Zones allow you to decide where houses, shops and factories will be built. When an empty zone is assigned a zone type, buildings will be built there automatically over time as long as there is demand.
Each zone type has its own requirements to flourish and in a functioning city, they all benefit from each other: factories need places to ship their products, companies need employees, employees need homes, shopping opportunities, and places to spend their free time.
Contents
Themes
North American theme (left) and European theme (right)
The theme represents the architectural style of residential and commercial zones. There are currently two themes: European and North American.
Tool Mode
Theme and zoning tools
The tool mode determines how zones are drawn:
- Fill: Completely fills the selected zone grid.
- Marquee: Draw a rectangle and fill all zone cells in the drawn area.
- Paint: Fills the cells the cursor goes over. Holding the button down allows for quick painting of multiple cells.
Holding the right mouse button deletes zones with the selected tool mode.
Zone Types and Densities
There are five different zone types:
- Residential zones provide housing for people. Lower density supports fewer people but provide more taxes from each one and are more likely to attract families and seniors. High density supports more people but provide fewer taxes from each one and are more likely to attract students and single adults.
- Commercial zones allow companies to sell all types of goods manufactured locally or imported from Outside Connections. They thrive close to residential areas as they provide them with customers. Commercial businesses benefit from local manufacturing as they have quick access to the goods they are selling. Local manufacturers also benefit from the nearby commercial companies as the transportation costs of manufactured goods to the retailers are low, allowing them to earn higher profits per sold unit.
- Industrial zones manufacture goods from materials that are either transported from Outside Connections by delivery trucks or extracted and processed locally in specialized industrial areas and then sell them. They will attempt to sell goods to local buyers first. If there is overproduction of a type of goods the companies will ship the excess production to Outside Connections, but selling to the local market is always more profitable. Continuing to sell to Outside Connections will further decrease the profit as they have to ship the goods further and further to new buyers, simulating the eventual oversaturation of the market. Companies in general seek to re-evaluate their business every now and then, adjusting the number of employees to match the current business landscape and market needs.
- Office zones produce immaterial goods and services for private citizens and companies alike.
- Specialized Industry – Zones that exploit natural resources and provide jobs for people and products for commercial buildings.
One thing to note is that High Density building generally cause higher traffic, and cause congestion on small roads. If you’re looking to build a massive city, and not crammed into one space, use low density, as it needs less services, and takes up a larger space than the high density.
Note that industries and commercial zones contribute to traffic congestion, especially if goods must be imported from outside the town due to a lack of local industrial zones. Importing goods does not affect the revenue of these industries, but does affect gameplay by requiring a well-developed roadway grid.
| Zone | Required Milestone | Description |
| Low Density Housing | 0 | Single and semi-detached houses. |
| Medium Density Row Housing | 1 | Row houses. |
| Medium Density Housing | 2 | Small apartment buildings. |
| Mixed Housing | 5 | Apartment buildings with commercial space on the bottom and apartments on top. |
| Low Rent Housing | 4 | Large apartment buildings with small, affordable apartments. The lower rent provides lower tax income as a result. |
| High Density Housing | 8 | Large apartment buildings. |
| Low Density Business | 0 | Stores, boutiques, gas stations, supermarkets, restaurants, motels, bars, travel agencies. |
| High Density Business | 9 | Supermarkets, malls, hotels, big movie theaters, concert halls, theaters, fitness centers, department stores. |
| Industrial Manufacturing | 0 | Workshops and factories, warehouses and storage yards. |
| Low Density Offices | 4 | Small office buildings. |
| High Density Offices | 10 | Skyscrapers, large office buildings. |
Specialized Industry
Grain Farming specialized industry zone
Specialized industry follows different placement rules. Initially a central building will be placed. Then the corners of the zone must be placed, limited to a ring around the central building. The corners can be later adjusted through the Area menu. Specialized industry buildings cannot become abandoned, but companies will still move in and out of them as the area becomes more or less desirable.
