How to Create Realistic Zoning Districts in Cities Skylines [Tutorial for Beginners]

How to Create Realistic Zoning Districts in Cities Skylines [Tutorial for Beginners]
Are you struggling to create a realistic looking city? Do you diversity your districts by applying policies and specializations in each of your neighborhoods? If not, you're missing out on a core component of the game that can help you vary your districts, improve the aesthetics and traffic flow of your city. In this tutorial, I'll explain the difference between land use and zoning and teach you how to create a number of unique zoning districts for each land use classification.
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CHAPTERS

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Extremely interesting :-)

[@AB365_Official]

I know! Can't believe that I never thought of this while making a few of my project cities!

[@CRemy-pk1fh]

Definitely gonna apply to Teaport.

[@theomanex1748]

Biffa!

[@jerryvilla3531]

Biffa for Sky Lines Mayor!!!

[@user-ph6of6ep4x]

Wait biffa-

[@BoldWittyName]

Another valuable tool is the "historical" designation you can add by clicking on any building. It will freeze the physical appearance of the building while allowing it to keep upgrading. (Unlike high-rise ban) This will give you 3 more options for each zoning class regarding the physical appearance of buildings. (Assuming they were all going to be level 3 eventually.)

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Interesting! I was unaware that the mechanic worked in that way!

[@aguyishappy3988]

Yes btt when cities get large it becomes a pain individually clicking historical on each building!

[@anonymousanonymity2815]

@@aguyishappy3988 not vanilla but there’s a “historical district” option where you paint an area and a button is available to make every building a historical building

[@08marathonman]

@@CityPlannerPlaysmy office zones are locked. How to unlock?

[@thatdogewithvr]

@@08marathonman i think you unlock them at 7000 citizens

[@fresetu]

Noxious externality; who knew that "pollution" could sound so sexy! 😉

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I sometimes slip *deep* into planning jargon, haha!

[@fresetu]

@@CityPlannerPlays All good; could be understood from the context it was used in

[@charbelboutros8497]

Noxious Externality was my favorite heavy metal band from the 90s.

[@phychemnerd]

@@CityPlannerPlays Sure, but why not just call it pollution?

[@Seriously_Unserious]

@@CityPlannerPlays That's also economics jargon, though I think it's used in a slightly different way, referring to anything that has a cost external to the decision makers causing that cost (eg a plant outputs pollution into a river, but it's people living downstream who pay the price in the form of contaminated and poisonous drinking water), or a benefit external to the decision makers who can't readily distribute or deny that benefit selectively (eg: a streetlight outputs light for everyone, whether they paid for that light or not, but costs SOMEONE money to install and maintain it).

[@SuperNova823]

This was the most professional CS video I’ve seen till now.

[@Costovertebralgelenk]

KZbin: A City Planner Plays Cities Skylines Me: Yes Me: hopefully he makes it educational so I can play this game like a rational human being A City Planner: Paying mind to topography, your arterial noxious externalities go through the collectors to reach local areas by easements underneath houses where a firefighter can't reach in any reasonable timeframe Me: Yes thanks mate, loving the content!

[@TheZacc]

LITERALLY HAHA

[@RandomInternetGuy1011]

sthu

[@AlCatSplat]

@@RandomInternetGuy1011 cope

[@RandomInternetGuy1011]

@@AlCatSplat bro I wrote this a year ago go touch grass ye hippie

[@solimanski420]

@@RandomInternetGuy1011the fact that you joined a year ago and made this comment a year ago makes me think he isn’t the only one who should touch hrass

[@1lostmuffin515]

I'm sitting here watching this man explain zoning and different types of planning policies all the while nodding my head like "hmm, naturally" like I know what the hell he's talking about

[@Nic_13]

this^^ lmfao

[@TuomasLeone]

This is really interesting. I *always* forget to mix up the zoning and the policies. Then I just end up with these "islands" of development with no graduation from one area to another.

[@kayseek1248]

Sounds like Sydney.

[@JoeSanHUN]

where can you set the zoning and the policies? I am a beginner :D

[@pdiaz1]

@@JoeSanHUN Policies in the white square with a tick, and zones in the color squares with buildings on it! :))

[@bombidil3]

Good Soviet city planning

[@Versuffe]

​@@kayseek1248 it is Sydney lol

[@EduardoSevero]

oh my God this is exactly the kind of tutorial that I want to see for cities skylines! Thank you so much :D

[@christosgian.8399]

Excellent and eye-opening video! The fact that policies create variations in RCI zones, is something so simple, yet a new player can miss it easily. Myself being included. Thanks a lot for the vid!

