City placement is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in Civilization VI. Knowing how far apart to place your cities can be the difference between a thriving empire and a poorly managed sprawl. While the game gives you plenty of freedom, optimizing the distance between cities allows you to make the most of every tile, improve your infrastructure, and keep your empire running smoothly.
Many players fall into the trap of either crowding their cities too close together or spreading them too far apart. The truth is, there is a balance to be struck. The spacing of your cities should reflect your victory goals, the terrain you're working with, and how you plan to manage your economy, amenities, and districts.
How City Radius Affects Placement
Each city in Civilization VI can work tiles in a three-tile radius from its center, forming a large hexagonal area. This radius is where your citizens will work, and it’s also where you’ll place districts and improvements. However, even though cities can eventually grow to work all tiles within that radius, this takes time. Early in the game, city borders expand slowly, and population growth is limited, meaning that not all available tiles will be used right away.
Placing cities too far apart can lead to large stretches of unused land in the early game, which results in slower development. While you might have more space for each city in the long run, the short-term cost can be significant. Conversely, if cities are placed too closely, they will compete for tiles, limiting their growth and potentially stifling their ability to build all the necessary districts.
Ideal Spacing for Balanced Growth
A practical strategy is to place your cities about four tiles apart. This spacing allows for minimal overlap between the tiles each city can work, but it also ensures that most of your territory is being utilized efficiently. By keeping cities within this distance, you can also take advantage of overlapping district effects, such as the production bonuses from Industrial Zones or the amenities from Entertainment Complexes. These district bonuses can extend to nearby cities within six tiles, so keeping your cities relatively close allows you to stack these benefits effectively.
Spacing cities four tiles apart also makes it easier to defend your territory. Units can move between cities quickly, support can arrive when needed, and your road network becomes more efficient. It’s a strategic sweet spot for maintaining control, building synergy, and ensuring rapid development.
Expanding for Maximum Growth Potential
If your strategy focuses on developing large, powerful cities rather than a wide-spanning empire, you might consider placing cities six to seven tiles apart. This approach allows each city full access to all tiles in its radius without any overlap. You can fill every tile with improvements or districts without worrying about neighboring cities taking up space.
This wider spacing works well for victory conditions that benefit from high city yields, like scientific or cultural victories. A city that has room to build a Campus with mountain adjacency, a Theater Square near a wonder, and plenty of improved tiles will develop into a powerful hub of activity. However, this strategy does reduce the total number of cities you can fit on the map, and it may leave valuable land undeveloped for longer periods.
Considerations That Affect City Placement
The terrain between potential city locations plays a huge role in your decision. Cities near rivers, lakes, and coastal areas have immediate advantages in terms of housing, food, and trade. Resource availability should also influence placement. If there’s a cluster of luxury or strategic resources, settling nearby can give your civilization a critical edge in the early game.
You’ll also want to factor in the defensive position of your cities. Mountain ranges, rivers, and forests can provide natural defenses that help protect against early aggression. Spacing cities in a way that covers your flanks and secures choke points can create a more defensible empire.
District placement is another major consideration. Since districts in Civilization VI must be placed on the map and gain bonuses from their surrounding tiles, having enough room around your city to place them effectively is key. A well-placed Campus surrounded by mountains or a Commercial Hub next to a river can significantly boost your economy. Leaving room for optimal district layout is one of the main reasons not to pack cities too closely together.
In expansions like Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm, loyalty becomes a critical mechanic. Cities placed too far from your empire's core may suffer from low loyalty, especially if they’re near rival borders. In these cases, keeping your cities closer together can help reinforce loyalty pressure and keep your empire stable.
Balancing Wide vs. Tall Strategies
The classic debate in Civilization VI between playing wide or tall is closely linked to city spacing. Playing wide means founding many cities across a broad area, usually spaced closer together. This strategy emphasizes expansion, rapid territory control, and a strong military. Wide empires can leverage multiple cities to generate more production, science, and culture overall, even if individual cities are not as powerful.
Playing tall focuses on fewer, highly developed cities that grow large and powerful over time. These cities are spaced farther apart to ensure they each have access to more land and can build every necessary district and improvement. Tall empires often aim for cultural or scientific victories, where fewer but more efficient cities can compete with the raw output of a wide empire.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Your civilization’s unique abilities and the victory condition you’re targeting should influence whether you play wide or tall, and by extension, how far apart you place your cities.
Final Thoughts on City Spacing in Civilization VI
Mastering city placement in Civilization VI is about finding the perfect balance between distance, development, and strategic control. Placing your cities around four tiles apart tends to provide the best combination of growth potential, overlapping benefits, and defensibility. For players focusing on highly developed individual cities, spacing them six to seven tiles apart offers the most room for long-term growth.
Remember that flexibility is key. Every game of Civilization VI presents a new map, new neighbors, and new challenges. What works in one game might not in another. Always adapt your city placement to suit the conditions you’re facing and the victory condition you're pursuing.
