How long would it take to build a city like KL in RL given roughly the resources Aegon I had and would this change depending on the layout (hub-and-spoke vs. grid)?

In real life, it kind of depends. To take London as an example, there have been periods of extremely slow growth and periods of outright decline – Roman London was 35,000 strong whereas it was down to 18,000 by the time of the Domesday Book – but there have also been periods of extremely rapid growth. For example, by the end of the 15th century, London was only 60-70.000 strong and by 1600 it was up to 250,000 residents, and by the end of the 17th century was up to 600,000.

Not sure if you’ve been asked this before, but: How realistic is it that there was no substantial city at the mouth of the Blackwater before Aegon’s conquest? It’s the best natural harbor on the continent, at the mouth of a significant river, in a fertile area, and more conveniently located for intercontinental trade than Oldtown or Lannisport.

So a couple things:

1. Technically speaking, King’s Landing isn’t a harbor. A harbor is a deep body of water along the coast that ships can dock at, that’s protected from the winds and waves. King’s Landing is a riverrine port, with its docks in the Blackwater Rush, as opposed to out on the bay itself. (Compare the geography of King’s Landing to say, Volantis or Braavos)

2. According to WOIAF, it seems largely due to political disunity: “in the days of the Hundred Kingdoms, many petty kings had claimed dominion over the river mouth, amongst them the Darklyn kings of Duskendale, the Masseys of Stonedance, and the river kings of old…Towers and forts had crowned the three hills at various times, only to be thrown down in one war or another. Now only broken stones and overgrown ruins remained.” As a result of war, therefore, King’s Landing remained undeveloped and you didn’t get enough of a concentration of people necessary to attract trade.

Do you know which road is connected to the King’s Gate, Dragon Gate, and Old Gate of King’s Landing? I know 1) Lion Gate/Goldroad 2) River Gate/Southern Kingsroad and Roseroad 3) Iron Gate/Rosby Road 4) Gate of the Gods/ Northern Kingsroad. The other 3 elude me. Any ideas?

You’re right, it’s a bit confusing. The King’s Gate is connected to the Tourney Grounds, but it looks like there’s a road leading west, which I would guess leads along the Rush to the ford nearest to the city as an alternative to using the ferries.

According to the Wiki of Ice and Fire, the Dragon’s Gate is connected to the Kingsroad, but that’s contradicted by the info about the Gate of the Gods. There is a mention in the Princess and the Queen that during the riots, “Rhaenyra and a small band of followers slipped out through the Dragon Gate, intending to make their way up the coast to Duskendale.” Which suggests that there might be a direct road from Duskendale to King’s Landing as well as the Rosby Road.

The Old Gate, being in between the Gate of the Gods and the Iron Gate and thus in between the Kingsroad and the Rosby Road, is a puzzle. My guess is that there may be or have been a direct route to Maidenpool from King’s Landing.

Do you think it would be possible to reshape King’s Landing into a grid plan?

Well, you could something if the city burned to the ground…

I don’t know if a strict grid would be a good idea, though. You’ve got those three hills that make grids difficult, and the main diagonal avenues have important purposes, so I wouldn’t want to get rid of them:

If I was redesigning the city, I’d focus more on a spoke-and-hub model. The unnamed square near the Great Sept should be moved and/or expanded a bit to the east where the exact center of the city is, so that it connects directly with the Muddy Way and is more in line with the rest of the gates. Moreover, the city at present lacks a main central plaza for public events and that location would do nicely.

Next, the King’s Gate, the Lion Gate, and the Old Gate lack a major avenue connecting them with the heart of the city, which is bad planning since each connects with a major road and you want traffic to move more smoothly. So I would extend the Muddy Way up to the Old Gate, connect the Rosby Road to the Gold Road, build a new road from the King’s Gate up to that central square past the Great Sept, and extend the Street of SIsters past the Dragonpit to the Dragon Gate. (Honestly, I’m shocked that the East Barracks of the City Watch isn’t directly connected to any major thoroughfares – how do they expect to respond to any crises over int he west of the city? And why isn’t there a Central Barracks?)