Rapture City Layout

* See also Defining_Rapture
* See also Construction of Rapture
* See also Rapture_Cityscape
* See also City_Foundation
* See also Maps
* See also Rapture_IS_A_City
* See also Cluster_naming
* See also Geography
* See also Initial_World_Composition
* See also Streets
* See also Public_Spaces_and_Accommodations
* See also TechnicalDrawings (Diagrams)
 
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Evidence Supporting My 600 Foot Baselevel Depth For Rapture
Sunlight sufficient to power photosynthesis in marine plants penetrates to a depth of approximately (~660  feet). 
We see some sky glow from some location in the Skyboxes (window views)
So if you have some 'Farms' (like kelp) in the ocean nearby they would have to be within that range.  It drops off pretty rapidly so such uses should be pretty near the Ocean surface ( the shallower parts of the Sea Mount volcano close to the surface ... )
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 Google "Underwater Habitat" :
Nearest to Rapture-like conditions was Cousteau's Con Shelf 3 ( there was a National Geographic show about it in the 1960s ), it was manned at 330 feet down, for 3 weeks (Pretty meager, but better than all the rest who didn't even get deep enough to escape sunlight, and many hardly sitting only 30 feet deep).
An Underwater Habitat's general problem was the depth effects and the decompression problems on returning to the Surface ( Cousteau's Habitat was pressurized to the depth and was open to the ocean ).
The underwater tourist Hotels are hardly any distance down - like 30 feet.
Allegedly, there is talk of building more ocean complexes that people would live in, but that is only for rich people as every bit of such a project costs many times as much as building/operating stuff on land.
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Some Parts Of Rapture Are Closer to the Ocean's Surface :
Where you can see some of the light from the Sun ( it still dims alot even through its only through 100 feet ).
Many are Industrial sites (those using alot of air - with 'snorkels' to the Ocean's surface)
Some Agricultural (sunlight for plants) possibly kelp farms ( Even floating structures for this )
Observation Area for Tourists ( Why not just go to the Lighthouse for that ? Point of : there being little to see there ??? )
Top of the Volcano/Sea Mount - One part is where the Lighthouse is perched ( very close to the Ocean's surface )
But all permanent structures would have to avoid the icebergs that wander by ( some protected by being in the leeward/downstream side of the mass of volcano nearest the surface - Already must be there or the Lighthouse would have been destroyed by them long ago ). Even when protected, waves and storms would require whatever is there to be strongly built.
The original transport mechanisms around the Lighthouse would make it a primary location for such facilities near the surface. Docks/Breakwaters/Transfer-hoists and things were there to facilitate Raptures construction. Many were removed but their foundations remain.
The tops of the tallest buildings, being only 200 ft from the surface, can see some sunlight dimly ( would likely be outshined by the many lights on the buildings ).
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Building Complexes Sprawling Sideways Are Actually Inefficient :
In Rapture's environment, with the high water pressure out in the Sea pressing in on every side, a large sprawling complex of single floored buildings is inefficient.  The roof and walls (and even the floors) have near equal pressure forcefully trying to push them inward.  Stacking two floors and making the side walls a bit taller (like 16-20 feet) gains twice the living space for significantly less that twice the building structure construction (and its expense).  Cube-ish and stubby cylindrical shapes are significantly more cost-effective. Tall thin tower shaped buildings are similarly bad, with very high wall (surface) to floor space (volume) ratio, they require more construction for the floorspace they provide.
But players are not used to constantly going up and down between floors, and representing 'levels' maps in '3D' has many Players continually confused.  Making Players walk horizontally gives the impression of distance/size to the perception.
Ryan did not have endless money, and even if certain parts of Rapture were 'wasteful' in their design, most of Rapture could not be.  So be ready to see more vertical-ness in the MMORPG.
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Sea Bed Landscaping :
Seeing rocks/boulders/seaweed visible outside many windows when you are supposed to be 20 floors up is a bit weird. Those elements normally are only visible close to the sea floor. Possibly many were decorations intentionally placed there to give the high-rise window view some interest - Sea Landscaping. Seaweed cannot grow at the typical dark city death -- lights would have to be placed to keep it growing, and probably they would need periodic pruning -- yet another business in old Rapture.
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Rapture's Environs : 
Note - normal depth of the sea - pretty deep where Rapture is. Good thing it is build on the side of an ancient volcano that sticks way up from that ambient seabed level.
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Diagram of the Island Surtsey a underwater volcano that grew above the surface off Iceland in 1963. The water depth on the continental shelf there is around 100 meters (~300 feet), versus the much deeper area Rapture is located in ??????? 2000-6000 feet
That contour slope under the water is about 1 in 5 ( around Rapture it might be similar or a bit less if it has 'settled' and eroded over millennium ).
A larger Map showing the volcano 'Sea Mount' crater containing Rapture ( largely the top half with the rest descending down to that Ocean area's deep sea floor ).
Rapture is located within a depression left by a collapse magma chamber of the ancient volcano. The collapse was off center and left a higher northern edge close to the surface as well as a very deep chamber (the Abyss) in the center.
Layers of different volcanic deposits account for some of Raptures City building patterns - with softer ash/rock layers in some places (bad for proper foundations), and good solid igneous lava flows in others. Subsequent erosion/settling formed some irregular contours.
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Rapture's Rough Size :
Rapture is roughly the size of the south end of Manhattan island ( with an extent of about 5 square miles ) Pix But with a much lower population density ( Manhattan has ~70000 residents per square mile, which is several times Rapture's supposed full population of 20000 - 40000 people ). In various 'window' views we saw large exzpanses between clusters of buildings.
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So Much More of Rapture :
We only saw a tiny part of the city (within ALL of the games), and likely Atlas led us (Jack) through the worst of it ( areas Ryan did not much control ). Other areas could have huge numbers of unaffected people still living ( where did all the food for those semi-crazy Splicers in the areas WE went through come from ? ), and quite a bit less destroyed.
The Player saw so little of Rapture (the insides), and even tin he buildings you walked through you saw little of what was within them ( floors above/below, blocked doors, utility areas - lots and lots of hiding places ).
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