WHY WAS KURTOW ABANDONED?
Reddin Belk, Pallad City Post
[Archived Article: Published Four Years Ago]

Looking back, the rebuilding of Kurtow seemed like a given. Kurtow, once one of Pallad City’s largest megadistricts, housed multiple economically thriving sub-districts, including the two most prominent, Daylum and Vangelos. At the time, it was unfathomable to consider a functioning Pallad City without Kurtow at the forefront—a leader in industry, finance, entertainment, and home to over two million people.

Immediately after the earthquake, many Palladians were convinced reconstruction efforts would begin within weeks. However, weeks turned to months, months to years. The daunting task and astronomical cost of rebuilding would become a political and logistical nightmare that has haunted Kurtow ever since. Today, the megadistrict is still in ruins, the only construction being a multi-sectional wall erected to segregate the Kurtow population from the rest of the city. Most Palladians are even exempt from any lingering reminders of the ruins, due to the thick smog that blankets the west section of the city, effectively masking the massive wall from sight on most days.

But was it really cost alone that resulted in the lasting abandonment of Kurtow? Naria Heft’s highly-acclaimed book, City of Ruin, points to corporate interest as a major factor that led to Kurtow’s current fate.

(Continued in Section 4C)

GunRiot. Story by Midnight. Art by Kuraikabe1990.