City levels in Beneath A Steel Sky

[Felix Speagel]

Hi,

recently I's playing ye oldie version of Beneath A Steel Sky and, during playing it, one question was coming to me all the time:

Why "rags" live at the top and "riches" on the bottom?

To me it wouldn't make sense. Of course one explanation would be that the city's top is filled with pollution, but it would affect both those living at the top and the bottom.
Also, in the game the bottom looks like if was more sunny than the top, which also is rather strange 
If I's making this game I'd put "rags" at the bottom, because, in such a big and tall city, the sunlight would not reach bottoms. Also, think of all that garbage people on higher levels
would drop "out of hand" to the lower levels (an issue that hasn't been taken in BaSS too).

I'm curious if You also have wondered about this design of the City     Just please don't D-LINC me for this post

Oh, and also: welcome everybody on this forum! 

[Snarky]

Probably because they thought the idea of the rich living above the poor was overdone, so they decided to turn it around. The in-game justification is that there's more pollution higher up under the dome.

[KyriakosCH]

Game over Felix. Be Vigilant!

[Creamy]

Why "rags" live at the top and "riches" on the bottom?

To me it wouldn't make sense.

I wouldn't be so categorical. Many fictional works use the "higher=richer" trope as an easy metaphor (Metropolis, The King and the Mocking Bird...) but it's not always true in real life.

Traditionally, the "noble floor" was the first floor. In many old buildings, the more ornamented flats with higher ceilings are located at this floor.
Nowadays, the lower flats can still be more expensive than the higher ones if a building doesn't have an elevator (sometimes there's not enough room to install one)  or if it's insufficient for all the residents.
Privative gardens at ground floor can also drive up prices.

[selmiak]

the gardens. And a way to escape and get out of the metallic structures is nearer at the bottom. Though when you are privileged you might not even want to escape and keep the working class prisoners up there where they cannot survive when they jump down...