The founding of New Angeles might have started from Jack Weyland's plans to build the Space Elevator following his acquisition of land around the Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve in Ecuador. With great advancements in clean fusion technology, helium-3 was rapidly becoming a prized resource. There was a great abundance of it on the moon but its extraction was considered difficult unless an easy bridge to space could be built. Jack Weyland spearheaded an initiative to make that possible, fueled by his great ambition and vast wealth.
Construction of the Space Elevator wouldn't begin for another 25 years near Mount Cayambe. Many expected the project to fail but ten years later, the great feat of engineering was completed. The Space Elevator would be known around the world as 'The Beanstalk'. Prior to its completion, the United States of America and Ecuador would sign the Quito Accord, which leased 600,000 square miles of land to establish the Special Economic Zone of Ecuadorian New Lost Angeles. Many know this territory as the megacity, New Angeles.
The lease is slated to end by the end of the current century.
Official Name: Special Economic Zone of Ecuadorian New Los Angeles
Sovereignty: Unincorporated Territory of the United States of America
Population: Over 500,000,000 (officially registered, possible near equal amount unregistered)
Land Area: 62,000 km2
Demographics: 22% Latinx, 19% White, 14% Black, 9% Indigenous / Mestizo, 9% Asian, 23% Multiracial, 5% Other
Android/Simulant Population: Approximately 10 million
Government: City Council and Mayor
Current Mayor: Alice Delgado
Since its founding, New Angeles would become the United States' most successful territory as one of the most important economic centres in the world. Many megacorporations have released the importance of New Angeles and would migrate their base of operations to the city. The "Big Four" megacorporations Haas-Bioroid, Jinteki, NBN and the Weyland Consortium all have an immense foothold here. Special business-friendly provisions thanks to the local governments have allowed these businesses to operate with great freedoms and allowed them to grow at an unprecedented rate.
In addition to its diverse demographic, the city is made up of several walks of life which include those who are mostly natural human, cyborg, genetically modified (g-mod), clones, bioroid and those who are from Luna or beyond. Life in New Angeles is divided into blocks, neighbourhoods and districts. While there could be a great difference between each section of city life found in the same space, it still remains very divided by class and association. This is perhaps especially obvious when the city is viewed vertically where the poor are often found at ground level in the shadow of great buildings and the rich (known often as risties) live high above on elevated streets. Some risties may never need to leave their homes with everything provided to them under their acology structures.
New Angeles is officially made up of twelve districts, eleven on Earth and one on Luna. Each district is equal to the size of an individual city, although there could be a great difference in cultures, economics, population density and city funding. The government recognizes the laborious efforts necessary to manage the city and allows each city to manage itself by individual administration. Each city has its own district council, zoning board and public service management. The district manager, appointed by the mayor’s office, oversees this difficult task. The districts on Earth are Chakana, Base de Cayambe, Rutherford, Laguna Velasco, Nihongai, Esmeraldas, Rabotgorod, Manta, La Costa, Quinde and Guayaquil. The district of Heinlein is found on Luna, barely connected by the way of the Beanstalk.
The city has survived the Lunar Insurrection and Martian extremists 15 years ago, several android protest riots and even an economical crash. After several years of service, Ignacio Wells had stepped down as mayor and Alice Delgado had been elected to take his place. Delgado vows to further New Angeles's prosperity and pave a way forward for its citizens by bettering the quality of life. One of her ambitious projects in the office is the expansion of Heinlein on Luna, bridging the lunar colony closer to the city by association.