Columbia

"What is Columbia if not another Ark, for another time?"

- Zachary Comstock

Columbia is a floating city in the sky, and the setting of BioShock Infinite. Composed of neoclassical buildings constructed on giant reactors and self-sustaining balloons, Columbia is able to literally fly over the clouds. It is eventually revealed that it is actually quantum mechanics which allows the city to float, not the reactors and balloons. Conceived by Zachary Hale Comstock, it was eventually constructed with the blessing of the U.S. government, and under the guidance of quantum physicist Rosalind Lutece.

History
Originally conceived as a floating symbol of American ideals at a time when the United States was emerging as a world power, Columbia was launched to great fanfare in 1893, and dispatched to distant shores. However, what began as an endeavor of hope went drastically wrong: in 1901, during the Boxer Rebellion, Columbia fired on Chinese civilians who had taken American hostages. This event revealed the true nature of the floating city: a heavily armed aerial battleship. This event created a rift between leadership in Columbia and Washington, and in response, Columbia seceded from the union and disappeared into the clouds.

Some time after the city's disappearance, its inhabitants began a bloody civil war over drastically opposed ideologies. One faction, The Founders, supported ideals of American exceptionalism. The other, the Vox Populi, was passionately in favor of equal treatment for those of all races and economic statuses, and upheld socialist ideals.

The Founders wished to use Elizabeth, a young woman with extraordinary abilities who had been held captive within the city for fifteen years, for their own ends. In 1912, a former Pinkerton agent named Booker DeWitt was sent to the city to bring Elizabeth to New York.

Religious beliefs and Philosophies
Columbia's founder Zachary Comstock, a self-appointed Prophet supposedly granted wisdom by the angel Columbia, described the city as "another Ark for another time." The majority of Columbia's citizens worship Father Comstock, following his word blindly and trusting wholly in his prophecies. As a result, they stand by his decision to intervene in the Boxer Rebellion, and Columbia's subsequent secession. In addition, the people of the city worship Elizabeth as the Lamb of Columbia, believing she will fulfill Comstock's prophecies in years to come.

The people of Columbia also worship the Founding Fathers--particularly George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin--as religious icons. Each of the three is associated with a different symbol, according to what they gave to mankind: Franklin is associated with the key, a symbol of knowledge; Jefferson is associated with the scroll, a symbol of law and order; and Washington is associated with the sword, a symbol of power and justice. Various statues of the Founding Fathers can be seen throughout the city, such as immediately outside the Welcome Center, and giant balloons of them are fashioned for the yearly Raffle & Fair.

Business
Fink Manufacturing is the largest business in Columbia, as well as its largest employer and manufacturer of most of Columbia's resources, from building materials to Vending Machines. Due to a high demand for Vigors in Columbia, Fink Manufacturing also bottles and distributes Vigors produced by independent, contracted businesses such as Marlowe for Murder of Crows. The work floor at Fink Manufacturing shows its dominance in various markets--one floor, for example, works on automated turrets, whilst the one above works on children's toys.

Smaller businesses produce various items for the people of Columbia, the Founders, and the Vox. However, most of these companies are quickly bought out by Fink's business empire, leaving him the sole distributor for goods in the city. There are exceptions however, such as the Duke & Dimwitt Company, which produces propaganda pieces via books, toys and machines.

Despite these business opportunities, 50% of every Silver Eagle earned goes directly to Comstock, which deeply affects the laborers of Columbia. Further, Fink's heavy-handed exploitation of his workers becomes a factor in the city's eventual social uprising, led by the Vox Populi.

Science and Technology
Columbia possesses numerous technologies that are seemingly beyond the capabilities of the rest of the world circa 1912. The most prominent of these technologies is the system of quantum mechanics that allows Columbia to remain aloft. Although most buildings feature balloons, propellers, and reactors, these devices are only ancillary to Columbia's flight. Rosalind Lutece discovered a method of indefinitely suspending atomic particles in mid-air, named the "Lutece Field," which her colleagues lauded as "quantum levitation." Lutece reasoned that if an atom could be suspended, larger objects such as buildings could as well. Columbia is the end result of Lutece's work.

