Pokenomics - Violet City (and Outlying Landmarks)

Name: Violet City
Notable Urban Features: Violet City Gym, Sprout Tower, Earl's Academy
Notable Rural Features: Dark Cave, Ruins of Alph, Mr. Pokemon's Laboratory

Case 1: Cultural Exploration and Education
Violet City is very much a historical and anthropological epicenter among cities in the Johto region. Both the Ruins of Alph and the Sprout Tower have stood for centuries in-series, with frequent visits by researchers to better understand the arrangement of each structure.

For example, the Ruins of Alph are arranged in such a way to be ceremonial in nature, but also functional for agricultural purposes. In fact, there seem to be many parallels to the Chaco Anasazi (CE 700 - CE 1300). This was a North American civilization which made the transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist, and proceeded to build a network of urban epicenters connected using a vast roadway system (this will be very important later). The Anasazi were ultimately wiped out when drought and ecological blunder led to massive deforestation and starvation.

The architectural setup of Sprout Tower (called "jūkōzō"), meanwhile, reflects the real-world dilemma of creating high-rise buildings to be earthquake-resistant. This is further examined in future iterations of the game (HeartGold/SoulSilver), where the internal beams are surrounded with a highly flexible, crosshatched series of wooden planks. Though it is largely Japanese in nature, the high-rise preference is very much in the realm of something the Anasazi would do.

In a modern context, one of the primary purposes of Violet City as an economic hub is to investigate and apply technologies of the past with newer, cheaper materials. It would make a lot of sense to plop down a great Library or University in this type of city compared to other cities in the region.

Case 2: Inter-regional Transport
The region surrounding Violet city is presented with a rather interesting problem. While there is a great intersection of highways to the west (with connections to Goldenrod City, Azalea Town, Ecruteak, and Olivine City), to the east is a completed connector to Cherrygrove City, New Bark Town... and that's it. There are two one-way land routes to get from Blackthorn City to Cherrygrove City. However, no such reverse route exists.

A rather pleasant "What If" would be to create a bi-directional tunnel through the existing Dark Cave route. Throw down some concrete and light fixtures and you'd have an underground analogue to Kanto's cycling road. Now that's something I feel could be really efficient!