Concept of A City Planet
The concept of a city planet in the Star Wars universe originated with the initial drafts of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The planet was called "Alderaan", and much of the action in the film transpired on it. Since building such a city would be prohibitively expensive, much of what was to take place on Alderaan was moved to the Death Star, and Alderaan became the name of Princess Leia's home planet.
The Empire's homeworld, named "Had Abaddon", came up in early drafts of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The entire planet was to be a sprawling city. However, concluding that the realization of such a city was impossible at the time, the creators abandoned the idea.
The Empire's homeworld first appeared in the Expanded Universe and was called "Coruscant" for the first time in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. Coruscant was first seen on screen in the 1997 Special Edition release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and the X-Wing series of computer games. Coruscant was then seen (major appearance) in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. There is a speeder chase through the skies of Coruscant in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones that eventually leads to a nightclub in the bowels of Coruscant's Uscru Entertainment District. Coruscant is seen yet again in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as part of the opening battle scene.
In various novels, characters aligned with the Empire refer to Coruscant as "Imperial Center". Within the stories, this is explained as an administrative renaming undertaken to emphasize the differences between the Old Republic and the Empire.
Star Wars' concept of a city planet which is the capital of a galactic empire was evidently inspired by the ecumenopolis planet Trantor in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. Trantor, the Galactic Empire's capital, is mentioned in Asimov's first Foundation short story, written in September 1941. In Pebble in the Sky, published in 1950, Asimov describes the 'unbearable glory of the skies of the Central Worlds' (like Trantor) 'where star elbowed star in such blinding competition that the black of night was nearly lost in a coruscant explosion of light'.
Read more about this topic: Coruscant
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