Republic City

"URN"

- Republic City stands as a beacon of freedom...

Republic City, the capital of the United Republic of Nations, is a large metropolis located on the shores of Yue Bay. It is located in the northwestern Earth Kingdom near the Mo Ce Sea. A colony of the Fire Nation during the Hundred Year War, the city was founded by Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang after the conflict's conclusion as a settlement housing citizens from all four nations. Being a modern urban center, Republic City hosts significant high-rise development and widespread use of automobiles, motorcycles, and airships.

Republic City is home to a variety of iconic landmarks. These include an island with a massive statue of Avatar Aang looking out over the bay, a downtown station, a large and popular city park, many suspension bridges, and skyscrapers. The police force utilizes metalbending for civil law enforcement. The vast metropolis conducts pro-bending matches; the city's number one form of sporting activity.

During Avatar Korra's youth, Republic City faced high levels of crime and an Anti-bending Revolution led by the Equalists.

History
In the aftermath of the Hundred Year War, Team Avatar, led by Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, came to an agreement with Earth King Kuei on the establishment of the Harmony Restoration Movement, which would return the Fire Nation colonies to the jurisdiction of the Earth Kingdom. One of the consequences of this action was the relocation of Fire Nation citizens from the settlements they had created over the past century. This order of removal had considerable negative demographic consequences not considered by any of the parties to the agreement. A year into the operation of the movement, Zuko withdrew his support after being accused of being a traitor, precipitating a confrontation with his friend, the Avatar.

After a narrow avoidance of war, Aang and Zuko eventually resolved this impasse by not removing the Fire Nation colonies, but regulating the balance of power by creating a fifth nation separate from the original four. This new nation would be a society open to anyone from the four nations, who would be able to reside in, and be governed by a council with representatives from each of the four nations. They named this new nation the United Republic of Nations, and established Republic City as its capital at a location in the northwestern Earth Kingdom.



With the resources of all four nations, Republic City rapidly developed into a metropolis over the next seventy years. Despite being a city directly established for political considerations rather than an evolution of an original settlement, its population and sophistication increased beyond reasonable expectation, growing the number of vagabonds around Republic City.

However, the city has not been without internal strife. Forty-two years before Avatar Korra arrived in the city, a crime boss by the name of Yakone, used a rare and outlawed ability by Katara known as bloodbending in the city, but eventually he was tried by the Council and dealt with by Avatar Aang after his escape from the City Hall.

As of 170 ASC, Republic City began to experience demographic and political problems as a direct consequence of its nature as a large city. Organized crime became rampant and an anti-bending revolution arose. The city also began facing issues with wealth inequality among the citizens. During the revolution, Amon and the Equalists threatened the city and benders, eventually using a fleet of airships to bomb the city in an attempt to gain control. Republic City was conquered again when the citizens discover Amon's secret and no one leading the revolution.

Cityscape


In contrast to the other major cities of the Earth, Republic City is a true modern urban center. The city has developed the architectural sophistication to construct taller buildings, resulting in significant high-rise development. Stylistically, the city generally incorporates traditional ornamentation with far more advanced structural techniques, but there are some departures from what is considered traditional, such as City Hall and the Pro-bending Arena. Despite this, there are still landmarks in the traditional style, such as Air Temple Island. Beneath the city there is an extensive tunnel network. The city is divided into many boroughs.

Downtown


The bustling center of the city, downtown is reminiscent of all the different elemental bending traditions in both its architecture and its population. In downtown Republic City, tall, well-crafted buildings line the cobblestoned streets, and a railroad track sits above the general populace, offering transportation to those wishing to explore the city in its entirety. This sector is representative of a cultural melting pot of shops and stands featuring goods from all three nations. It is the political, economic, and cultural center of Republic City, protected by a massive police presence carried by their headquarters and airships. Despite this, the downtown suffers from organized crime like the rest of Republic City; the Triple Threat Triad, the largest bending triad of the whole city, claims the downtown as their turf and run protection rackets in this area.

