can not own a home - either due to being short term transients to an area, lack of income, or some other reason - to live in rental units in and around the "central square" while simultaneously providing retail spaces - usually small businesses - in the central area. The "downtown area" is usually made up of several small retail outlets with restaurants in freestanding areas with parking, and this area is usually serviced by a [[Rail transportation in Urcea|rail-fed]] warehouse located on the periphery of town. Besides residential areas, churches schools, and libraries, and one to two large parking structures (depending on the size of the area) are intended to be constructed directly adjacent to the central square area for easy access to services by local residents. Since 2018 and 2019, most new UTCs are required to provide electric charging stations both in homes and in the public spaces, and many companies exist to transition existing UTC areas to electric compatibility on a large scale.


===Functional end of slavery===
Most UTCs have only one or two major roads leading to the town square area, with small limited access urban neighborhood roads radiating outwards. The larger roads are typically multiple lanes in order to allow for commercial traffic to efficiently enter and exit the community. The major roads in UTCs typically lead to other UTCs or to highway access, while most of them also have a degree of access to {{wp|park and ride}}s and mass transit options. These transit options were enhanced with direct government subsidies to local public transit corporations with the Connectivity Act of 2012.


Multiple factors lead to the functional end of slavery in [[Levantia]]. Primarily, the slow collapse of [[Great Levantia]] lead to severe reductions in trade and advanced economic activity, making large-scale state sponsored mines no longer viable to operate. Slaves were also increasingly hard to find and the institution of slavery largely lost its raison d'etre as slave labor became nearly as expensive as labor among freemen and urban citizens. The number of slaves further declined with the collapse of centralized state authority and law and order, as incidents of runaway slaves never being recovered became ubiquitous in the fifth century historical record. [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] morality, which was becoming the primary social mores of Levantine society by the fifth century, increasingly looked down upon the institution as theologians and practitioners alike questioned fellow children of God being held in bondage. The Levantine urban collapse also lead to the end of the institution of household slaves during the fifth century, as most major urban palaces were abandoned or turned into fortified manors with an emphasis on food self-sufficiency, and many remaining household slaves were transitioned into freemen tenants on these estates. With social attitudes turning against it, slaves becoming rare commodities, and the end of field, mine,  and domestic slaves as well as temple prostitutes, the institution faded into obscurity with the end of Great Levantia in the beginning of the sixth century. Some forms of slavery continued to exist under powerful or wealthy local rulers who could subjugate neighboring villages in the post-Levantine era, but by the turn of the seventh century slaves were vanishingly rare in Levantia. The rare exception were galley slaves, which continued in relatively robust form for centuries to come. New laws implemented by both late Great Levantia and the [[Catholic Church]], however, limited the term of service of galley slaves, and most galley slaves - either captured or sentenced to the status due to indebtedness - could expect to spend a majority of their lives as free persons. [[Social_class_in_Urcea#Serf|Serfdom]] would become the more common form of forced labor in [[Urcea]] and the rest of [[Levantia]], but had strict legal protections and generally could not be bought and sold apart from the land on which they lived and worked.
===Proprietor communes===
Throughout [[Urcea]], small parts of land which escaped {{wp|enclosure}} exist. Efforts were made during the 19th and 20th century to create a stable legal framework for these entities to survive, and accordingly the distinction of a "proprietor commune" or PC exists within law. The creation of PCs was the result of massive land surveyance efforts conducted in the immediate wake of the [[Second Great War]] in the 1940s and 50s, as individuals living on ancestral communal land objected to encroaching real estate developers; the [[Government of Urcea]] issued a large number of charters for these lands in 1954. PCs are governed by the [[Consolidated_Laws_of_HMCM%27s_Kingdom_and_State#List_of_chapters|Alternative Housing Law]]. PCs are lands in which the title is held by a corporation consisting of all of the residents within it, and accordingly all lands under a corporate charter are owned in common. PCs can only be dissolved with a supermajority of members voting in favor. Most charters individually lay out the terms on which individuals and families can build structures within the commune, but most provide for an enforceable prohibition on trespassing, ensuring a kind of private property for homeowners. Charters also give the communes wide latitude to establish standards for structures within the PC while not totally exempting them from local and provincial zoning laws. In effect, PCs function in a similar manner to {{wp|home owners associations}} and collect fees. [[Levantine banking and finance|Banks]] are [[Family_Living_Act_of_2003#Protections_for_Proprietor_Communes|prohibited by law from discriminating against PCs]] and mortgages for individual homes are often assumed by the entire commune, who then levy the costs on the individual home resident.


