...Well...Two things...
The Imperial City was the capital...Whiterun is just a normal hold. Solitude is the Capital...

Also I think the best house in the game. The Waterfront Shack. No lie I used to go swimming every morning (when I slept there) just as the orange glow hit the water. Perfect way to start the day, even better when I heard that drum roll.

I want to see an updated imperial city in skyrim. It always felt empty in oblivion. None of these cities ever live up to there descriptions in books and what not. In skyrim the cities feel like glorified villages.

I've always felt that Skyrim was missing a 'capital', some central hub for the environment; Whiterun just doesn't cut it. To be honest, while the City's look great, I think they're rather generic in content for the most part. One of my disappointments in the game. But as for the Imperial City; it was good, the sewers were a nice touch, but let's just say that I felt nostalgia for Vivec. Now *that* was a city! "We're watching you, SCUM!"

For the second time. It has a capital. It's called Solitude.

I understand that perfectly well. I'm talking about a functional 'capital', in terms of scale. Skyrim doesn't have it.

Actually it's the third time. You said it twice I said it once before you.

What a capital city is, is not reliant on size. Plus Solitude fits the bill just fine, with its trading hub and import/export docks, as well as being the seat of power.

It's one of five cities with a blacksmith, an alchemist, a general trader, an inn, a Palace, and one of four city's with a waterfront/dock. Imperial City and Vivec were self-evidently capital cities, much larger and with more content than the other main locations, and had a central role in the game. Come on, now.

It is what it is. You can't call the [censored]ing capital not a capital due to a personal bias of aesthetics.

I personally really dislike the centralness of both the Imperial City and Whiterun. Whiterun is much more aesthetically pleasing, with the river running through it.

It makes sense that the cities in skyrim as a whole feel less vibrant though, because the civil war would split attentions between Windhelm and Solitude, plus the entire empire is crumbling due to the Thalmor.

Bruma was the city I spent the most time in in Oblivion,, but I loved the dock feeling in Anvil, the parkour in Bravil, and the towers of Chorrol.

In Skyrim my favored Cties are Markarth, Solitude, and Riften, for the verticality, vantage points, and undercity respectively.

Oblivion was my first TES game and I must say, like most TES players, the first game I played is what TES is to ME!

As someone else has already said, the Imperial City was the centre of Tamriel and Cyrodiilic culture so was massive. However, Solitude (the alleged "Capital" of Skyrim) and Whiterun, the central trading hub, feel somewhat empty compared to Oblivion