Marci Square

Marci Square (Originally: Place Marci (French), Also: Marci's Square, The Square, ) is the most densely populated of the boroughs of South Blix, located on the Central Quadrant of South Blix Island. It was created as the original City of South Blix in 1813. In 2016, 26 million people lived in Marci Square, and at any time, over 3 million tourists were in the square. Over 60 million people work in Marci Square, commuting from all around the Urban Blix Area. Thus, rush hours in Marci Square tend to run from 7AM-10AM, and 3:30PM-8PM. Marci Square is described as one of the economic and cultural centres of Delongo and is known as the cultural (and economic) centre of gravity of the world. The Marci Square has an estimated GDP of over $3 trillion. It is one of the most expensive housing markets in the world. With an area of about 260km squared, it has an average density of 104,000 people per km squared; with commuters and tourists this rises to around 370,000/km2 (582,000/mile2). Marci Square attracts over 700 million tourists every year, far more than any other place on earth. It is estimated that 1/5 people on Earth have visited Marci Square. Of course, Marci Square is a borough of neighbourhoods, home to some of the most iconic neighbourhoods in history from Appalachio, the Clock District, Old Little Italy, East China, NoRo, Polar Appalachio, West Appa, Appa du Puebla, L'Oblong, PoMo, and many more.

Early History
Marci Square is home to the first settlement in South Blix, containing the oldest parts of the City of South Blix. When originally founded in 1813, Ronald Kay Blix declared it as the City of Blixe-du-Sud, on the Island of Blixe-du-Sud. By 1816, a large development began in today's Park Quadrant of the Island that was called Blix Heights. The cities were independent of each other. Other settlements began as well, all mainly serving as commuter-shed for the City of Blixe-du-Sud, which was very expensive to settle in at that time. Other settlements included Lux, Horn, Harbour View, View Point, Quad, Quad Industrial, Western, Western Industrial, Eastern, and Eastern Industrial.

At that time, Place Marci was divided into several core groups, which would evolve over time. The Northern end of the city was dense, and commercial. The centre of the city was industrial, and the Southern portion was suburbia.

In 1820, Ronald Kay Blix declared that all lands and settlements on the Island of South Blix shall be given to the City of South Blix. Thus the City of South Blix became a borough which was called Place Marci, named after RKB's wife, and the remainder of the island fell into the grasp of South Blix.

In 1825, due to a growing Anglophone population, Place Marci was given an official English translation, Marci Square, due to its new square formation since the Civil War began.

In 1873, Blixe-du-Sud became officially an English-speaking city, thus Blixe-du-Sud became South Blix and Place Marci became Marci Square.

Over a period of time from the 1820s to the 1920s, Marci Square became the epicentre both commerically and industrially for the city, and eventually for all of the Blix Regional Municipality.

Divisions
The square was until the 1950s divided into three major linguistic districts: west of Queen's St. was strongly Anglophone (Follyhall, West Appa, etc.), between Queen's Street (at times Interruption) and La Rambla was tremendously linguistically diverse, and east of La Rambla was Francophone.

In the 1950s, the linguistic divide become less prominent. Francophones created l'Oblong between The Boulevard, Ensoleilée, Moonlight, and via Cavour, and they created Petit Algiers between Appledoor, Moonlight and Lave.

East of La Rambla became more diverse as well: East China and East Japan were created in the 1960s. The Government District was created in the 1980s in was was formerly part of Appa du l'Est.

In 2005 the square was divided into 18 sub-borough districts for organizing purposes. They have since becoe the main way that Governments divide the square.

33,762,148(2018) Marci Sq. = 260km2

Reputation
Marci Square has had an evolving reputation since it existed, and has always been subject to controversial notoriety. While today it is largely viewed positively as the epicentre of Delongonian and global culture, and considering its prestige, it is a rather affordable area in most of the Square less the upper-right and Appa.

At its inception, Marci Square was a poor urban area, especially in the upper-right, with the southern portion being more rural and wealthy, but true Blixian wealth was concentrated in Blix Heights and Bankshire-- outside of the Square. This reputation was earned between the 1800s to the 1850s. The Square was the home of a majority francophone culture, concentrated in the upper-right, with a minority of immigrants from other nations. The Anglophones tended to live outside the square.

During the 1860s the Square became fully urbanized, and by the late 1860s the Square's population exceeded a million people and contained over 2/3 of the island's population. During this period, the Square was mostly populated by poor immigrants who came to Blix because they could not afford to immigrate to America, and sought to use the area's generous welfare programs. This was when the Square became known as one of the poorest regions in the country, and this reputation was sustained until the beginning of the 20th century. The white francophone majority was soon surpassed by diverse groups, with no dominant culture. Again, during this period "Marci" or "Marcis" (plural) had negative connotations, especially outside of Marci Square.

At the turn of the 20th century, emigration from America to Blix began. Blix was one of the world's largest cities with a population of over 4 million, of which 2 million were in Marci Square. The wealthy Americans settled in areas outside the Square mostly, especially Murphson and Equatorian. The Square was the site of a growing party culture, especially during WWI, when the party scene in the Square blossomed. The Square began gentrifying from a haven for immigrants into an extremely wealthy Anglophone area. The upper-right was mostly poor immigrants who lived near the city-centre, and was the home of many large party scenes and a very large red-light district. The peak of this party scene was between 1911-1936, and Blix benefitted greatly from people trying to escape conscription into WWI, growing by 2 million people during WWI. During this period "Marci" or "Marcis" (plural) as a denonym had a positive, cosmopolitan connotation.

When WWII began, Marci Square was in decline, it gained a bad reputation as a city of sin internationally, and many white Blixians began moving from the Square and often even from the island to West Blix, East Blix, or new sprawling settlements across the mainland of the UBA. Mostly poor people of colour, immigrants, and francophones remained in the Square. The Square took an industrial turn in the lower parts, while the upper-right developed around Follyhall into a financial superpower, with its workers mostly commuting from across the island and mainland into the Square rather than living and working in the Square as they had for most of its history. By the 1970s, very few wealthy people lived in the Square, and this discrepancy was racialized, with "white flight" a serious problem. Inner-city crime escalated and over-policing came with it. During this period, the term "Marci" or "Marcis" (plural) was a derogative term for a poor person living in Marci Square. This term wouldn't be reclaimed until the 2000s.

In the 1990s, the Square experienced a renaissance, which was especially prominent in the 2000s and 2010s. Marci Square returned to being a globally renowned centre of culture. This has come with the displacement of many poorer peoples, who have been displaced to places like the Lorx as Marci Square becomes increasingly expensive. However, since 2015, Marci Square has been working on quadrupling the number of public housing projects "MEGAprojects" and has emphasized affordable housing projects, especially in the upper-right.

In Popular Culture
Marci Square is featured prominently in all aspects of modern culture from radio to television, film, news, literature, and more. The DBC TV show "Marcis" documents aspects of the glorious 1920s in Marci Square.