Management of specialized city | City managing Civilization IV Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Basics:

Even if you have the perfect city placement, usually on the first few dozens turns you will aim at balanced developed. In these 20-30 turns you (if there is no another, more important priorities - like war for example) concentrate on growth.

Most important buildings which should be built in every city:

• Granary - not only to improve gains from some of the Food resources, but also to almost double the rate of city growth;
• Aqueduct and Hospital - needed in every city where health problems halt city growth.

In case of growing unease you have four solutions:

• To build a Marketplace or a Forge - if the proper luxurious resources are available
• To build a Temple for every religion in the city - this is main advantage of Temples, you can build one of them for every religion (btw. It's also true in case of Monasteries). After constructing Temple you can build a Cathedral which is a more powerful version of Temple, with one exception - unhappiness reductions work only in case of having a Cathedral of our state religion.
• To build Theatre/ Colosseum. This buildings enables to improve city happiness level by global cultural settings (see Empire Management chapter).
• Change political civic to Heritary Rule and put more military units in the city - every unit gives +1 to happy.

The last two solutions are most powerful. They can even keep order in case of serious unease in all of your cities - but for a decent price.

The Commercial City

The most important tiles are commerce generating ones. Because most of them are Cottages our citizens should work there making Cottages grow. The rest of tiles (with windmills, watermills, mines) can be used when it's necessary.

The key buildings: all increasing Gold income - Marketplace, Grocer, Bank and all increasing research: Library, University, Observatory, Laboratory, Academy.

The Production City

Mines, forests, workshops are the main workplaces of the city's residents. Farms and another Food generating improvements are used only in degree providing a city growth.

Key buildings:

• Barracks - you mainly build military units there;
• Forge/Factory - increasing Production output, quite obvious in this kind of city;
• Coal Plant/Nuclear Plant/Hydro Plant or Three Gorges Dam - power sources.

Build other buildings only if you really need them. Most of the time this city should build military units.

The Great People Factory

Food generating improvements are places where citizens of GPF should work. All other you can afford should be changed into specialists. All of them are (expect of course the primary benefits like research, Gold, culture or Production) creating 3 points every turn, used to generate Great People.

To change a normal citizen into a specialist we also need some city infrastructure - buildings where they can by works as specialists:

Engineers: Forge +1, Factory +2, Ironworks (+3)

Scientist: Library +2, Observatory +1, Laboratory +1, Great Library (+2 free scientists), Oxford University (+3)

Artists: Theatre +2, Broadcast Tower +2

Priest: Temple (every +1), Cathedral (every +2), Shire (every +3) Angkor Wat (+3),,

Merchants: Marketplace +2, Grocer +2, Wall Street (+3)

All - The Statue of Liberty +1 free specialist in every city on continent.

The most useful way of making a lot of specialists is a caste system civic - which enables to change unlimited number of citizens into artists, scientist and merchants.

However, even if we don't have a problem with insufficient infrastructure to back up our specialist, we always should build structures corresponding to specific kind of specialist (for example a Marketplace for merchant) - because as I've said specialists generate huge amounts of cultural/research/income/Production output.

Besides GP points generated by specialists these points are also generated by Wonders:

Great Prophet

Angkor Wat	+2
Chichen Itza	+2
Stonehenge	+2
Shrine	+1
The Oracle	+2
The Spiral Minaret	+2

Great Merchant

Forbidden Palace	+1
Wall Street	+1
The Colossus	+2
The Eiffel Tower	+2
The Great Lighthouse	+2
The Statue of Liberty	+2
The United Nations	+2
Versailles	+2

Great Engineer

Ironworks	+1
West Point	+1
The Hagia Sophia	+2
The Hanging Gardens	+2
The Pentagon	+2
The Pyramid	+2
The Three Gorges Dam	+2

Great Scientist

Oxford Universityl	+1
Red Cross	+1
Scotland Yard	+1
The Great Library	+2
The Space Elevator	+2

Great Artist

Globe Theatre	+1
Hermitage	+1
Heroic Epic	+1
Mt. Rushmore	+1
National Epic	+1
The Kremlin	+2
Broadway	+2
Hollywood	+2
Notre Dame	+2
Rock N Roll	+2
The Parthenon	+2
The Sistine Chapel	+2
The Taj Mahal	+2

In city where generated the most Great People Points is being generated, we should build Heroic Epic Wonders which give +100% GPP in city where is build.

The very helpful thing in maximizing GP generations is civic pacifism gives another +100%

Every city can generating some number of points which after hit a pre-set limit makes a Great Person to been born. After this points in this city are reduced to zero, and in all cities amount of points needed to generate next Great Person are increased by 100.