Most specialized industry zones require a certain natural resource to be used. Companies will never move in a specialized industry zone that requires a resources and does not have access to it.
| Specialized Industry | Required Milestone | Required Resource | Noise Pollution | Ground Pollution | Air Pollution |
| Livestock Farming | 3 | Low | |||
| Grain Farming | 4 | Fertile Land | Low | ||
| Vegetable Farming | 5 | Fertile Land | Low | ||
| Textile Fiber Farming | 6 | Fertile Land | Low | ||
| Forestry | 4 | Forest | Medium | ||
| Stone Mining | 3 | Medium | Medium | Medium | |
| Coal Mining | 5 | Ore | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Ore Mining | 7 | Ore | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Oil Drilling | 8 | Oil | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Oil Drilling zones have a higher fire hazard than the rest.
Building Level
All zoned buildings have Building Levels from 1 to 5. Building Levels represent the progression of the building from a lower to a higher quality building and are a reflection of how wealthy its inhabitants are. As the building increases in level, its upkeep increases which means that its rent also increases. In residential buildings electricity and water consumption also decreases per household and as the buildings change at levels 3 and 5, more apartments are available in medium and high density residential buildings.
In commercial buildings, electricity and water used per one unit of goods or products sold decreases. Furthermore, commercial buildings are able to produce goods and services faster which means that they can sell them cheaper to consumers. This leads to citizens choosing higher-level commercial companies over other options.
Similarly, in manufacturing and office buildings, electricity and water used to produce one unit of goods decreases. Higher-level buildings adopt better utility practices, boosting their production efficiency and also generating less garbage and pollution.
Visually, buildings change at every other level, representing the increase in the quality of the building. Lower-level buildings have a cheaper look while higher-level buildings adopt a more modern and detailed look.
Demand
Demand Information
Demand are building requests from citizens for the different types and densities of buildings. City growth is largely based on the different zone types needing more space and the symbiotic relationship between them. New citizens move in and require housing which increases residential demand. The new citizens then need jobs and places to go shopping and spend their free time so industrial and commercial demand increases. As industrial manufacturing increases, they need places to sell their produced goods which also increases commercial zone demand. And as more companies are founded, more job positions become available which in turn increases demand for residential housing.
Adjusting taxes for the different education levels as well as the various goods produced and sold in the city can have a great effect on local demand. Taxes can be used to favor different goods and products manufacturing in the city or simply give a helping hand to fledgling industries.
Residential demand increases when new citizens want to move in: citizens moving in for work, students seeking education opportunities, or people simply wanting to move in because the city is an inviting location to raise their families. Families and seniors prefer large apartments, thus increasing the low and medium density housing demand. Single-person households and students don’t shy away from smaller apartments, favoring medium density apartment buildings and high density residential towers; the living costs are also divided among the high number of households, making living cheaper in these zone types. Residential zone demand also increases as jobs in the industrial, commercial, and office sectors become available. The zones require a workforce and as new workers move in, they demand suitable housing. When unemployment increases and jobs aren’t available, residential demand decreases until the issues are remedied. If the city has a large number of built but unoccupied homes, residential demand can decrease until the available homes become occupied.
Commercial zone demand is based on manufacturers producing goods for sale and the availability of potential customers, as well as citizens needing jobs. When industrial zones produce goods, they need to sell them to make a profit. As the local market is always a more profitable option, they want to sell their goods within the city which increases the need for local commercial companies. However, having goods and products to sell is only half of the business. The commercial zones also require enough purchasing power from the local citizens to not only survive but to flourish. Thus, local demand for goods and products is an extremely important factor in commercial demand. Citizens want to buy things for their households and they also simply want to spend time in their favorite leisure activities which include shopping. Commercial demand also increases if companies detect the availability of a suitable workforce in the city. When companies have the needed employees to fill the required positions, their profitability increases.
Industrial demand is based on citizens needing jobs in the manufacturing sector as well as local commercial companies requiring goods and products to sell. The demand can be further increased by the availability of local resource extraction by specialized industries. Setting up specialized industrial areas provides materials for manufacturing locally, decreasing transport costs and thus increasing profits. Worker availability is one of the cornerstones of industrial demand. Attracting new citizens to the city directly affects the demands of the various sectors, including industrial zones. As companies always seek to optimize their production, they are in search of suitable workers. As the companies increase in levels, their requirements shift to more educated employees; this leads to increased productivity and efficiency which in turn manifests in higher profits. Manufacturing also benefits from having local warehouses to store produced goods and products. Companies tend to have relatively small storage facilities and seek to sell all their products as quickly as possible. Warehouses allow more flexibility and time to seek suitable new buyers if no one is currently available, while still keeping production going.
