How did Alexander the Great "found" cities?

by memeshroud

Alexander founded dozens of Alexandrias, but I never understood how he simply up and "founded" cities -- cities are created over time, ancient ones over dozens of years. Did Alexander simply tell the locals "build a city here"? Were camp followers ordered to stay and make homes for themselves?

Searocksandtrees

Hi, a similar question came in a few days ago; check out the thread here, featuring /u/Iphikrates