Civilization VII – City Planning & Overbuilding Guide

City Planning Tips

The purpose of this list is to help you plan an effective city layout across all the three Ages of Civilization VII.

The numbers (1)(2)(3) refer to the corresponding Age of the building and assumes the player is using the “Overbuilding” feature to optimize Building Space and Adjacency Bonuses:

1. “Palace District”: Natural Wonder & Mountain Adjacency = Palace (1) + Temple (2).
2. “Warehouse District 1: (No Adjacency) = Granary (1) + Saw Pit OR Brickyard (1).
   • Note: Place next to the Palace for an early +1 Science/ +1 Culture Bonus.
3. “Warehouse District 2: Natural Wonder & Mountain Adjacency = Altar (1) + Saw Pit OR Brickyard (1) > Saw Pit OR Brickyard (1) + Radio Station (3).
   • Note: Place next to the Palace for an early +1 Science/ +1 Culture Bonus.
4. “Food District”: Rivers & Coast Adjacency = Garden (1) + Market* (1) > Inn (2) + Hospital (2) > Cannery (3) + Tenement (3).
5. “Food – River District”: Build ON River = Bath (1) + Gristmill (2).
6. “Production District”: Resource Adjacency = Barracks (1) + Blacksmith (1) > Armorer (2) + Dungeon (2) > Factory (3) + Military Academy (3).
7. “Production – River District”: Build ON River (No Adjacency) = Stonecutter (2) + Sawmill (2).
   • Note: Save at least 2 River tiles in Antiquity for “5)” and “7)” Exploration Buildings.
8. “Science District”: Resource Adjacency = Library + Academy (1) > Observatory (2) + University (2) > Schoolhouse (3) + Laboratory (3).
   • Note: Don’t Overbuild if you get and use Science Golden Age Bonus.
9. “Culture District”: Natural Wonder & Mountain Adjacency = Monument (1) + Amphitheatre (1) > Kiln (2) + Pavilion (2) > Museum (3) + Opera House (3).
   • Note: Don’t Overbuild if you get and use Culture Golden Age Bonus.
10. “Happiness District”: Natural Wonder & Mountain Adjacency = Villa (1) + Arena (1) > Arena (1) + Menagerie (2) > City Park (3) + Department Store (3).
11. “Gold District”: Rivers & Coast Adjacency = Bazaar (2) OR Bank (2) + Guildhall (2) > Bank (2) + Stock Exchange (3).
12. “Gold-Sea District”: Rivers & Coast Adjacency = Lighthouse (1) + Port (3).
13. “Food + Production – Sea District”: Rivers & Coast Adjacency for Wharf (2) and Resource Adjacency for Shipyard (2).
    • Note: Built together to optimize space.
14. Food – Sea Warehouse: (No Adjacency) = Fishing Quay (1).
    • Note: Build out of the way of the other 2 Sea Districts.
15. Gold-Rail Station (3). (No Adjacency).
    • Note: It takes the whole tile.
16. Production – Aerodrome (3). (No Adjacency).
    • Note: It takes the whole tile.

Extra Tips

• Palace Adjacency Bonus – Quarters (tiles filled with two buildings of the same age) built next to the Palace will grant a +1 Science and +1 Culture bonus. This can be repeated once per side of the capital, up to six times.
• Palace & Unique Building – You can place a single Unique Building next to the Palace and stack Specialists on the tile for high yields. To make this strategy work as intended, ensure the Unique Building has an ‘Adjacency for Quarters’ bonus and is surrounded by multiple Quarters.
• Warehouse Buildings – Try to keep Warehouses out of high-adjacency tiles, as they cannot be removed or replaced. Stack them to save space and maintain the future layout unless you plan for this settlement to become a town, in which case they can be used for quick expansion.
• City to Town Ratio – Maintain a 1:1 city-to-town ratio for a stable economy. Aim for at least one town supporting each city in your empire (more is even better).
• Good Cities in a Nutshell – Good cities must have enough rural tiles for high production (mines, quarries, etc.), lots of space for buildings with strong adjacencies for production, science, and culture buildings.
• Saving River Tiles – Remember to save at least one river tile per city and town during Antiquity so you can build a Gristmill and Sawmill during the Exploration era, gaining a significant boost to food, production, and gold.
• Towns and Food Bonus – Remember, food bonuses from towns are transferred to the nearest connected city (by default), and the city must be within a 10-tile radius of the town (with no other cities in between).
• Sharing Town Food – You can build a Merchant to construct a road from a town to a second city, allowing the town to share half of its food with both cities. The second city must also adhere to the 10-tile radius and no city-in-between rule.
• Towns and Naval Routes – For naval routes, the Fishing Quay acts as a connection point, so these two buildings must be within a 10-tile radius of each other (not the actual City Halls).
• Settlement Limits – You can push the settlement limit near an Age Transition by settling (or conquering) in the last few turns, well above the limit. The game will then adjust the limit to match the new number for the new Age.
• Capital Switching – If you switch your capital during the age transition, your old capital will remain a city, allowing you to save gold. It’s a good idea to move your capital to avoid running out of space for wonders or buildings.
• Saving Rural Production – Save as many rural production tiles (mines, woodcutters, etc.) as you can for your cities, as there is no other way to transfer production (beyond resources), and food is easily provided by towns.
• Golden Age Buildings – If you choose a Golden Age bonus for Science and Culture buildings, avoid overbuilding them. Instead, focus on finding a good spot for the second Science or Culture district (the new buildings).
• Too Much Gold to Spend – If you have a lot of gold to spend, you should buy warehouse buildings in towns, especially food buildings like the Gristmill and Grocer (since the food will be transferred to your cities anyway). Warehouse buildings have no upkeep costs.
• Influence – Age Transition – Most buildings lose their yield output and adjacencies during an age transition, but the yield will actually increase if the base value is lower than 3. For example, the Guildhall will increase its influence from 2 to 3.