Office demand is increased by citizens wanting to work in the office sector as well as citizens and businesses needing the various immaterial goods that offices provide. Manufacturing industry and other office companies benefit from the software developed in the office zones. As software is produced, more office companies appear as they can further develop the software into other services. Office zone demand also benefits greatly from finding suitable workers to boost productivity and efficiency in the companies. Similar to other companies, the better the workforce matches the needs of the companies, the more profitable they will be. Depending on the age range of the customers, different types of immaterial goods are preferred. Adults and seniors favor banking services and products from the financial sector while children and teens consume more media products.
Zone Suitability
Each zone type has a Zone Suitability infoview which activates when you start zoning. Depending on the zone type, it shows pertinent information about which areas are suitable for the selected zone type. As an example, zoning commercial areas shows information about where the potential customers are located in the city while zoning a residential area highlights ground pollution so that it is easy to avoid when zoning. It also shows areas that might be otherwise unsuitable, perhaps due to high Land Value making rent for low density housing very high.
Land Value
Land Value Overview
Land value is an attribute tracked in Cities Skylines II that represents the price of a particular piece of land. It is a tool to understand which locations are desirable for citizens and companies, and it spreads through roads to the buildings’ close neighborhoods, slowly increasing the value of the area in general.
Citizens tend to value large homes, the proximity of shops, services they require, schools and workplaces as well as pollution-free locations. If the citizens find homes that suit their needs, they move in. And if they are happy living there and are wealthy enough, they are able to pay a higher rent which translates into an increase in the area’s Land Value. It is important to note that simply plopping all city services into a neighborhood doesn’t increase the Land Value in the area automatically. Only when the residents and companies have their needs met, be it with services or shopping options for citizens, customers, and resellers for companies, will Land Value be affected as the residents and companies feel that the area is valuable to their existence.
If the rent is higher than the upkeep cost of the building, the residents pool their leftover funds into improving the building which eventually leads to the building leveling up. High demand for a specific zone type can also increase the rent and thus also the Land Value, as more people want to move into the city than there are places to live.
To keep the Land Value in check (if needed) you can adjust the various residential taxes, encouraging or discouraging citizens to move in. Also, zoning more of those zone types with high demand can help keep the Land Value in check as the demand is met. It is also possible to simply limit the number of required services and leisure options to keep the Land Value low. Citizens can tolerate some shortcomings in regard to their needs and still live relatively happy lives.
If the citizens are not able and willing to pay higher rent, the rent decreases which also affects the Land Value around the building. Residents will move out if the living costs are too high and they don’t feel like their needs are met in the area where they live, and some will even move out of the city. However, if the residents continue to not be able to meet the rent costs, the building will start to deteriorate as no money is used for the building’s basic upkeep. The residents then move out in greater numbers and the building becomes abandoned. This further decreases the Land Value. Abandoned buildings can become occupied by homeless citizens but due to the constant disrepair, the building will eventually collapse.
Land Value affects different residential zone types in different ways. Low density housing areas can quickly become expensive to live in as the Land Value increases. The higher Land Value affects the rent and since low density housing has only one household per building, the increased rent falls on the single household entirely. Thus, lower-income families tend to move out of these residential areas and search for new homes in medium density housing areas. Medium and high density housing areas are less affected by the increased Land Value as the living costs are divided among many dozen households. Many citizens prefer living in smaller homes that cost less than struggling to make their rent.
Companies evaluate suitable locations for their businesses partially using Land Value and the size of the rent which is subtracted from the value of the company’s production. However, companies also take into consideration the location based on the material transportation costs. Companies pay for the transportation of materials to their location as well as the transportation of produced goods and products from the company to resellers and customers. The lower the transportation costs, the more suitable a location is for the company. Similar to residential housing, companies use any money leftover from covering the building’s upkeep costs to improve the building and eventually level it up.
More Guides:
- Cities: Skylines II – Useful Hidden Settings
- Cities: Skylines II – How to Make Money
- Cities: Skylines II – Practical Engineering: Efficient Grids
- Cities: Skylines II – Guide to Activate Mod Features in Game Base (Anarchy, etc..)
- Cities: Skylines II – Building (Functional) Pedestrian Overpass
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