From 10,000 to 100,000 residents

Two milestones, then everything slows down

A new city lets its buildings grow to level 23. At 18,000 residents it becomes a “Metropolis” and the limit jumps to 33; from 80,000 it is called a “World City”, and level 40 applies, the top level in the game. A setback costs you no milestone, because what counts is the highest population your city has ever had. If the building panel says “waiting for the next city milestone”, there is nothing to improve on that building, because the city as a whole has to grow first.

More room at the top does not mean more speed, though. From level 20 every building, whether home, shop or factory, rises at just over a third of the pace it had one level below. Compared with a fresh house it is about a tenth. Residential towers from level 30 take twice as long again for every level, except near a running underground station or within the Eiffel Tower’s radius. With the same demand, the climb from level 23 to 33 therefore takes many times as long as the whole way up to level 20.

So between the milestones your growth comes mainly from width, meaning new districts, filled gaps and neighbouring towns. The towers grow on the side whenever their conditions are right.

What residential towers demand

• Jobs into the district: a few shops right inside the residential block, with free jobs. That is the cheapest lever, because zoning costs nothing.
• Main roads on the axes: there every tile counts only half, so ten tiles of main road count as five.
• Motorway, railway and underground: the ride itself doesn’t count at all, only the way there and each change.
• Landmarks: the Little Mermaid lets 4 more tiles count as short within her radius, the Eiffel Tower removes both hurdles entirely. More in the tip on landmarks.

From level 20 a home sets two conditions, described in the guide: a commute of at most 10 tiles and, from level 30, a beautiful spot as well. In a big city, towers usually fail on the commute, because the denser the districts, the further away the nearest workplace with free jobs – commuters simply drive past businesses that are full.

The long-distance commuters who cross the city to the big job districts don’t enter into this. They travel by choice, and their trip counts neither for the hurdle nor for the home’s taxes. The beauty that residential towers demand from level 30 comes from parks and water; the 🌸 beauty view shows which tiles are enough, and how to raise it is in Beautiful neighbourhoods: location, parks and clean air.

Why the big axes turn amber

From 3,000 residents a growing share of your people no longer commutes to the nearest workplace but to the big job districts. At 10,000 residents it is just over 9%, at 50,000 just over 21%, at 100,000 almost 27% of commuters. They only use space that is free, never let a road fill beyond 85% and therefore never hold a home back.

At this size, amber on main axes, the motorway and the railway is the normal state, not an order to expand. You only need to act where the traffic view turns red. And whoever rides the train into the centre this way travels for free: you pay no rail running costs for long-distance commuters.

Against jams, the smallest tool first

• Red on a few tiles where routes converge: main road (chapter 5 / 3,500 residents). Only upgrade those tiles, because their price grows with your land and your connected buildings.
• Two parallel streets, both tight: a one-way pair (same), for a tenth of the upgrade price per tile.
• Busy streets in the shopping and business district: a car park on a main road or a pedestrian zone (chapter 6 / 6,000). A car park costs as much as six upgrade tiles, plus upkeep.
• A distant residential district with long commutes: motorway (chapter 8 / 15,000), 40,000 💰 per tile of route, junctions in pairs for 120,000 💰, however big the city.
• Long trips across the city or to neighbouring towns: railway (chapter 9 / 20,000), track tiles from 40,000 💰, stations 400,000 💰.
• A dense centre with no room for wider roads: underground (same), 60,000 💰 per tunnel tile and 300,000 💰 per underground station, nothing gets demolished.
• Commuters driving in from far outside: Park & Ride at a station outside the city, as expensive as four upgrade tiles.

The order also has to do with money: the small tools get dearer with the city, the big ones don’t. With 30 parcels and 400 connected buildings, one tile of main road upgrade costs around 7,600 💰, with 45 parcels and 550 buildings around 13,600 💰 – already a third of a motorway tile. Long main road axes are then no longer the budget option; a route or line that bundles a whole stream of commuters often is.

How each tool works in detail is in Avoiding traffic jams: road networks that flow and in the guide chapter Underground and Park & Ride.