Most former slaves and their descendants would go on to become [[Social_class_in_Urcea#Freeman|freemen]] within the system of social class in [[Urcea]], ironically being considered above the class of serfs who primarily descended from urban Levantine citizens.
[[Category: Urcea]]
 
[[Category: Culture of Urcea]]
===Formal abolition of slavery===
[[Category:IXWB]]
 
Apart from the use of galley slaves, slavery was exceedingly rare in [[Levantia]] following the seventh century, with some estimates projecting less than 4,000 slaves of all types in bondage by the year 800 AD. The early [[Holy Levantine Empire|Levantine Empire]], established in the mid 8th century, discouraged the use of slaves. Slavery of Christians was formally banned in the Empire in 903 AD. Slavery against non-Christian groups - such as [[Gothic people]] - was subsequently discouraged and the legal terms of enslavement significantly limited. Galley slavery was limited to three year terms in 1045. Besides galley slaves, historians believe that there were no slaves within the Empire by 1100.
 
==Trade, economy, and sales==
 
===Terms of enslavement===
====Sales and auctions====
===Slave roles===
 
====Household slave====
 
====Field slave====
 
====Mine slave====
Mine slavery involved slaves, mostly on [[Tromarine]] but across [[Great Levantia]], brought in specifically for the purpose of mining some type of resource. Only slaves with life terms of enslavement could be used in the mines. The most brutal form of slavery involving long hours of toil, extreme repression, and significant physical danger, life expectancy for mine slavery was far, far below every other kind of slavery. Slaves sent to the mines often were anticipated to be fit for work for about eleven months, after which time it was anticipated they would have died or be so physically debilitated that they were no longer fit for labor of any kind. Accordingly, unlike most other types of slaves, mine slaves often were not able to reproduce to the point of creating a unique slave culture or even replenish the labor force, and the vast majority of mine slaves were imported for use rather than having been born into it. Mine slavery was most common in [[Tromarine]], which had the highest per capita percentage of slaves of any location in [[Great Levantia]]. Mines in Tromarine were responsible for a large quantity of tin used in [[Sarpedon]] and [[Levantia]], making conditions especially brutal, leading to a large revolt of mine slaves in 150 AD. Following the revolt, mine slavery entered a minor decline but continued until complex economic activity and trade were no longer possible with the impending collapse of [[Great Levantia]]. Most state-operated mines ceased function around 450 AD, with mine slavery abruptly coming to an end after that date with limited examples of small, private run slave-operating mines continuing on for several decades.
 
====Temple slave====
 
====Galley slave====
 
Galley slaves were the most common form of slaves in what would become the [[Creagmer republics|Creagmer mercantile cities]] as well as on [[Crotona]]; they were the second most common type of slave in [[Tromarine]] behind mine slaves.
 
====Cartographic slave====
 
The rarest form of slave were the so-called "cartographic slaves". These slaves were often skilled hunters, trackers, or scouts from both [[Gaelic people|Gaelic]] and [[Gothic people|Gothic]] tribes living on the borders of [[Great Levantia]]. These individuals, kept apart from general slaves, were subject to the general status of enslavement but otherwise allowed relatively modest living comforts. Their responsibility was creating usable campaign maps, charts, and compiled list of other useful geographic information for use by Great Levantia's legions, allowing them to traverse in lands outside the realm. While the information collected by these slaves was often extremely detailed and useful, many slaves intentionally included minor errors in the maps in order to leave Levantine forces at a disadvantage. Cartographic slaves, despite their relatively high standing, were subject to the harshest penalties and punishments if found to be altering their maps or otherwise withholding information. Cartographic slaves who mislead Levantine forces were often publicly disembowled while living in the [[Levantine Forum]]. The practice was discontinued following a number of major military setbacks in [[Gothica]] in the late third centuries, although historians are unclear if cartographic information was responsible or if cartographic slavery was used as an excuse to cover for military leadership.
 
==Demography==
==Legacy==
[[Great Levantia|Great Levantine]] slave practices, in both where they took slaves from and where they sold or settled them, had massive, permanent, demographic impacts on [[Levantia]]. A prominent example can be found in [[The Valley (Urcea)|Urcea's Valley region]], which had almost entirely driven out or assimilated its indigineous [[Gaelic people]] into [[Latinic people|Latinic culture]] by around 150 BC with the exception of remote mountain and forested regions far from the Valley's main urban area around the [[Urce River]]. The massive arrival of slaves from the [[Gallian War]] reestablished Gaelic cultural traditions and mores in the urban areas of the Valley, setting up later cultural integration. Many historians have suggested Levantine slavery was a primary driver behind the establishment of the [[Urcean people]], and deportations from [[Tromarine]] almost certainly was the significant event which preceded the establishment of the [[Garán people]] of [[Carolina]].
 
