City of Havana

Famous ReNDoG statue on the savanna hill of Havana

Havana was a prominent city in the Survival 2 world. It was founded on September 2^nd 2017, the same day the Survival 2 world was launched. It is located ~1500 blocks south of Spawn and can be easily reached via the railway track departing from Spawn Station. In Havana you’ll arrive at Grand Central Station which is the centre of the SRN and the NTN. Havana also provided the basic needs for the starting player: food, wood, stone, maps (Great Survival Map project), enchanting, etc.

Style

The stylistic objective of Havana was to create a urban, dense and 'lived-in' city with a summery and welcoming atmosphere. There is no intention to replicate real life Havana, but several aspects have been used as inspiration.

Building topography regulations are in place to achieve this:

• Buildings must be built without gaps between them, unless otherwise discussed. Frequently, blind walls are required.
• Buildings must consider their surrounds before themselves.
• Multi-story buildings are recommended.
• Green-space should be limited and deliberate - 'spare' space should be occupied by urban features.

Aesthetic ideas are suggested to achieve this:

• Modern era - 19th and 20th century architecture.
• 21^st century, Art Deco, or Neo-Gothic elements may fit.
• Bright colours! Usually, through terracotta or concrete.
• Warm and summery palette/elements. Eg. Sandstone, parrots, palm trees, etc.

City Management

Havana had a unique management style and citizenship process. The city was founded on being holistic and inclusive. These principles manifested in many ways.

Decisions were made considering as many opinions as possible, which meant that discussions were usually long and extensive. This ensured that the city was created cohesively, but discussion often became exhaustive and left members temporarily demotivated. Havana was occasionally criticized for being too slow to react or too bureaucratic.

The citizenship process involved creating a public build and making sure it fit the city. This often involved discussion on the build itself, then a design process in creative, before the build was made in Survival 2. The process was a heavy ask for new citizens compared to the processes of other cities. No fee was in place to start building, which meant that there was a low barrier to entry to start an application, but a high barrier to finish that application. The result was many unfinished or slightly unsatisfactory builds throughout the city, which would take extra effort from mayors to fix.

Ultimately, the management practices of the city meant a lot of extra work for citizens and council/mayors, but it is unlikely that the unique feel of the city would be present without them.

History

Conception

Havana was conceptualized in June 2017 primarily by _edo, with Brianetta and darparniox. The city was born as a response to the wider Spawn area, after the trio held frustrations during the building of Spawn Station as a SRN delegation. Havana was intended to be a much more practical and cohesive settlement than Spawn.

Very first sketch of Havana layout, by _edo, in June 2017

Plans for the city centre were refined and building styles experimented with in the following month. Skelleton123 and then Aeghu were recruited in this process and the city centre was almost entirely finalized by mid-August and ready for Survival 2 launch.

Early Days and the New Year

Survival 2 launched on the 2^nd of September and construction of the city began immediately. The central plaza, Noob Square, and a temporary base underneath was the first to be built. The iconic 'Ren on a hill' statue, Grand Central Station, and Havana City Hall were all complete or close to it nearing the end of September. Activity had begun in the desert industrial area of the city. Two iron farms were built by marbou9, who became the first citizen of the city and would join the city council soon after.

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Havana in mid September

Before the end of the year, the recognizable Promenade was built, as well as the beginnings of the city block alongside it, with many urban builds, such the El Floridita cafe. Three brothers, herocreep221, heroblaze224 and ScaryMJDiamcreep built an awkward cookie factory in the north which was remedied somewhat by a design overhaul. A zoo further west had been laid out with some inhabitants, bathhouses built, and the first embassy of the world built by the Akkaran mayors.

The initial Havana builders team

Building activity was steady but slowly declining in the following four months. Large builds included botanical gardens that were built next to the zoo, the SRN's Headquarters in the city centre, Havana Library opened, as well as the Art Museum with all minecraft paintings.

Post Base-tour Rush

First server base tours for Survival 2 with ReNDoG were recorded on the 21ˢᵗ of April. The Havana base tour was the first video to be released onto Youtube on the 24ᵗʰ and created one of the biggest new player rushes in server history. Much of the attention of was on Havana itself and the city became a hive of activity from new and existing players, and buildings under construction at any one time exceeded five for weeks. The resulting months builds included significant expansion to the western roadside and police, hospital and fire buildings, the addition of the slums, two roman builds in the east, Great Survival Map building, a large hotel at the northern end of the city, Havana map art gallery, what is believed to be the server's first phantom shelter, and water treatment facility, among other builds. During this time, a writing competition was also run through the Havana Library, by Sam_Argos.

Westgate road buildings, during the base-tour rush

Through June, July and August activity steadied but was still constant, as newer citizens grew into the city community. During this period, much of city activity was catch-up work and tying loose ends from the previous busy period.

Later Stages and Survival 3

The latter stages of the Survival 2 world saw a revival of activity from the older members of the city, adding to and generally finishing up old projects. The Havana fortress was expanded and walls built, and the Department Store finally furnished. A long-planned post office was built, and several city blocks received buildings with the intention of completing them. The large minecraft version building was constructed as well as most of the cathedral opposite the fortress. A long time after the other two had been banned, the final cookie company brother resurfaced and caused angst among the city council, which was partially resolved with trust arrangements. A treasure hunt was held to mark the 1ˢᵗ anniversary of the city, with good attendance.

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View of the completed 'post-office' block

Activity in the city continued until the final day of Survival 2. The Hydropolian embassy was completed only 12 hours before the closure of the world. Final goodbyes were sent and citizen pictures were made on impromptu seating in the final week.

A small handful of citizens at the end of Survival 2