Towny, which is a very popular sytem for town management issues 8 chunks per resident, modifiable by admins. This would be too much long term for a HC town given the number of players on server. It would be a good starting point however.
My suggestion would be this. 40 chunks initial claim for a hamlet (thats 8 chunks per resident based on 5 req res to start) and an additional 10 chunks upon aquiring ea 10 additional residents with a limit of 60 chunks in all for hamlets. Upgrading to a town would get you to 80 chunks with a max of say 120 using the same increase system. Each consecutive upgrade would result in a similar expansion. Another possibility would be to give a 10 or even 20 chunk bonus to hamlets and towns that are part of Kingdoms or Empires.
I think a system of this nature would encourage sprawling towns that expand with population as well as encouraging Kingdoms to develop. What do you think @
Kainzo?