SimCity and Urban Planning/Zoning

Zoning is an important concept both in real-life town planning, and in the SimCity game.

Zoning in Urban Planning
Zoning is a system of land use regulation which designates the permitted uses of land based on mapped zones, which separate one part of the community from another. Theoretically, its primary purpose is to segregate uses that are thought to be incompatible. In practice, zoning is used as a permitting system to prevent new development from harming existing residents or businesses. Zoning is commonly controlled by local governments such as counties or municipalities.

Zoning commonly includes regulation of the kinds of activities which will be acceptable on particular lots (such as open space, residential, agricultural, commercial or industrial), the densities at which those activities can be performed (low density housing such as single family homes to high density such as apartment buildings), the height of buildings, the amount of space structures may occupy by limiting how close a building may be from the edge of the lot, the proportions of the types of space on a lot (for example, how much landscaped space and how much paved space), and how much parking must be provided.

Most zoning systems have a procedure for granting variances - exceptions to the zoning rules, usually because of some perceived hardship due to the particular nature of the property in question.

While it is rare that cities are planned from scratch planners are important in managing the growth of cities, applying tools like zoning to manage the uses of land, and growth management to manage the pace of development. When examined historically, many of the cities now thought to be most beautiful are the result of dense, long lasting systems of prohibitions and guidance about building sizes, uses and features. These allowed substantial freedoms, yet enforce styles, safety, and often materials in practical ways. Many conventional planning techniques are being repackaged as smart growth.

There are some cities that have been planned from conception, and while the results often don't turn out quite as planned, evidence of the initial plan often remains. Some of the most successful planned cities consist of cells that include park-space, commerce and housing, and then repeat the cell. Usually cells are separated by streets. Often each cell has unique monuments and gardening in the park, and unique gates or boundary-markers for the edges of the cell. The commercial areas naturally become diverse. These differences help instill a sense of place, while the similarities of the cells make each place in the city familiar.

Zoning in SimCity
In SimCity, players can chose to zone land as residential, commercial, or industrial. From SC2K onwards, players can also chose the density of various zones in their city.

As in real life, wealthy residents don't like living near to dense industrial areas, clean hi-tec industry doesn't like to be close to dirty industry which many types of commercial zones prefer to be located alongside busy roads.