[@user-rb7us2qm7c]

slightly off topic; your voice is so soothing

[@WillCSOfficial]

When that intro rolls, I always get so excited!

[@greentree1516]

Love this! I’m currently in a GIS class working with land uses and love seeing it applied to my favorite game

[@samhamwich6763]

I have been playing this game for several years, and I continue to learn new ways to improve the look of my cities. Thanks for the great content!

[@NelsonBrown]

Good information about real land use and zoning. And great tips for getting nice aesthetics from the growables. I find some specializations, like the IT Cluster, don't have enough diversity for my eye. So I tend to paint two or more districts in the same area like like a polka-dot pattern, so there will be a few IT skyscrapers dotted among the generic offices. Personally I think "IT Cluster" looks like it should be called "Financial Center" because Silicon Valley buildings are generally low-rise and Manhattan is more about finance.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I completely agree about IT cluster. One of the reasons I don't understand why you can't restrict hi-rise development in the district.

[@hadifelani]

What an amazing content, I actually consider this as a legit city planning lecture, by using a game (cities skylines) as a method to convey the material to the general public 👍👍

[@JW-hd2rl]

Stumbled on this channel - really enjoying as you are doing something different with CS. Keep going mate!

[@yankeepotroast4169]

Wow! You packed so much useful info in here. All the things I've been looking for.

[@boredithlife04]

Love the content! I've never really put any thought into using the specializations and policies to change the shape and look of my cities. This opens up so many possibilities, so thank you!

[@halfwayhome1993]

Ive been on a hard binge of your videos after finally getting a PC strong enough to play this game. I’ve known about it for a long time, but now that I can play I looked up some tutorials and stumbled on your channel. This is without a doubt the most useful, interesting, and simply awesome channels I’ve ever watched. Thank you, sir.

[@shakeemrobinson2948]

Never thought of using zoning and policies in that way... Well done!

[@nicksurfs1]

Wow so I’ve really been playing this game for years and just today learned how to play it. This video is awesome!!

[@DarkautumnAutumn1988]

I like the maps and information, I find this stuff really interesting. Keep up the good work.

[@orangoetan6145]

This is a very good vid! Love the channel, thanks a lot!

[@tracyjapper654]

Played this for so long, and have never dove so deep. This is the way!

[@lynareantoinette]

This was great. I find that I try to change up how my city looks, wanting more of a town feel, but driven by the game to reach certain numbers of population I do end up with things I don’t want. I love this as a new player.

[@semangelof86]

Great video! I love the way you create specific examples for each concept to make it easier to understand. Only one thing to correct though, you have six diferent posibilities for residential (not eight) in terms of size and looks, because high tech housing doesn't change those two variables. It only makes the land around them more valuable.

[@sleepybeo3425]

thank god this video exists!! i RLY needed this since i got cities skyline. GREAT VIDEO !!

[@fossilgames963]

Definitely one of the most interesting and useful Cities Skylines videos I've seen. Finally, someone who knows what to do with policies!

[@chavezmarchant2766]

Bro this is such a good video, I've been watching you're oldest (videos) and moving on through the timeline, and you can really see the jump in editing and quality. especially from the "Basic Entrance.." video to this one. So good.

[@faervelsworld]

Thanks for putting this together! I love building cities and these tips are going to change my game play.

[@T.C.C.797]

That was very helpful and informative for me. Thank you 😊 💓

[@geenykh3625]

Just what I was looking for. Thanks!!

[@jgutierrez09]

Thanks a lot for this clear explanation... kudos for that. Cheers!!! and happy holidays!!!

[@451Kitkat]

You are so calming. Thank you!!

[@dmcs2003]

So very good. Wonderful breakdown and teaching technique! I'm a subscriber now!

[@adityasixviandyj7334]

This video is TOTALY EDUCATIONAL!!!! basically this is a tutorial for zoning and styling (and specialization)... thanks allot, totally what I need for my city build!

[@morbiddinosaur]

You da man! This is incredibly useful! Thank you!!

[@S.Sparrow]

I can't thank you enough for these videos! I've learned so much, and you've got me interested enough to do some general research in to roadway planning IRL.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

That's awesome! I love getting people getting interested in planning! It impacts all of us!

