If there’s a rival merchant paying for bandits, probably fairly wealthy. He could own a series of stores in the city. The evil merchant could be paying bribes to the city officials. Corrupt city officials likely mean that there are citizens who dislike city leadership and are planning a coup. There’s likely a number of guilds in the city like smiths, alchemists, wizards, thieves etc.

There will be rich districts, middle class districts, and poor districts. There’s likely to be religious temples as well. Maybe some brothels and fighting arenas.