Civilization VI Best Practices for Building Cities

Building cities in Civilization VI is like playing a game of Tetris with geography—each piece needs to fit perfectly into your grand strategy. Whether you’re looking to expand your empire, boost your economy, or simply stamp your cultural footprint across the world, the way you build and place your cities is crucial. Here’s a guide packed with best practices to help you not only build cities but build an empire that stands the test of time (and aggressive neighbors).

Choosing the Perfect Spot

Picking the right spot for a new city is an art form that combines foresight, strategy, and sometimes a little luck. Here’s what to consider:

• Access to Resources: Prime city locations have a variety of resources. These include bonus resources (like wheat and cattle), strategic resources (like iron and oil), and luxury resources (like silk and spices), each providing different benefits.
• Geographical Advantages: Rivers provide fresh water, which increases housing capacity and helps early city growth. Mountains contribute defensive bonuses and opportunities for specific districts like the Campus.
• Proximity to Other Features: Coastal tiles allow for naval units and trade routes. Being near natural wonders can provide unique and powerful bonuses.

Expanding Your Borders Wisely

Expansion is exciting, but expanding too fast or too thoughtlessly can lead to economic downfall and vulnerability. Here’s how to expand wisely:

• Spacing Between Cities: Keep cities close enough to support each other but far enough apart to maximize the exploitation of the surrounding land. A good rule of thumb is about 4-6 tiles between city centers.
• Consider City Clusters: Building cities in clusters can help them defend against military threats and share amenities more efficiently.

Infrastructure is Key

Once your city is established, building the right infrastructure is essential for growth and stability:

• Prioritize Granaries and Water Mills: These early buildings increase food production and storage, speeding up growth.
• District Planning: Plan your districts wisely to make the most of adjacency bonuses. For example, placing a Campus next to mountains or rainforests increases its science yield.
• Roads and Trade: Roads are automatically created by traders. Early trade routes should focus on connecting your own cities to speed up travel and military response times.

Managing City Happiness and Health

Happy citizens are productive citizens. Managing happiness and health is crucial for keeping your cities thriving:

• Amenities: Ensure each city has enough amenities from luxury resources, entertainment complexes, and other sources to keep citizens happy.
• Housing: Keep an eye on housing capacity. Housing can be increased with buildings like granaries, specific districts, and civil engineering policies.

Defense and Military Preparedness

Don’t forget to defend your cities—your rivals won’t:

• Walls and Garrison: Walls are essential for early-game defense. Stationing units in the city or in an Encampment district also increases city defense.
• Strategic Positioning: Use the terrain to your advantage. Building cities on hills, across rivers from likely avenues of approach, and near mountains can make them harder to attack.

Using Governors Effectively

Governors can greatly enhance a city’s productivity and specialization:

• Assigning Governors: Assign governors based on the city’s needs and strategic importance. For example, the Steward can accelerate production and growth, while the Castellan enhances city defenses.
• Upgrading Governors: Choose upgrades that complement your overall strategy and the specific needs of each city.

Table: Essential Buildings and Their Benefits

Conclusion

Building cities in Civilization VI is a complex but rewarding part of leading your civilization to glory. By choosing the right locations, managing expansion, prioritizing key infrastructure, maintaining citizen happiness, ensuring defense, and deploying governors wisely, you can create thriving metropolises that contribute to a powerful and prosperous empire. Remember, each city is a building block of your civilization’s future, so plan each one as if it were your capital. After all, in the realm of Civilization VI, the strength of your cities determines the strength of your civilization.