Westhaven

Westhaven
City
Central Westhaven from above
Flag
Country	Borland
Yend	Borish Lowlands
Government
• Body	Westhaven Steadcouncil
• Mayor	Anthony Millfield (WPB)
Area
• Total	315 km2 (122 sq mi)
Dimensions
• Length	21 km (13 mi)
• Width	16 km (10 mi)
Elevation	7 m (23 ft)
Population  (2020)
• Total	537,000
• Density	1,700/km2 (4,400/sq mi)
Postal code	List of postal codes 0201 0202 0203 0204 0205 0206 0207 0208 0209
Area code	020
Website	www.westhaven.bo

Westhaven (/ˈwɛstˌheɪvən/ or ~/ˌhɑːvən/; Borish pronunciation: [ˈwɛstˌhɑːvən]) is a city in Borland. It is located by the mouth of the River Aire on the coast of the Gulf of Assonaire in the Borish Lowlands, near the border with Estmere. With a population of 537 thousand, Westhaven is the second-largest city in Borland, behind Newstead. The port of Westhaven is the primary port of Borland. It is close to Dunwich, one of the largest ports in Estmere.

The city’s history is linked to its status as a port. It was first founded as a river port on the River Aire several kilometres inland in the 8th century. In the early 9th century, it was destroyed during a Marauder raid and rebuilt closer to the coastline. Later in the 9th century, the area was under the Marauder kingdom of Dunhelm. By the end of the 10th century, the Marauder kingdom fell apart, although Marauder raids continued into the 11th century. In the Middle Ages, the city underwent a cultural shift from Hethish to Swathish and later to Estmerish. Notably, the city developed an Estmerish-speaking ruling class that became the basis of Estmerish high culture in Borland. In 1630, the Count of Dyrham moved his family’s seat to Westhaven, further cementing the city’s role in the Lowlands. During the industrial revolution, the city grew rapidly, more than tripling its population during the 19th century. It became the centre of industry and railways in southern Borland. Much of the city was destroyed during the Great War. After the War, Westhaven was the only city in the Lowlands to only narrowly vote in against Borish independence.

Today, Westhaven remains one of the primary economic centres of Borland, hosting the country’s national bank, stock exchange alongside its largest port. Within the Borish Lowlands metropolitan area, Westhaven is the main economic, political and cultural centre. Westhaven is often seen as one of the centres of the Estmerish language and culture within Borland, being the largest Estmerophone city in the country.

Geography

Westhaven is located in the Borish Lowlands in the southeast of Borland. It lies by the mouth of the River Aire on the coast of the Gulf of Assonaire. The city is bordered by Norstead, Yerham, Hull-on-Aire, Millham-Ladbatch, Tarnick, Nimmerstead and Dunhelm. It is located on the opposite side of the bay from Dunwich. The city is very flat, lying 7 metres above sea level, and most of it lies less than 5 metres above sea level. This is particularly true for the most densely-inhabited areas of the city, many of which lie between 2 to 4 metres above sea level. Burron Hill is the highest elevation in Westhaven at 65 metres above sea level.

The local climate is coastal and temperate. The city is often stereotyped as the rainiest city in Borland, although average yearly rainfall is only marginally larger than in cities in central Borland and is in fact lower than in several cities in North Hethland.

Politics

Local politics

The steadcouncil of Westhaven currently is governed by a coalition of the Worker's Party and Centrum with support from the Democratic Party and the Green Alliance. The current mayor is Anthony Millfield (WPB).

Traditionally, the largest political party in Westhaven was the Worker’s Party (WPB), followed by the Conservative Party (CPB). Since the mid-1960s, Centrum (CN) also gets a considerable share of the vote, followed by The New Side (TNS) in the 1970s. In 2011, the New Left (nL) was founded in Westhaven, where it continues to have the highest share of votes among any Borish city.

Transport

Roadways

Westhaven is one of the few cities in Borland which realised post-War plans to construct a ring road and a series of arterial roads almost fully. In addition to a multi-lane ring road around the city centre, there was supposed to be a motorway ring as well as a motorway passing through the city centre, although of these, only parts have been realised. Only the northern and eastern parts of the motorway ring have been built and the A1 that was supposed to cross the city centre in north-south direction ends on both ends of the ring road.

