@TheEdVerse Hey Ed, the question came up recently and I checked the numbers. In City of Splendors there was a map according to which Waterdeep is ~5,7 mi² (~14,8 km²). Yet it has like 1,3 Million citizens. I live in Hamburg, Germany with 1,8 Million citizens on 755,09 km². Population density is usually higher in Europe then in the US. But,… ahh… where do all these Waterdhavians live? Or is the City bigger then previously imagined?
— Sascha Morlok (@modgamers) January 29, 2022
Most Waterdhavians live in rented rooms above shops (often 3 or 4 floors). Density is high. But see the FRCS: population of the city proper is 132,661, but Waterdeep has an “official” pop of 1,347,800, due to the Deep-ruled farmlands around the city (40 miles out). Folk with means and lifestyle to do so often relocate south for the winter months (so population totals dip). The "comfortable" built capacity of the city proper is likely around 225,000 (meaning, housing stock could hold that many without rebuilding/expansion).#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 29, 2022
So we have to think of the “City State” of Waterdeep not as a literal State that ends and the city wall, but more in the sense of a Greek City State, that usually own many of the surrounding area and smaller villages. Oh, yes. From the outset, Waterdeep needed "open land" for caravans to assemble and disassemble, linking with the deepwater port. Then warehouses, and all of that, very much including granaries and paddocks. The vicinity is well-watered, but the food always has to…#Realsmlore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 29, 2022
…come from somewhere. The guards for the early encampments and stockpiled goods patrolled well beyond bowshot to curb surprise bandit raids and monster attacks. From the moment the Deep was a governed area, it defended a "home ring" of surrounding farms.#Realsmlore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 29, 2022