What is "natural growth"?

[coachmcguirck 0]

I see this in some cityjournals.  But how is it done?

[Chptrk 86]

Natural growth is just the type of City Journal, where the City Journalist starts from small towns and grows out the region gradually and by the demand factors and things, such as making sure the city is making money and not just eye-candy.

Basically, those city journals concentrate on making a city work, rather then specifically making it look good. Not that they aren't good looking CJ's, they are, it's just a different style of playing the game for showing on the site.

Hope that clears that up for you!

[Larks2242 251]

Originally posted by: Chptrk

Basically, those city journals concentrate on making a city work, rather then specifically making it look good. Not that they aren't good looking CJ's, they are, it's just a different style of playing the game for showing on the site.

quote>

Yes and CSG's CJ is a perfect example of that.

Edit: Odd it appears CSG's CJ was deleted

[astronelson 339]

Natural growth is a city-building philosophy that holds that the best way to build a city in SC4 is to not plan ahead too far, but rather to zone following the contours of the land and what is in demand at that time, as you see in real cities.

To build a natural growth city, you should begin with a small town surrounded by farms. As demand for farms decreases, they are swallowed up by the town, demand for farms increases again, and farms should be zoned at the outer edge of the city. You do not provide services until they are demanded, you do not upgrade streets until traffic is terrible, and you do not demolish large areas of your city in one go.

To constantly build your city in this fashion is quite tricky, but it produces quite pleasing results.

It is currently reasonably fashionable, but then again, so were sunken highways. Whether the Natural Growth style will become a mainstream way of city-building or merely have a few moments in the sun before fading into oblivion remains to be seen.

The trend started with a user called CSGdesign (who has since removed himself from ST), who wrote a CJ using this style. As far as I know, it is still running on SC4Devotion.

[Aspirin4o 1]

Wow.

That was the most scientific explanation of a city growth method I have ever seen.

[Faded Glory 13]

It is also running at his blog on http://www.csgdesign.com.au/blog/ . This way you don't have to sign up to view.

[DITRO 15]

There's a link in my sig too. :-D

[coachmcguirck 0]

I think I understand. So, after building enough farmland and whatnot, I go into eating up that farmland with RCI (like in real life of course), but zoom down so close that city block takes up nearly the whole screen? (or act like it does)?

[_marsh_ 1,118]

Natural Growth is explaind EXACTLY right here

It was started by CSGdesign, and is just a style of play. In a way.. its the way the game was meant to be played.

[david1314 44]

Originally posted by: _marsh_

Natural Growth is explaind EXACTLY right here

  It was started by CSGdesign, and is just a style of play. In a way.. its the way the game was meant to be played.quote>

In SC4, the first "natural growth" per se was E.J.C's "Paris - City of Love".  In attempting to replicate the smooth curves on Parisian roads, new techniques were employed to subvert the grid.  That dates back to late 2004 as I recall.  Any map nut probably remembers the compelling transit views that were provided in the CJ.  

I have been employing the method since 2006 in my CJs.

Natural growth would be characterized from a grid pattern by the roads going from one populated place to another (i.e. Champs Elysees Connects central Paris with La Defence).  It is often mistakenly attempted with a mess of roads and no real direction or central planning (this is probably nearest to the medieval system of defense-minded city design).  A grid on the other hand just goes in N-S or E-W.

So, in natural growth cities, roads will go from where people are to where people are going.

In grid cities, roads will go from where people are to the due North (not very useful for anyone living slightly off a cardinal axis of the city).

In unplanned or defensively planned cities, roads will form lots of small loops and dead-ends with no real direction.

[SC4BOY 21]

Aye.. it's been around since the beginning of time..