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Temporal Drift of Fictional City Population Growth Rates
This statistic delves into the demographic evolution of cities as depicted in public domain books. We analyse narrative descriptions to determine the average population growth rate of these fictional urban centres per decade.
Our data is derived from direct literary analysis, requiring careful parsing of individual fictional works. This unique approach allows us to quantify trends in how authors envision their settings developing over time. By aggregating these growth rates, we gain insights into the implicit or explicit economic and societal trajectories assigned to these imagined places.
Understanding this temporal drift offers a novel perspective on narrative world-building. It reveals patterns in how authors construct believable and evolving societies, and can highlight underlying assumptions about urban development and progress within different literary traditions. This metric provides a unique lens for exploring the architecture of fictional economies and societies.