City Hall


The City Hall is a center for governance in Republic City, and is also a venue for public press conferences and gatherings, with a large square before its front doors. It is here that the new Avatar, Korra, made her maiden official appearance. While the public building has an entrance typical of traditional architecture from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, its distinctive features, a large dome and four corner towers, is certainly a new style developed after the Hundred Year War.

Police headquarters


The police headquarters, often referred to simply as "Headquarters", is the base of operations for the metalbending police, and is where criminals that were apprehended by the police are booked and jailed. The architecture of the police headquarters is comparable to that of standard Earth Kingdom buildings, with both the exterior and the interior being largely geometrical in design. Headquarters is overseen by Chief Saikhan. In front of the headquarters stands a statue of Toph Beifong.

Central City Station


Central City Station is the city's main hub of transportation, though in recent years, it has been less utilized due to the advent of the Satomobile. However, it remains a busy commercial area. At the entrance of Central City Station is a statue in the honor of Fire Lord Zuko.

Kuang's Cuisine
Kuang's Cuisine is a restaurant in downtown Republic City. They have a strict dress code for citizens who go there. It is located on the corner of two blocks where cable cars pass.

Republic City Park


Typical of other public construction achievements in Republic City, the city park is also on a large scale. Located in the city center peninsula, the city park is landscaped, with small hills, deciduous trees shading impeccably kept grass, and fine stone arch bridges. Unfortunately, due to the poverty of a large number of Republic City citizens, the city park has also become a place popular with vagabonds such as Gommu, whom Korra meets soon after her initial arrival in the city. It is known that fishing in the park is prohibited.

Air Temple Island


Located in Yue Bay, Air Temple Island is the home of Tenzin and his family, and is therefore a residence to one of the most powerful governing figures of Republic City. The temple was originally built by Avatar Aang himself. Comprised of several structures, including a large tower, several smaller buildings with blue roofs, and an open practice area, the Air Temple Island is home to the Air Acolytes, Tenzin, his wife Pema, and their four children Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan.

Aang Memorial Island


Aang Memorial Island is a small island off the coast of Yue Bay, located nearby Air Temple Island. It features a massive sculpture of Avatar Aang created by the Fire Nation some years after the end of the Hundred Year War for display in the bay of Republic City, where it would stand as a symbol of peace and goodwill. It depicts an older Aang clad in traditional Air Nomad attire, with the accompanying necklace he wore when Fire Lord Zuko announced the War's end at his coronation.

Pro-bending Arena


Pro-bending is the most popular sport in Republic City, and official pro-bending matches are held in the city's Pro-bending Arena. As a testament to the sport's popularity, this building has a golden appearance and is lit at night, making it a prominent city landmark. The arena is spacious enough to hold the pro-bending ring on which the contestants compete, a large pool of water far below the ring, and great numbers of spectators. The arena is one of the jewels in Republic City, and people from all over the world come to visit and watch the world's greatest benders compete.

After the Pro-bending Tournament was completed, the Equalists attacked this arena, leaving the roof and the pro-bending ring heavily damaged.

After the attack, in which the championship team was stripped of their bending by Amon, the arena was closed indefinitely.

Dragon Flats borough


The Dragon Flats borough is one of Republic City's sectors. It is known for being Hiroshi Sato's birthplace and active triad territory. Before a successful raid of Councilman Tarrlok's task force, it hosted an underground training facility for Equalist chi blockers.

It was also the first place where the new law that restricted non-benders to a curfew was enforced by the Republic City Police with violence, followed by mass arrests.

Republic City tunnel network


The Republic City tunnel network is a system of subterranean passages located underneath Republic City. It is a heavily complex network of tunnels, but upon first glance, the system seems to be largely unused. However, due to growing unrest among the citizens of Republic City, it has become the primary site of operations for Equalist activity. In fact, the tunnel network hosted Equalist prisons, training camps and garages.

Tower
A large tower located in downtown that allows citizens to get a clear view of a large portion of the city.

Silk Road Bridge
The Silk Road Bridge is one of Republic City's many suspension bridges. It is here that Korra, Tenzin, and Lin Beifong received information regarding Hiroshi Sato's secret factory.

Narook's Seaweed Noodlery
Narook's Seaweed Noodlery is a restaurant in the city that serves traditional Southern Water Tribe cuisine. Its noodles are advertised as the best in the United Republic.

Cabbage Corp


Cabbage Corp is the name of a company that produces automobiles. Its only known model is the Cabbage Car, a cheaper, more compact alternative to those produced by Hiroshi Sato's Future Industries. Cabbage Corp's current owner is Lau Gan-Lan.

Future Industries


Future Industries is the name of the company led and founded by Hiroshi Sato. Using state-of-the-art technology and the assembly line, the factory produces over a hundred luxury Satomobiles on a daily basis. Despite high demand, Future Industries' only known competitor is Cabbage Corp, which produces the cheaper, compact Cabbage Car.

Republic City power plant
The Republic City power plant is the main source of electricity for the city. It is fueled by firebenders using lightning generation. According to Mako, the pay for the work is pretty good.

Demographics


The population of Republic City is large by world standards, and the mass influx of immigrants from the four nations has caused considerable demographic challenges. The foremost of these challenges is inequality: the gap in wealth is considerable. Newcomers to the city appear unaware of these phenomena until their arrival, when they are presented with a considerable surprise. The Avatar herself believed its citizens to all be "living it up" and was shocked to discover vagabonds in the city park. With these difficult conditions, the populace seems ready to be stirred into a revolt against the perceived bending elite. A protestor expends relatively little effort in arousing anger in a crowd against an annoyed Korra.

As the center of commerce throughout the nations, organized crime appears to be very common in Republic City. Gangs such as the Triple Threat Triad lay claim to certain borough of the city, which they term "territories". In these areas, the control of triads appears to be considerable, with shopkeepers forced to pay them in order to secure their safety. This power over local business is significant considering the regular and frequent airship patrols by the city's police forces.

Transportation


The use of modern transportation methods such as automobiles, motorcycles, and airships is widespread in Republic City. The city also has invested considerably in advanced transportation infrastructure, with feats of engineering such as an elevated mass transit system and several suspension bridges connecting the city center with its outlying borough.

Trivia

 * The concept of Republic City is inspired by several real world past and present locations. This includes Shanghai circa 1920s, Hong Kong, and Western cities such as New York and Vancouver. In particular, the giant Aang statue, the huge park, and the bridge are inspired by the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and the Brooklyn Bridge, respectively, in New York City.
 * The rapid urbanization and technological advances of the World of Avatar mirrors that of the twentieth century in the real world, in which automobiles, towering buildings, trolleys, and other great engineering feats came to be.
 * The park in Republic City also resembles the Hyde Park in London, with its "Speaker's Corner", where anyone can stand up and speak to the public. In the Republic City Park, a man is speaking to the public with a megaphone about the Equalists' views against benders.
 * The city is divided into boroughs. The only one known is the Dragon Flats borough, home of Hiroshi Sato's family.
 * Republic City is located near Makapu Village.
 * The tower that Korra and Bolin visited resembles the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
 * The elevated railway transportation can be compared to the elevated railway system, or EL, built in Chicago during the early 1900s, and the street trolley system can be compared to San Francisco's street trolleys also built during the early 1900s.
 * Tarrlok's seizing of control over major law operations and using the police to oppress non-benders makes Republic City appear to operate like a police state.
 * It appears that during the time of Yakone's trial, Republic City's citizens were still using animals for transportation, as evidenced by the lack of automobiles and Yakone utilizing an ostrich horse carriage as a method of escape.
 * In "And the Winner Is...", a Cabbage Corp advertisement in the radio describes the company as "Republic City's trusted name in technology for over fifty years". This would mean that Republic City was, to some extent, up and running by 120 ASC, a mere twenty years after the end of the Hundred Year War.
 * It is strange to note that the only noticeable celebrities in Republic City are Pro-bending athletes, even though during the 20s, actors and actresses were becoming more prevalent in the time period.