Growth stages vs citysize

[MayorNiek 3]

Hey all!

First of all. This is an awesome forum! I have been playing SimCity 4 for a while again (after playing this a lot as a kid) and I come here often for tips and mods. 

I have quite a decently sized region at the moment (1.5 million inhabitants). I have a question concerning the growth stages.

I have got a small island directly connected to my city-centre. I assumed the growth stages applied to regional capacity, but then dense lots should also appear on this island right? It seems though city-size also still plays a role here, since hi-rise wont grow. Is there anyone which can explain how this works? What factors play a role in growing denser lots/hi-rise?

Thanks!

Niek

[Lucario Boricua 7,049]

Welcome aboard!

 

The maximum building density you can get on a particular city does depend on factors within the city, the connected neighboring cities, and the region as a whole. For a small island connected to the city center...

• The city's large population and mature demand will make your small island neighborhood grow a lot faster
• You still need to provide the appropriate conditions for growth in the small islands: utilities (power, waste management AND water), transportation links to your city center (ideally ferries and a subway line if you want to maintain the island look), keeping pollution under control, and ensuring amenities compatible with the kind of development you want (parks, health and education for residential; police, plazas, landmarks and high traffic for commercial; easy way out for freight for industrial; firefighting services for everyone)
• And finally, make sure you zone appropriately. I don't want to think that you might be expecting a skyscraper to pop up from a low density residential or commercial zone without tap water service! Just in case, zone a small area (or even a single lot) for high density to concentrate the demand into a single really large building, or zone a larger area if you want a more moderate density covering a bigger portion of the island.

Beyond that, your small city should develop healthily in this situation you're describing. Let us know how it goes!

[MayorNiek 3]

Hey Lucario!

Thanks for the reply! I had been away on vacation, hence the delay in response...

Well, all the points you mention are met (utilities, parks, education etc...). Should it then just be a matter of passing time? Maybe it is worth mentioning that I play all my cities on hard mode and have CAM installed, though that should technically not matter right?

Just for some extra info I added an image of my region, the blue arrow points to the island and the red arrow is the connected large neighbor (600k inhabitants) (connected by ferry and monorail).


Niek