Hive city

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A hive city is a massive city often featured in science fiction, with a population concentration of over a million inhabitants a cubic mile. The city can come in many forms, of towering arcologies and countless layers, even forming a many mile thick urban block, in some cases covering the entire planet as an ecumenopolis. Hive cities (many miles in area and depth) are characterized by upper, wealthy and governmental layers resting over a large area of regular citizenry while deep below lies a sealed off section characterized by anarchy, mutants, and crime.

Various literary 'worlds' that have hive cities are Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, Chung Kuo and many others, however some are not referred to as hive cities such as Coruscant from Star Wars. Necromunda, Holy Terra and the cities of Armageddon are classic examples of the hive cities featured in Warhammer 40,000.