The city contains other technological marvels, including Vigors, which grant various superhuman powers; the Songbird; Handymen; automata including mechanical horses and Motorized Patriots; Voxophones; advanced weaponry, and the Sky-Line transport system that links much of the city.

Locations
Columbia is composed of several distinct districts:


 * Emporia
 * Bank of the Prophet
 * Comstock House
 * Downtown Emporia
 * Emporia Towers
 * Lutece Labs
 * Memorial Gardens
 * Port Prosperity
 * Finkton
 * Finkton Docks
 * Fort Franklin
 * Good Time Club
 * Plaza of Zeal
 * Shantytown
 * Worker Induction Center
 * Monument Island
 * Monument Island Gateway
 * Monument Tower
 * Soldier's Field
 * Arcade
 * Battleship Bay
 * First Lady's Aerodrome
 * Hall of Heroes
 * Soldier's Field Welcome Center
 * Welcome Center
 * Fraternal Order of the Raven
 * Garden of New Eden
 * Raffle Square
 * Comstock Center Rooftops

Trivia

 * The name Columbia refers to the female personification of the United States used in various forms of patriotic symbolism in the 19th century.
 * Columbia is supposedly the angel that visited Comstock, inspiring him to build Columbia (his own ark). This can be heard at the celebrations at the start of the game when the floats pass by.
 * Early in development, Columbia was meant to be much darker than it currently is. Ken Levine mentioned at a press conference that the concept looked like "Rapture in the sky."
 * The process of entering Columbia is a mirror to that of entering Rapture: both journeys start at a lighthouse, but whereas the journey to Rapture is a descent into the ocean, travel to Columbia involves ascension in an airborne capsule. When a whale comes into view when the player descends into Rapture, a zeppelin comes into view when the player is launched to Columbia. Furthering these opposing parallels, Jack rides an airplane to the lighthouse in BioShock and Booker takes a boat in Infinite. A final parallel in decor is also present, as Bioshock opens with a sign declaring Rapture's atheism, whereas the lighthouse at the start of Infinite has signs alluding to Columbia's heavily religious society.
 * The events of BioShock Infinite begin on July 6, 1912, the anniversary of Columbia's secession from the United States.
 * Columbia appears in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. It makes two appearances: once, in the background of the Uncharted stage, Stowaways, and again as its very own stage, which is invaded by the Twisted Metal character, Dollface.
 * Columbia is shown attacking New York City on December 31st, 1983 in one reality.
 * According to the automated recording heard in the transport capsule Booker DeWitt rides to Columbia, the city resides at an altitude of approximately 15,000 ft (4572 meters). This altitude would have a serious effect on the health of Columbia's residents. The lower air pressure and oxygen can effect judgement and instill a sense of euphoria, tunnel vision, and hypoxia (insufficient oxygen supply to the body or parts of the body) within moments. Prolonged exposure can also result in altitude sickness and high altitude pulmonary edema or a fatal cerebral edema.
 * The lighthouse at the start of the game actually has a schedule for Columbia's visits to U.S cities. Cities include Washington, New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Savannah. How exactly Columbia can visit these cities with their secession from the United States is unclear, it may be possible that Columbia still accepts new visitors on a regular basis, which further parallels against Bioshock, where Rapture not only stopped accepting new people, but completely forbade any contact whatsoever with the outside world.
 * The map in the lighthouse (next to the schedule mentioned above) shows that Columbia was never originally intended to fly over the Atlantic, and instead was to travel in a loop on a tour across the U.S. The map seems to be period-correct, or perhaps slightly older, maybe created in 1893 when Columbia was created, since it does not show Alaska or Hawai'i.
 * Unlike the high standards of success and inclusion of the "best and the brightest" present in the system of inclusion for Rapture, Columbia appears to have no such ruling and anyone is allowed to enter so long as they believe in the city's variation of "American Exceptionalism."