User:Vivaporius/Viva's Nation/III

Housing
Mikaean housing is highly structured and organized by the state due to the specific characteristics of the population it caters to. Due to the rapid population growth and long periods of demographic plateaus encountered within the country, all housing is directly supplied by the state to ensure that all of the Highfather's children are provided with sufficient protection from the elements. Every housing unit is built around the coterie, the Mikaean equivalent of a family, though significantly larger and with vastly different method of formation and operation. Each coterie has a maximum capacity of fourteen individuals (one matron, one guardian, three keepers, and nine wards), and thus each housing unit is furnished with enough space and utilities to provide for single coterie at maximum size. Due to the rapidly shifting demographics of the Mikaegeny, whenever estimates of the population are made by the government each year, the population is determined by the number of available housing units within each district, and compared to previous estimates, recent events, and the Highfather's spawning records, and compiled into a rough draft of the surmised population at that time. The population of a city with 100,000 available housing units will be multiplied by the standard size of a complete coterie of fourteen Mikaeans, leading to a total of 1.4 million as determined by the state.

Housing unit layout
The housing units occupied by various coteries depends largely on the location of that unit and the planned economy of the urban center itself. Mining centers aren't expected to hose vast numbers of people, and are thus built with low-density housing, while large cities with diverse economies are equipped with high-density housing units. For example, coteries with executive or administrative positions in the downtown locations of a major city, generally reside in "A6C" housing units, or large cross pattern towers with 48 floors capable of housing up to six coteries per floor, for a total of 4,032 residents per building.

Housing classification
All residential units within the Mikaegeny adheres to a strict classification code that ensures the proper distribution of housing to all of the coteries of the country. Drawn up by the Highfather himself, the housing unit classification system utilized by the civil engineers of the country is strictly adhered to. Every coterie in the Mikaegeny has a maximum allowable size of fourteen individuals, and is the sole meaning of the term "coterie" in any publications referring to the number of residents per unit. The system of classification is detailed below:

Discrimination
Historically, the Mikaegeny has suffered from rampant housing discrimination throughout the entirely of the country. Because of the manner in which housing lots are assigned or successfully petitioned for, it is incredibly difficult, if not outright impossible, for a coterie to move from one unit to another. High-grade housing near the center of an urban center is usually reserved for the eldest coteries in the city, or for those with the funds to pay for advanced promotion to a superior residential unit beyond the usual consideration of the age of the members and the coterie itself. The latter typically means that only the wealthiest of coteries are able to "jump ahead" of the standard age requirements, and attain better living conditions compared to the rest of their sisters. Housing for juvenile coteries is typically poorly-built, constructed from shoddy materials, or far from the higher quality services and utilities accessible to the more senior Mikaeans in the city centers housing with poor insulation.

These younger coteries are also placed in low-density housing, which is usually built of cheaper materials in the majority of cities, with the expectation that the coteries assigned to them are responsible for maintaining the housing unit. Consequently, poorer coteries find themselves eating the majority of the costs for maintaining their own homes, while their wealthier counterparts receive full maintenance support supplied by the state. The original understanding was that due to the centralized nature of Mikaean reproduction, city and town populations are bolstered by new arrivals rather than local growth, and thus housing lots are built for habitation ahead of time, with the coteries assigned to the lot expected to maintain the property independently using their own funds, as the state may not or cannot provide services year-round or in a timely manner based on the location and resources of the area. As such, small towns, rural centers, and mining communities all possess the same run-down appearance due to the state's refusal to invest the necessary resources required to bring them up to the same standards as found in the better-off cities and metropolitan areas.

Attempts to resolve the issue to some extend did take place in the past, when the Voice of the Highfather for the Equal Distribution of Housing was tasked with resolving the housing crisis in the ten largest cities of the Mikaegeny. The effort was somewhat successful in clearly out any sub-par residential units in those cities, but many were replaced with structures akin to the housing projects of many human countries, where conditions remained poor and housing cramped. The Highfather did not intervene, addressing the matter as being a "by-product of overpopulation, low living space, and a strained industrial sector", and recalled his assigned Voice to the issue once the primary goals had been achieved. Ultimately, it was concluded that the coteries effected weren't worth the time or effort required to resolve the main issue of sub-standard housing, and were by nature and design, not expected to advance socially or financially to invest such limited resources in their well-being in the first place.

Possible homelands

 * Mikaea: Fictional landmass located off the western coast of Canada; island chain consisting of about five or more large islands based on a height map generated in Fractal Terrains. Land area is 56,109.46 km^2 (land only); rugged and heavily-forested, with a high precipitation rate due to location at the center of a large weather cloud in the Pacific Ocean.
 * Mascarene Plateau: Submarine plateau located in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar and north of Mauritius. Approximately 116,722.58 km^2; largely flat and hilly with a granite base. Surrounded by a cool ocean current in the west and a warm current in the east, keeping the temperatures on the mainland warm and pleasant throughout the year. Island is largely tropical, akin to Hawaii or Samoa, with heavy rainfall and thick clouds throughout the year. Cyclones common in the region.
 * The Guianas: TBD
 * Zealandia: TBD