Money in the big city

• Land: at 24,000 💰/s every parcel costs 1.34 times as much, at twice that 1.8 times, on top of the ladder that rises with every parcel.
• Landmarks, city prestige and support for neighbouring towns: 1.8 times at 24,000 💰/s, more than three times at 48,000 💰/s.
• Villas, hotels and mines: above 12,000 💰/s they gradually carry half of their tax bonus in upkeep too, fully from around 27,000 💰/s. They still remain your best taxpayers.
• The motorway and underground tunnels have fixed prices, and track depends only on the buildings around it. With every doubling of your tax power they become relatively cheaper.

As long as the Money card shows at most 12,000 💰 per second under “Taxes (max)”, all prices stay as you know them. Above that, the game ties several of them to your city’s tax power, always to the highest value it has ever had.

Two consequences for your budget. Buy land as soon as you can build on it, because later it only gets dearer, never cheaper. And don’t leave a set of tasks unfinished: every full set of three brings a permanent 3% more profit, up to +60%. With a profit of 20,000 💰/s, 3% is already 600 💰 per second. How the bonus builds up and where else money drains away is covered in More money: raise income, keep costs in check.

Smog and industry on a large scale

A big city needs a lot of industry, and factories pollute more with every level: one at level 20 pollutes twice as much as one at level 10, and the smoke doesn’t reach any further – it just gets thicker. A park, on the other hand, always cleans the same amount. Against tall industry right next door, parks therefore achieve less and less; distance works at every level.

For residential towers smog is doubly costly. It lowers their ceiling, and anything above it loses residents, a bitter setback for buildings that take so long over each level. So plan the big city’s industry as a few compact areas with a strip of commerce as a buffer, as described in the tip on beautiful neighbourhoods. Where industry and housing can no longer be separated, the Taj Mahal halves the damage within its radius.

The tasks give you yardsticks: in chapter 10 one asks you to keep 84% of your homes in clean air, in chapter 12 one to keep 92% of your households free of congestion, and in chapter 13 one to give 88% a short commute. Reach these values and your towers have the best conditions too.

When growth stalls

• “waiting for the next city milestone”: the building is at the limit. Only more city helps here, meaning new districts, filled gaps and neighbouring towns you take over.
• “only grows further with a short commute”: bring the work closer or make the trips faster, see the tower hurdles above.
• “only grows further in a beautiful spot”: parks or water nearby; the beauty view shows where it is enough.
• “waiting for clear roads”, likewise “growing slowly – traffic congestion”: follow the drawn route to the red spot and fix exactly that one.
• “capped by smog” or “residents are moving away – the air is too bad”: distance from industry, parks right next to the coloured houses.
• “waiting for demand”: not a problem of the building but of the balance. Jobs or shops are missing, see Residential, commercial, industry: keeping the balance.

Every house tells you what it is stuck on. Tap a few houses in the district that has stalled and read under “Growth”. The list above shows the most common messages of the late game; the guide explains the rest.

Two indicators at the top belong in every round. “⚠️ split networks” in the City card means that a district cannot reach the jobs of the rest, for example when a pedestrian zone has cut the only link. And “⚠️ Upkeep” in the Money card means that upkeep and welfare are eating up almost all your taxes; then further growth brings hardly any money until jobs and supply catch up.

A roadmap to the city of the century

• 10,000 to 18,000 residents (chapters 7 and 8): clear bottlenecks with main roads and one-way pairs, sort out the centre, bundle the industry. And put shops into every residential block now, because those are the short commutes your residential towers will need from level 20.
• 18,000 to 25,000 (chapter 9): the metropolis is here, and the towers may rise higher. Link distant districts by motorway, from 20,000 residents use rail and underground for the long trips, put villas on the shores.
• 25,000 to 80,000 (chapters 10 to 12): the first landmark against your biggest brake, reach the distant neighbouring towns by rail (Neighbouring towns: find, connect, take over), parks and water for the towers above level 30.
• 80,000 to 100,000 (chapters 12 and 13): with the World City the limit is level 40. Now clean air, free roads and short commutes count everywhere, and the last population task, in chapter 13, asks for the 100,000.

These numbers are waymarks, not duties: every tool comes with its chapter or its population, whichever is reached first.