In science fiction it is often the case that the humans or other races have reached huge population numbers and thus have to get creative in what relates with ways to create cities and in particular enough housing for the huge amount of people. Mega cities, hive cities and many more types are often referred in literature and movies, with some of them even being under consideration by scientists and engineers, as a way to combat the current and future overpopulation issues.
My inspiration for hive cities comes mostly from those that are built by termites, towering structures with ventilation shafts being built in many areas to ensure that the entire hive is well ventilated, despite its large size.
The Empire in the Cornelivs Maximvs series has many planets that contain billions and billions of inhabitants and traditional housing and overall city organization would be impossible to perform for such large populations. Some worlds have nothing else of particular value beyond space to build cities and thus they become hive worlds, places filled with dozens of towering hive cities, each filled with billions of people.
But what exactly is a hive city? A hive city is basically a vertical city, with each higher layer being smaller than the previous, typically with poor workers living on the lower levels, along with the industrial facilities, while the rich live on the higher levels, often in spires that grow out of the main hive itself. There is a clear separation by functionality and social status and the poor workers will likely never see anything beyond the levels slightly above and below the one where they live.
Built in layers, the hive cities are essentially a very monumental way to demonstrate the feudal like organization of the imperial populations. The lower levels of the hive cities, regularly referred as the lower hive, are basically filled with those too poor to afford a house in the levels above, meaning they are the lowest of the low, often performing all sorts of illegal activities to earn enough money to feed themselves. Gangs and other criminal organizations control those levels and the police officers or members of the garrison rarely go there, unless there is an open conflict raging or some sort of uprising. Ventilation systems often face issues in purifying the air of the most crowded areas of the lower hive and many of its inhabitants learn to have a mask in hand, just in case it is needed.
The central hive is composed of housing for the industrial workers and other kinds of workers with a steady and legal job. Houses are small but typically comfortable, although those levels are rather crowded and the ventilation systems have troubles to keep the air in an acceptable level of quality, especially due to pollution from the factories.
The upper hive usually is occupied by merchants and other scarce members of the imperial middle class, living in larger houses and in less crowded levels, even though many of its inhabitants will likely still never travel much beyond the limits of the hive city itself. The headquarters of the militias garrisoning the hive are typically within the upper hive, even though fortifications of the garrison can be found in most levels below.
The top of the hive belongs to the nobles and other kinds of extremely rich members of the imperial society. Their houses typically rise above the base structure of the hive itself, in large spires and towers. The planetary governor is typically one of these nobles and the huge houses are guarded by the militias loyal to each of the noble families living there, with the planetary militia having little presence on those levels. The nobles don’t necessarily live in peace and many attempts to seize power are done through open war, rather than politics.
The outer parts of the hive cities are typically used to place defenses and fortifications for the garrison, with the intention of allowing the local forces to defend against enemy incursions or close down the hives in case of riots or the outbreak of a disease, both common events in the extremely crowded areas of the city. The forces of the garrison are often battle hardened only due to the riots and rebellions of the population, with many hive worlds being located away from active war zones.
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