My point is, a setting (especially a large one, like a city) should maintain an overall consistency, even if the regions within them look different. Of course, a fringe neighborhood populated by one type of ethnic group won’t look the same as a busy downtown core, but the mood of both neighborhoods should remain the same: they have to use the same public transit, put up with the same mayor, and abide by the same police.
A good example of this is The City from Transmetropolitan. The City is never named in the story, nor do we get an adequate map. However, from the first issue of the series we are given an inside look at both the people that inhabit it and the environment in which they live. We are shown its best and worst spots, its local food joints, its high-end hotels and its back-alley bars.
The City becomes a living, breathing character that we read about as the story progresses. We cheer for The City. We bemoan its fate. We realize how it screws the people who live inside it and how it can be manipulated by outside forces.
It becomes something greater than a backdrop.
