Some of the things that I have done to do this city building that have worked for me are:

• Looking at it from a bird’s-eye perspective, what are your city’s most important areas? Is it a temple, a market, an apartment complex, a palace? What would be essential to describe best to the readers and create an anchor for them?
• When creating this area, we need to consider what society looks like—if there is a rigid social structure, how will that be reflected in the city?
• Is there a religion? Administration?
• What are the buildings made of? Why are they made this way?
• Is the city well thought out, or is it chaos because of limited resources or building on top of an older city?
• Are parts of your city not usable, or are they limited to manufacturing?
• After considering these central aspects of the city, we can add more details about how people get around, the overall atmosphere, etc.

For instance, in my next book, I really wanted to capitalize on the fact that there is a social structure in place. This way, when it comes to explaining the different areas of the city, the dichotomy between social classes is even more prominent.

If everything around you broke down, and society had to rebuild, what would be the central pillar to establishing a community? Would it be race, religion, political ideology, age, sex, money (now without value), resources, or something else?

What would the future look like to you? Would it be worth survival?