One man made a full model of New York City:

Three quick thoughts:

1. Cities can fascinate people. The scale, all the activity, the density of people. This is one way to express this fascination.
2. I appreciate the ability to see the city from above. There is something about this perspective that helps take in the whole city at once. Maps offer some of this but do not have the 3D angle or this size. Observing this model would provide a very different experience compared to being a pedestrian at street level.
3. Does this fit into the professionalization or side hustle of hobbies? It is one thing to enjoy carving wood; it is another to keep going to create this size of a product that can be in a museum.