[[Category:Great Levantia]]
[[Category: IXWB]]
[[Category: 2022 Award winning pages]]
[[Category: 2022 Award winning pages]]
[[Category: History]]

Revision as of 11:25, 13 July 2023

Housing in Urcea is a vital sector in the Urcean economy, with housing development and adjacent activity comprising approximately a tenth of all economic activity as of 2020. Urceans have strong social views on housing and housing strongly relates to Urcea's view of itself and its relationship with both private property and Catholic social teaching. Since the mid-20th century, disurbanist approaches have been popular in Urcea. Much of Urcea's housing stock was constructed in the form of low density suburban single family homes following the Second Great War, although since the 1980s the priority has shifted to even lower-density exurban development due to both environmental and social concerns.

In Urcea, housing policy issues are typically regulated by the Agency for Housing Development outside of cities and the Agency for Urban Development within cities. The Agency for Urban Development also works closely with the Agency for Royal Public Housing and Royal Dormitory Aid to identify and develop new public housing opportunities.

History and overview

Enclosure

Enclosure, the process by which land held in common is transferred to private ownership (especially within the context of the Feudal system) took place from approximately the end of the Saint's War in 1401 to the beginning of the Caroline Wars in 1740, during which time the vast majority of land held in common was enclosed for ownership. While much of the land was enclosed on behalf of local magnates, a great portion of it - especially following the weakening of the nobility during the Great Confessional War - was enclosed into relatively small parcels on behalf of the urban privilegiata. Unlike many other countries, however, anti-enclosure sentiments gained many successes in the period of the 17th century and onward. Balancing the various social classes became an increasing concern to the Apostolic King and His Governments in the wake of the social upheavel of the Great Confessional War and subsequent Gassavelian uprising. Accordingly, considerable amounts of common land began to be preserved beginning in 1620 onward, though these sentiments slowed rather than halted the process of enclosure. By 1740, further enclosure was prohibited by law, but conflicting and inconsistent land title deeds for enclosed lands existed, inaugurating more than two hundred years of legal disputes until land surveyance and commune reform efforts succeeded in in the 1950s.

Attitudes

Suburban rise and fall

Passage of the Family Living Act

Public housing

Public housing in Urcea is generally overseen by the Agency for Royal Public Housing and Royal Dormitory Aid or by provincial and local governments. Since the 1960s, the Agency has had specific policies for public housing, preferring to maintain single or multi-family rent controlled units within the same neighborhood within cities rather than tower blocks. The general prohibition on tower blocks came about largely as both an ideological one as well as problems encountered in constructing them in the Urceopolis borough of Campori following the Second Great War. The Agency is responsible for the general property maintenance of these facilities in conjunction with the occupants in the case of single family houses. Several "legacy" tower blocks public housing projects exist as well, especially in and around Urceopolis.

Private housing

Most Urceans live in a single family home or low-unit multi-family home according to surveys conducted over the course of the 2010s. Urcean society places a high value on home ownership, and private housing enjoys pride of place among types of housing in Urcea. As part of these efforts, the Agency for Royal Public Housing and Royal Dormitory Aid provides subsidies to lower income families as part of the Royal Dormitory Aid program in order to encourage ownership.

Urban

Single family

Multi family and apartments

Suburban

Suburban development was the primary form of housing development during the 20th century in Urcea and comprises a large plurality of the nation's housing stock. From the end of the Second Great War to the end of the century, government policy, economic factors, and social attitudes drove the creation of Urcea's suburbs. By the end of the century, suburban sprawl comprised most of the Valley, with relatively close together single family homes extending out from Urceopolis especially. Suburban development in other areas of the country also occurred but to a less sprawling extent given the population and relative population density of the Archduchy of Urceopolis and its surrounding provinces. Many social commentators by the 1980s had begun to grow concerned regarding suburban sprawl due to environmental concerns (including both waste and pollution) as well as social concerns, as many perceived a kind of isolation and alienation from the extended family and estate kinship groups on which Urcean society was traditionally organized. Suburban development began to wane during this time in favor of exurban development, which developed both due to public policy pressures and market forces interested in different models; this shift had the practical effect of causing massive disruption in Urcea's construction industry. The Family Living Act of 2003 essentially prohibited the construction of new, "core suburbs" and subsequent legislation has created large preservation areas around Urcea and particularly within the Valley. The preservation areas, which not only preserve existing natural areas but also has properties and homes default to the government for demolition in the event of no property heir or in the event of foreclosure, has had the unintended effect of decreasing the Kingdom's housing stock according to many policy analysts and non-governmental organizations.

