Sources
Baum may have been partly inspired in his creation of the Emerald City by the White City of the World Columbian Exposition, which he visited frequently, having moved to Chicago in anticipation of the event. W. W. Denslow, the illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was also familiar with the White City, as he had been hired to sketch and document the exposition for the Chicago Herald; Denslow's illustrations of the Emerald City incorporate elements that may have been inspired by the White City.
The quick building of the White City, in less than a year, may have been an element in the quick construction of the Emerald City in the first book.
It is also likely that Baum's favored haunt, the Hotel Del Coronado, influenced its description in later books.
Read more about this topic: Emerald City
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