in "the art of discworld" pratchett explains that the city is similar to tallinn and central prague, but adds that it has elements of 18th-century london, 19th-century seattle and modern new york city. he also states that since the creation of "the streets of ankh-morpork", he has tried to ensure that the descriptions of character movements and locations in the books match the ankh-morpork map; this has allowed him, and fans of the series, to visualise the story more clearly.