Exurban

Exurban development has comprised the large part of Urcean real estate development since the mid-1980s reflecting increased distances from urban centers as well as changing social views.

In 2003, the Concilium Daoni led by Michael Witte enacted the Family Living Act (FLA), which establishes several rules governing the construction of multiple structures on a property by real estate developers intending to sell the land, known as subdivisions. Among other provisions, the FLA requires that contractors must first offer a condensed area within a development (intended to describe cul de sacs and other insular portions) to bidding by extended family groups before individually selling each house. In effect, this law has had the effect of making many portions of neighborhoods or even entire housing developments being comprised of related individuals. Since a considerable portion of Urcea's single-family housing stock has been constructed since 2003, the policy has had a large impact on Urcean housing and social relations, with many policy analysts calling the project a "major success" in restoring the proximity of extended families. Critics have said that the FLA has had the effect of artificially raising the price of homes and home ownership while suppressing housing stock and discouraging development.

Urban town and country

Marchts, a small town in Hardinán, exemplifies urban town and country design mostly utilizing older structures instead of new builds.

The primary design philosophy of exurban development in Urcea revolves around the notion of creating "urban town and country" (UTC), a design which has grown in frequency and popularity since the end of the 20th century. Though they existed prior to 2003, the Family Living Act of 2003 introduced significant economic incentives for the design and construction of this style of development. Urban town and country design creates areas of moderate density housing, typically one to two blocks of 5-over-1s (or earlier mixed use structures) surrounding a village green, town square, or roundabout park, surrounded by consistent low density housing with secluded cul de sacs and streets with large plots for homes separated by greenspaces and trees. This design is intended to allow individuals who can not own a home - either due to being short term transients to an area, lack of income, or some other reason - to live in rental units in and around the "central square" while simultaneously providing retail spaces - usually small businesses - in the central area. The "downtown area" is usually made up of several small retail outlets with restaurants in freestanding areas with parking, and this area is usually serviced by a rail-fed warehouse located on the periphery of town. Besides residential areas, churches schools, and libraries, and one to two large parking structures (depending on the size of the area) are intended to be constructed directly adjacent to the central square area for easy access to services by local residents. Since 2018 and 2019, most new UTCs are required to provide electric charging stations both in homes and in the public spaces, and many companies exist to transition existing UTC areas to electric compatibility on a large scale.

Most UTCs have only one or two major roads leading to the town square area, with small limited access urban neighborhood roads radiating outwards. The larger roads are typically multiple lanes in order to allow for commercial traffic to efficiently enter and exit the community. The major roads in UTCs typically lead to other UTCs or to highway access, while most of them also have a degree of access to park and rides and mass transit options. These transit options were enhanced with direct government subsidies to local public transit corporations with the Connectivity Act of 2012.

Proprietor communes

Throughout Urcea, small parts of land which escaped enclosure exist. Efforts were made during the 19th and 20th century to create a stable legal framework for these entities to survive, and accordingly the distinction of a "proprietor commune" or PC exists within law. The creation of PCs was the result of massive land surveyance efforts conducted in the immediate wake of the Second Great War in the 1940s and 50s, as individuals living on ancestral communal land objected to encroaching real estate developers; the Government of Urcea issued a large number of charters for these lands in 1954. PCs are governed by the Alternative Housing Law. PCs are lands in which the title is held by a corporation consisting of all of the residents within it, and accordingly all lands under a corporate charter are owned in common. PCs can only be dissolved with a supermajority of members voting in favor. Most charters individually lay out the terms on which individuals and families can build structures within the commune, but most provide for an enforceable prohibition on trespassing, ensuring a kind of private property for homeowners. Charters also give the communes wide latitude to establish standards for structures within the PC while not totally exempting them from local and provincial zoning laws. In effect, PCs function in a similar manner to home owners associations and collect fees. Banks are prohibited by law from discriminating against PCs and mortgages for individual homes are often assumed by the entire commune, who then levy the costs on the individual home resident.