Detailed numerical study of the secular evolution of disk galaxies remains, for the moment, the preserve of idealised, isolated disk simulations; the inclusion of hierarchical assembly being a neccesary sacrifice to gain adequate resolution to adequately model the internal structure. What can now begin to be included in these studies is consistent modelling of star formation and supernova feedback. We present the results from a set of such simulations, designed to study the influence that these processes have on the metallicity and abundance gradients, in particular providing an explanation for the observed vertical metallicity gradient in the MW bulge. To place these studies of single systems in the broader hierarchical context, we consolidate them with analysis of the latest, largest cosmological-scale simulations, with the goal of understanding how the evolution of the Universe at large filters-through to effect the process of disk and bar formation, and how these changing circumstances appear as changing trends in the population of stellar structres that we observe at low- and high-redshift.