ORIGINAL: OberonDark
Interesting's 1.04 economy thread inspired this idea.
You'll find a LOT of commerce in NYC and other big cities as compared to smaller cities. However, in DW, planets (cities) can eventually all grow to a massive size and then bring in that income. You don't see every small town turning into an NYC. The world would be insane. And it wouldn't be the positive money-flow you see in the game.
I propose that there should be advantages and disadvantages to large/urban and small/rural colonies.
I think there should be a food production value, and this could be turned into its own research area (farming/genetic plant modification)
As a basic framework, a planet's food production is inversely proportional to size/population. You would be able to "designate" food production planets (slower population growth/impose a limit/less immigration?) If you want to get deeper, designate a percentage of Urban and Rural area. Urban areas could still produce food (indoor greenhouses, etc. - Coruscant in Star Wars didn't import EVERYTHING, but most)
This would also add a strategic value. Do you attack an opponent's center of commerce and technology, or destroy his farming worlds? A comparison would be - Do you bomb Wall Street, or do you set fire to the country's farms?
Oh, and crime should be a seperate corruption value for individual planets. I don't know how that would work, but I think it would be interesting and could be used for different things.
Large/Urban
+ Centers of Commerce
+ Established Defenses (More Troops, etc.)
+ Technology Centers (Where ships are mainly produced, etc.)
- Crime Value (Mini-corruption on a planetary basis)
- Would require a lot of food
Small/Rural
+ Powerful food producers
+ Guerilla Warfare (Ground battles take far longer to resolve, takes longer to bombard)
+ Less Crime (People know each other)
+ Self Sufficient
- Much less tax income
- Does not have the population required to produce large ships
Anyone can feel free to adjust these ideas or lists.
although i see where your going with this, I personally don't like the idea. You can't compare a planet to a city. Each world would want to develop/grow as much as possible. Also there is no reason why high pop worlds could not be food exporters.
Interestingly to give a real world example:
The Dutch rank third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the United States and France, with exports earning $55 billion annually. A significant portion of Dutch agricultural exports are derived from fresh-cut plants, flowers, and bulbs, with the Netherlands exporting two-thirds of the world's total. The Netherlands also exports a quarter of all world tomatoes, and one-third of the world's exports of chilis and cucumbers.
The Netherlands is the 25th most densely populated country in the world, with 395 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,023 sq mi)—or 484 people per square kilometre (1,254/sq mi) if only the land area is counted.
