New District, Kien-k'ang
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New District, Kien-k'ang (新里, sjing-rje′) is an administrative district and neighbourhood in Kien-k'ang, encomapassing around 104 hectares to the city's west and slightly north of its equator. It adjoins the High Woods to its east, the Flight District to its north, Tsikw to its south, and Kan-bing to the west.
New District was, until the early 19th century, part of the High Woods, a large royal forest within the walled city. During the reign of Emperor Ng'jarh, the royal house desperately needed a new source of income after most of its agricultural and industrial operations failed in competition with private enterprise. As a result, a group of wealthy merchants bought the section of High Woods that became New District on a 30-year instalment plan in 1843. The sale greatly surprised the gentry, who could not believe the throne would part with an iconic piece of royal property, especially on instalments; this generated much interest from the aristocracy to build houses there, especially in the newer Casaterran style, which was taking the court by storm at that time.
The merchants thus subdivided the land into plots of roughly-equal size that would support, in contemporary terms, a lifestyle that approximated Casaterran elites, particularly those in Anglia and Lerchernt and Sieuxerr. A private act of parliament was passed, with virtually no opposition in either chamber, in 1847 prohibiting subdivision of land within the district that its new residents believed would detract from the "country house" theme of the neighbourhood. Soon, rules establishing a local committee, supply of fresh water, and maintenance of roads were also passed by Parliament. This string of private acts distinguished New District from other residential neighbourhoods and generated even greater interest, that all the plots were sold by 1851.
Today, New District is often considered one of the most prestigious neighbourhoods in Kien-k'ang. Statistically, its median household income is around $1 million in 2000 and continues to rise at a slow pace. Amongst administrative districts, this is the highest in the city and exceeds that of the next-highest by around $400 thousand. The average house price is $8.9 million in 2010, according to transactions in the previous ten-year interval. This is also much higher than the average in the city, but not as high when the physical size of the houses are considered. While a 100 m² apartment is normal and proximal to average, many of the houses in New District are over ten times as spacious and situated on even larger plots.
The Themiclesian social season, in imitation of Casaterran analogues, originally concentrated in the central midtown district where many aristocrats had their estates. The season was organized around a calendar where families and clubs hosted the social-cum-political elite in turn, that historian A. Gro called it the "party calendar". These parties were where political ideas were disseminated, patronage distributed, and electoral tactics agreed upon for much of the late 19th century. Since the 1860s, New District expanded into the High Woods several times to make space for new lots. In 1870 alone, seven peers moved from their midtown residences into the neighbourhood.
To own property in New District was also a statement of legitimated success and social access in 19th-century Themiclesia, even if one did not regularly live there. As the residents formed a committee, a large majority could pressure individuals to refuse to sell their houses to a wealthy newcomer, if he fell afoul of the highly-politicized community's expectations. A property on the district, for the most part, allowed the proprietor to put his name on the social calendar and meet a large number of influential individuals, of whom "govenment ministers were only an earshot away". It has been argued that many prime ministers spent far more time developing support in the social season than reading state papers.
New District's residents crossed party lines and represented interests from agriculture, manufacturing, international commerce, the academia, local notables, and even diplomats. Even though party relations were often tense, particularly during the 1840s and 50s, a two-party system is thought to be normal by the next decade. Some historians think the social calendar was emblematic of the stabilizing politcal order and the acceptance of an official opposition. A. Gro says, "If notables all had fixed orientations and narrow platforms like they frequently did in the early 19th century, then the social calendar would have been of little utility to politicians seeking to convert others... The emergence of a political "middle ground" is well-reflected by a bustling social calendar attended by freshly-minted notables, so that politicians could court them and their following, whether it be employees, partners, or even readers."