[@imolotkov]

Brilliant Video. Thank so much for educating us!

[@blissdelara5067]

I’ve only recently started playing the game so I’m just browsing for tips and tricks here but omg your voice sir I can listen to you talk all day. Thanks for the content⭐️

[@bballjo]

Learned a lot! Thanks! Getting more and more excited to start a new C:S series, hope I can apply this :D

[@Ranakade]

every video of yours I watch gas me delving deeper in Cities Skylines. ❤️🙌

[@analogbunny]

I had been watching the channel for some time but this is the one that made me subscribe. I'm just back watching it again so I could take notes this time.

[@osmiumsoul9535]

Quite helpful, I've known about the district specific policies for some time now, but this was eye opening.

[@ThePinkimojca]

That was exactly what I needed. Thank you!

[@bigfloppa5643]

this really helps. thank you so much!

[@tony_9910]

Brilliant video...your knowledge of city planning always comes through loud and clear

[@FayetteAeon]

This was super helpful!! Thank you.

[@Lyarrah]

it's funny because while I'd used specializations before, I'd never looked at the high rise ban or really anything else before starting to watch you a couple weeks ago. just never occurred to me. so thanks for that!

[@tucsondog]

Excellent explanation of everything! I’m new to this game, but started back on SimCity 2000 back in the day. Subscribed! I look forward to watching your other videos and learning more about the game and city planning

[@Futurepointmusic]

Great content, this is something that noone really talks about but is so useful!

[@editiondutch]

Love this! Great explanation, will definitely use this in my own city

[@GERntleMAN]

Important information, thank you!

[@jangoverde9005]

Expected a quick cities-skylines tutorial, got a in-depth explanation of city geography. Thanks!

[@wowJhil]

Wish I saw this back when I played this a lot, really good video!

[@wojtekscibor]

thanks for this information, I wanted to test it out soon, but guess there's no need anymore :) back to building!

[@ilevyzeke]

Great job explaining this! I hated zoning high density commercial on one side of my boulevard and low density commercial on the other side only to see a major height disparity

[@AmericanVoyages]

Thanks for the very helpful video. While the districting is self-explanatory, it helps to see the visual differences between policies and specializations unfold. I never thought, for instance, to make industrial areas that filter waste, thinking that it was a good policy but would not have much effect on the visual aspects.

For no DLCs, you get only the high-rise ban option show in the video. Everything else is not available. And on European theme even that is not available. (It is, but it makes no difference because there are no tall builds in european theme) You can also mix and match low and high zones within a block. I did that between two neighborhoods to smooth their transition from big builds to low houses. Another tip is to break the grid, when you do perfect grids, the full space in a block will be used for zoning and usually 4x4 builds will popup everywhere. But if you do your roads using the free form tool, even if you try to make a grid, the little imperfections in the angles will make the zones inside the blocks fragmented, which gives a nice variety to builds shapes and sizes. For the transitions between high and low densities I place low houses on the bigger of those fragments and high density on the smaller fragments, so you get big houses and small 2/3 floors builds mixed in there. Looks really good.

[@Thingsyourollup]

Ugh I really dont like the European theme for this reason, plus the footprint of schools and other buildings is larger.... and that's unfortunate because it seems all the good maps are the European themed ones. I was never able to get the custom theme mod to work properly.

[@engu1348]

I think the High Tech Housing policy doesn’t require a DLC as well.

[@chevrolet-poitiers9507]

@@Thingsyourollup If you create a district and press the blue house option it has the option to use the The non European type buildings.

[@chiefkeefgaming2005]

@@engu1348 True but it doesnt change the assets. just the land value

[@TheAmazingCowpig]

0:10 haha, I live in the suburbs between NYC and Philadelphia, so when I started playing CS this month, those were the experiences I immediately started drawing from. Just a random mess of a gigantic grid, with city entrance gridlock for good measure. My next city is definitely going to be more "modern" and planned! Glad I stumbled across this channel just as I started the game.

[@rbraibish]

This is fabulous information. I truly appreciate the experience you bring to your videos. I will be bookmarking this in my favorites and referring to it often as I tinker with my next city. Your content, along with the advice and observations in the comments will prove to be very helpful.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I appreciate the feedback, Robert, and am glad that you find this helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@Tadoke]

wow, wish I came across your channel long ago. Excellent info with references.

