Might as well nip this in the bud.
99% of Minecraft cities succumb to it, but we'll need to approach the problem of lack of productivity sooner or later, so might as well do it now before the city stalls and simultaneously get acquainted with the idea of a free market for 3.0
Right now everything for the most part is free. Free land, free resources, free gear, etc. Especially with the lack of enchantments, it's currently easy to max out and if there isn't any diplomacy or foreign faction interaction people will inevitably get bored and stop playing. Since we've established ourselves and the city has matured a bit, my recommendation is to start shifting a portion of productivity away from the socialist/communist "everything is free" regime we have going right now and start moving into a free market set up.
Simply put, start encouraging people to develop private industries, private factories, private land, all which sell products to other private people or some sort of government entity through purchasing/selling contracts. This will keep people invested, give them a sense of power, keep them doing something instead of bouncing around the city waiting for shit to be stirred up. Not all resources should be privatized of course, as Qral mentioned, "basic infrastructure needs to be maintained", but for the sake of productivity and maintaining a tangible presence on the server, specific niche markets can be filled by a private company.
Shit that can be privatized even before enchantments encourage these particular industries include building design, fortress security, land security, rail industry, food industry (?), armor industry, potion industry, maintenance industry, valuable ore industry, and even banking and lawyer firms if people start obtaining large amounts of tangible diamond wealth and we set up basic law. Shit son, maybe even a stock exchange.
Please feel free to share your questions, concerns, pros and cons of my suggestion.
This leads me to try and initiate this free market shift and inquire about the idea behind a private rail industry that could work with thPost too long. Click here to view the full text.