Downgrade plot sizes

[Mytzenka 106]

Standard zoning gives you certain plot sizes based in the demand at that point in time. So you might get a 1*3, 2*3 or 3*3 plot by default.

Using the CTRL key you can override that and zone any sized plot, say 3*4. But that doesn't automatically mean something will grow of that particular size.
This depends on demand and that makes sense. So far so good.

However, I have noticed that whereas the game may build bigger buildings that the size you originally zoned for but haven't seen the opposite happen. Can the game build smaller than the plot you originally zoned? It seems this is not the case, or at least I don't remember seeing it happen (I am not a veteran with this game).

I zoned this plot next to the school, for example, but nothing develops here. I can understand there may not be demand for a 4*5 building like that. Maybe it doesn't even exist, I don't know.
But I know a 3*4 building exist so could that develop there? And if there is no demand for that now either, could just some 1*3 or 1*2  buildings develop like the W2W apartments in the bottom left corner of this block?

I have had this zone for a while now and nothing happens. Whereas if I would zone smaller plots of land here I'm pretty sure they would develop.

So my question boils down to: if you zone a certain sized plot, will the game only be able to build in that particular size (or larger) but never smaller?

 

[CorinaMarie 29,618]

The game can chop some Control+Zoned into smaller sizes, but I've only seen it for residential when the depth is no more than 3 cells. I don't know if that's built into the game or just my own experience. I'll be following to see what other peeps say.

[matias93 7,535]

I've seen "lot chopping" for both residential and commercial (haven't tried with industrial), even on zones deeper than 3 tiles.

My two main observations on it are:

1. The chopping almost always is done in 1-tile wide pieces, that might sometimes evolve into bigger lots with time.
2. The game tends to consider chopped lots as corner lots, and can develop corner-designed buildings there, causing some weird situations.

[RobertLM78 1,597]

13 hours ago, Mytzenka said:

I have noticed that whereas the game may build bigger buildings that the size you originally zoned for but haven't seen the opposite happen. Can the game build smaller than the plot you originally zoned?

Absolutely...!  Especially with Commercial (in fact i've been wanting to make a post about that and another zoning issue you touched on: default size).  It is  particularly annoying when a lot that you've zoned to be 3x2 breaks up into 3 1x2 lots and they're adjacent to RTMT thus making at least 2 of the lots inaccessible.

Your 5x4 lot is too deep to be broken up (the deepest low-density residential are x3 in depth).  However theoretically if you had a BAT that was that size and the demand was met,  it would build there.

[Simizen 1,099]

lot separation occurs pretty regularly in the game. As for the larger 4 tile deep lots, it's possible for it to break into the smaller 1x4 lots, though, it just takes longer. Though, how it does this, I have no idea, given that most of the smaller lots stop at 1x3. Best I can figure is that it's somehow able to extend a couple of lots. And, I believe the same works on the 2x4; but, 2x4 and 3x4 should have their own dedicated lots within the game.