Read this if you're having problems with squlaor

[therother]

Not having decent farms should cause squalor--counter to the game.

You see, I think that it's this viewpoint that is, to some extents, backwards. Population causes squalor, not farms. Farms increase growth rate by 0.5% per level and farming income by around 80 denarii. It's backwards as you can't get that extra population to have a lot of squalor without farms and health buildings. You simply will not get the people (or if you enslave them, they'll either die or go back to the countryside). Squalor is an effect of population, but only a side effect of increased farming. Yes, it isn't perfect, but this is not a full population simulator!

They should make it possible for the province to make food available in the settlement at an affordable price. They also should tend to shift population from the city to the countryside...not the reverse. Why? Because extensive farming should provide employment/way of life for many *outside* the settlement.

Maybe they do, it's just not shown!

Having old wooden walls in large cities should increase squalor, while nice stone ones should help. Good roads should reduce squalor, because dirt streets are less sanitary, muddy, filthy messes in large cities. Construction in general should reduce squalor because it keeps the population employed and it means neglected areas are often torn down and rebuilt with new structures.

Yes, I agree. There are plenty of factors you could add in with more explicit detail. A nice flat region with a seaside port and lots of beaches would attract more people than one strewn with mountains (the game simulates this with basic farming level). But again, simulating all this properly would be computationally intensive.