Great looking piece VB, I particularly like the academy, that's pretty cool stuff. I think Kellerica's right on target about lightening the hue of the city roads. Regarding the forests, I think the issue is that there is no clear lighting source. Usually darker areas indicate shadow but in this map these areas appear almost at random and so it's difficult to discern the direction the light is coming from. However elsewhere (e.g. the shadow on that giant tree up north) you do indicate directional lighting. So I think you just need to be consistent about shading the areas that are in shadow, not the ones that aren't.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh