Dubbed the "Venice of Mars", UTAREK is intended to be the key trading center for this galactic region.  Like the Venice of old (which was itself a city-state), UTAREK is the prime agent for the newly opened and expanded trade routes to the nearby asteroid belts and beyond.

Boasting three primary towers which stretch almost a mile in height each, UTAREK establishes a commanding presence on the vast martian landscape.

UTAREK's Venetian Ancestry is further enhanced by its extensive city wide canal system, which winds its way in and out of the city proper.  These canals not only serve as one of the city's most venerable site, but also serve as the prime cooling agent for the city's vast air conditioning systems.

For long range planning, the city has been divided into three major districts or URBYNES.  These Urbynes are composed of a series of towers and structures which, like the boroughs of Earth cities, form sub-cities within the CIVTERRA.

In establishing these Urbynes, three primary functions (in addition to residential) have been assigned: Cultural, Commerce and Entertainment.  Each Urbyne takes on one of these designations.  Like any city, UTAREK is an evolving entity in the CIVTERRA concept, and, as such, is always growing and changing to meet the needs of its citizens.

The city hosts a wide range of amenities, some of which are highlighted here:

Parks: From the Olmsted designed Central Park NYC, to the grand boulevard of Paris, all great cities need to breathe. These grand public park systems have through time proven to be invaluable to the spirit of a city. The city planners of UTAREK recognizing this, have created a wide-ranging parks system. At each tower's base, are a series of harbor and canal parks, which are allowed to causally meander along the base. These parks/canals all converge at a Central Park where island and lakes abound. An almost invisible protective dome covers this area and allows it to be the great gathering and relaxation areas for citizen's enjoyment.

In addition, there are a series of local parks, which in keeping with the CIVTERRA concept are stacked vertically in key neighborhood locations.

The largest parks can be seen as large ovals on the tower faces.  These ovals (about the size of a football field) offer up tremendous urban parks with the advantage of spectacular Martian views.

SKYWALK: Located at the mid-rise level, this massive walkway connects all of UTAREK's major residential and commercial thoroughfares.  This skywalk is actually several floors deep to allow easy circulation to all points of the city.  For example, one floor is designated as the moving sidewalk, another floor for bikes and joggers, another floor for cross country skiing, and one just for the casual stroller.  With the opening of the city, some of the recreational floors are still under construction.

TECHNICAL: Of some note as you view the city, you'll notice a series of structural elements on the outside of the buildings.  This ectoskeletal structural system has been designed to carry the enormous heights of the structure.  This structure also acts as a series of seismic struts to absorb any quake-like effects which may occur as the planet's surface plates may settle or shift as a result of the terraforming procedure.