Railways

The first railway line in Borland was built in Westhaven from the port to the city centre in the 1820s. In the following decades, Westhaven saw itself at the centre of a railway construction boom in which several companies competed on some of the main corridors. For example, five different companies built five different railway lines between Westhaven and Newstead, which still remain in operation to this day.

Tramways and light rail

Main article: Tramways in Westhaven

The first tram line in Westhaven opened in 1856. By the turn of the century, the tram network covered all corners of the city, included multiple interurban lines and had grown to one of the most extensive networks in Estmere. Between 1895 and 1904, the entire network was electrified. Until the eve of the Great War, the network was continuously expanded, with all expansion plans and most active constructionwork being halted with the outbreak of the War. Until June 1929, the trams in Westhaven remained in operation without major disruptions, although weeks of fighting within the city during June caused major damage to the network. After the War, the reconstruction of the tram network was ordered, although some lines had been replaced by motorbusses by the time the reconstruction was deemed complete in 1940. Roughly a third of tram services were replaced with busses after that point, especially between 1960 and 1970. The construction of a metro line further caused the closure of several tram lines. With the initial plans for a metro and later plans for a light rail network, the tram network was split into several parts.

Today, Westhaven operates three separate networks with only limited interoperatability: the historic metre-gauge tramway network, a high-floor standard gauge (1500 mm) network that behaves partially like a tram, partially like light rail and partially like a metro, and a low-floor standard gauge (1500 mm) network.

Waterways

The port of Westhaven is the largest cargo port in Borland. After having been relocated several times throughout the centuries, it has been on the coast to the northwest of the city centre since the early 19th century. Until the 1940s, the port of Westhaven was competing with the ports of Dunhelm and Norstead, although these declined after Borish independence. Since then, its most direct competitor is the port of Dunwich on the Estmerish side of the bay.

Innercity ferry services used to operate on the River Aire from the 1820s until 2010. Since then, the only ferry services in Westhaven are those operating to international destinations.

Airports

The first airfield for commercial passenger flights in Westhaven was opened between Westhaven and Dunhelm in 1935. After Borish independence, it was renamed Westhaven/Dunhelm International Aeroport as its previously regional destinations in Estmere were now classified as international flights. In 1962, it was decided to build a replacement for Westhaven/Dunhelm outside of Tarnick, as the old airport was no longer able to deal with increased demand for air travel. The Westhaven/Tarnick International Aeroport opened in 1976, although the smaller airport in Dunhelm stayed open until 1983. From its opening until 2012, the airport in Westhaven/Tarnick was consistently the second most used airport in Borland behind Newstead International. In 2012, Stunhill/Trent International overtook it.

Demographics

Languages

Primary language in Westhaven (2020)

  Estmerish (61.86%)

  Estmerish and Borish (29.79%)

  Borish (6.03%)

  Other (2.32%)

As in much of the Borish Lowlands, the main language of Westhaven is Estmerish, although the Borish language has a strong presence. The presence of Borish in education and politics is increasing since Borish independence in 1938, although the role of Borish as a primary language has only increased since the late 20th century. Since at least the 1970s, the proportion of those who actively use both Estmerish and Borish on a daily basis outside of the education system has increased from 9.5% to 29.8%. This trend is likely to continue in the future, as a majority of older people only uses Estmerish regularly, whilst a plurality of those aged 15 to 25 use both Estmerish and Borish regularly. Although most Westhaven residents speak Estmerish natively (85%), the share of Borish native speakers (16%) is rising.

The dialect of Estmerish spoken in Westhaven forms a bridge between the dialects of Estmere and the other Estmerish dialects of Borland. As in other parts of Borland, /æ/ is realised as [a] and the foot-strut split is absent (meaning that both foot and strut are pronounced with an [ʊ]) except for some higher-register speech. Uniquely within Borland, most Westhaven Estmerish is non-rhotic, with /r/ being realised as [ɹ] or [ɾ] when it is pronounced. The Westhaven dialect of Estmerish has been affected significantly more by dialect levelling than other Lowlands Estmerish dialects, with some typically Lowlander features being rare in Westhaven.

Hethish and Swathish used to be spoken in Westhaven until the mediæval period, when the Hethish language was pushed increasingly further to the east by Swathish, which eventually was replaced by Estmerish. Since the 19th century, there has been a small number of people who claim Swathish as their native language, although it is likely not a direct continuation of local dialects since the Middle Ages, but rather more recent immigration from other Swathish-speaking areas.