what amounts to a charter of foundation for the city,

相当于城市建设许可证一样的文件
which lays out how things are going to work in this city

上面说明城市将如何运行
--something about the governmental structure,

以及一些有关政府结构的文件
maybe even more fundamentally how the land will be allotted,

可能还有一些更基本的问题如土地如何分配
assigned, divided, and so on

如何布置分割等等
so that when you go to recruit settlers,

这样当你招募新移民的时候
everybody will know what he's getting

每个应征者都知道他能得到什么
and will decide whether it's a good idea for him or not.

再决定这对他来说是好是坏
Now, recruiting is tremendously important

招募是极其重要的
because you need to have a certain number of settlers

因为你需要有一定数量的移民
to make the settlement viable.

来维持居住地的运转
You may not run into an enormously powerful collection of natives,

你可能不会遇到强大的当地部落