[@noahphense]

Watching one of your playlists. Saw this.. You’ve got my sub.

[@mikemyon3570]

Just found your channel two days ago - since getting a copy of City Skylines (Mayor Edition) and falling in love with the game right of the bat, the traffic jams are already real. 😁 So looking for principles to learn in order to solve the puzzles, I found your channel and really enjoying it. So interesting! So just wanted to hit you up, complementing on your great work you're doing here. 👍🏼 Best regards from Germany

[@chewie__]

Super useful, awesome video man

[@selias-qm2nc]

Thank you so much for this video. It was exactly what I needed|!!

[@ipsi508]

Thank you, clear, precise. Perfect.

[@elizabethsolayao7041]

wow this is very educational! cant wait to buy the green cities DLC when steam goes on sale again so I can try the other zoning districts you shared. thanks

[@SkipToMyLou_]

Thank you for good content.Much appreciated

[@safe-keeper1042]

This is super useful, bookmarking this!

[@DJKeitaro]

All your tutorial videos are super helpful thank you! I was wondering if you were planning on doing tutorials on making efficient Parks / University campus / Industries zones that you have to buy and build yourself. Keep up the good work 😄

[@Kanehdian123]

Great idea for a video. Informative, interesting, and entertaining. Well Done!

[@johngorny8306]

This video is soooooo helpful dude, thank you!

[@kyjowi]

This was very helpful. I especially liked the diagrams at 2:48, 4:28, 5:40, and 6:42, but the entire video is worth watching and really benefited my cities.

[@Haskellor]

Always highly informative and interesting videos, thank you ! Had played with the different policies but generally end with the same everywhere, I'll add some diversity. Oops, I have to launch the game once again, too bad, too bad !

[@sniper6823]

I'm a long time player of cities and I still learn new things everyday, thanks for this.

[@miriareu]

That was really insightful and interesting to watch. Made me understand more about how they zone in Auckland.

[@SamGirgenti]

Awesome bro, thank you :-)

[@m00n22NL]

Just started the game and love your content. This one is awesome!

[@knockshinnoch1950]

EXCELLENT! This is the best explanation of how the various district/policy options can be applied within Cities Skylines to help create a wider range of districts and create a more realistic looking city build. Thanks for posting this, I'm sure many players will find this of great use when planning their cities.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for checking it out!

[@MrFarquar]

I wish I could remember all this when I actually play. Ill be re-watching this a few times.

[@masalaprince3427]

This helps a lot thanks!

[@topikbagusid]

been using these kind of zoning placement since start playing CS like 5 years ago, and yeah...it is one of the best way to get the vanilla game full capabilities! made me want to play the game again!

[@LordPandaLad]

You’ve probably heard this a lot but my god is this a great video. The Tips videos have given me a new look on things and has inspired each to get back into city building in CS. Thank you my friend and keep up the great work.

[@kindnesswinsgames9130]

Such a beautifully-made video.

[@firebull1882]

It's very interesting to see the stuff I work with applied in a game like this so well now that I know what it actually means. I really need to get back into city building games. It's been years.

[@michaljanota6576]

Very nice video. Nicely explained. Thank you.

[@jcosunshine]

Very helpful and extremely interesting!

[@simpletrailers1161]

damn, I wasn't actually expecting to learn something. thanks man

[@ihsanhadi1830]

OMG, this is soo interesting, Thank you

[@jerryvilla3531]

Wow very good info. Going to try and apply the polices to my cities. Oh by the way your voice and approach is like Robert Ross, WoW, good job.

[@SpacePonder]

So good. I love this game. So much to learn about cities. I love that we can build farms and they aren't just decorative but rather serve propose, its so so satisfying to be able to make produce in bakery, etc same as for oil and trees. I have planned to venture out to my local city, Glasgow to study it and appreciate it. 💙

[@ngeejee]

This is so awesome!! I'm feel like a bad carpenter who blame his tools now..

[@RangerSixx]

life has been stressful, but just listening to your voice has been very relaxing. I'm not sure if it's the tone, cadence, volume, or combination of the three.

[@rafa3lbm]

Excelente video, me ayudo mucho!

[@AccountingRaiding]

This was insanely helpful...

[@HeyItsEmilyLove]

I could listen to you talk about zoning all day 😊

[@designerplays7389]

Very useful video, great tips.

[@9MRSG]

This was great!

[@robj1510]

This was incredibly good