RCI Construction management Services

Establishing and maintaining the proper balance of RCI zones throughout your city (and region) is a constant challenge. Keep an eye on that ever-changing RCI Demand meter to respond to the needs for more residential, commercial, and industrial zones.

But if you want to really excel in your job as Mayor, it takes even greater involvement to keep up with the needs of the Sims living, working, and shopping in your city.

Smart Zoning

If you build zones close together, Sims can work and shop within walking distance of their house, cutting down on traffic and use of mass transit. Just be mindful of pollution generated by factories.

Designating residential, commercial, and industrial zones is easy—plus it costs nothing. Simply open the Zones menu, choose the desired zone from the tool bar, and draw the zone along an existing road.

If you’re planning to create a self-sufficient RCI system within your city, zone approximately two residential for every commercial and industrial zone—follow this 2:1:1 ratio to establish a stable tax base.

But before you start zoning, take into account the flow of activity between the different zones. For instance, where will your Sims live? Will they have to drive to work or can they walk to nearby factories and shops? How far will trucks have to drive to deliver freight to shops and Trade Depots?

By keeping zones close together you can maximize efficiency and significantly reduce traffic. However, there are pollution concerns to take into account, especially if relying on dirty factories to supply most of the jobs.

While keeping factories close to commercial and residential buildings is good for promoting pedestrian activity over vehicle traffic, the negative impact of pollution and low land value may lead to unhappy (and sick) Sims.

Consider keeping your industrial zones a safe distance from the residential and commercial areas until you have an educated work force. Once you have enough high school and college educated workers, clean and high tech buildings will begin appearing in industrial zones, producing far less pollution than their predecessors.

As these advanced facilities appear, consider shifting your commercial and residential zones closer to these cleaner buildings.

Tip

This Sim just got paid and is walking home from work. Sims will walk a maximum of 400 meters before relying on an automobile or mass transit to reach their destination. So the utopian goal is to create small self-contained modular communities where Sims can walk everywhere to fulfill their basic needs.

RCI on a Regional Scale

Don’t have enough shops? The Sims in your city will go to other cities to buy goods. Workers, freight, and students are also shared between connected cities.

In previous SimCity games, all RCI activity occurred within one city, making it relatively easy to manage local demand. But with multi-city play, all cities linked by the highway or mass transit can participate in the process.