Cities

1:31 A Civilization 3 city works the squares of a "fat X" around it, three squares wide with two more out on each diagonal, which by our count of the shape the Complete manual (p. 75) describes is 21 squares including the city's own. Each citizen works one square for food, shields and commerce, the city grows by one when its food box fills, and it needs an Aqueduct to grow past size 6 and a Hospital to grow past size 12, per Prima's official strategy guide (pp. 120-121). A city builds one thing at a time (a unit, a city improvement or a Wonder), keeps its people content or falls into disorder, earns the culture that pushes out its borders, and can be captured, razed or won over by a neighbor's culture.

Quick facts

Source: Complete manual, pp. 35, 75; 2001 manual, pp. 112, 128, 175-177; Prima's official strategy guide, pp. 120-123; GameSpot preview; civ3.com Conquests features.

Founding a city

11:59 A city starts with a Settler. Every game begins in 4000 BC with one Settler and one Worker, plus a Scout for Expansionist civilizations (Complete manual, p. 35). Settlers cost two population points to build and Workers one, GameSpot's 2001 preview explained, and both can be captured (GameSpot, Oct 18, 2001). Where to place cities, and how many to found, is on City Placement and Expansion.

The city square is always worked. You cannot take the work force off it on the City Display, so the terrain a city sits on matters (Complete manual, p. 75). Citizens may work any square of the radius that lies inside the city's borders, and a square already worked by another of your cities is outlined.

7:13 A new city's reach is small at first. GameSpot's preview says a city starts with a radius of one square and reaches two when it has 10 culture points, which is when its borders first expand (GameSpot, Oct 18, 2001; see Culture and Borders).

Growth and size limits

A city grows when its food box fills. Each turn the food left after feeding the citizens goes into the Food Storage Box; when it is full a citizen is added, and when a shortfall empties it a citizen starves (Complete manual, pp. 134-137). Larger size classes need more food to grow: towns the least, metropolises the most (Prima, p. 35). A Granary (60 shields, after Pottery) keeps half the food when the city grows, and the Pyramids give a Granary to every city on their continent (Prima, pp. 120, 134-136).

6:37 Two buildings lift the size caps. The Aqueduct (100 shields, 1 gold a turn, after Construction) lets a city grow past size 6, and the Hospital (120 shields, 2 gold a turn, after Sanitation) past size 12, per Prima's improvements table (pp. 120-121). Prima adds that "any city with fresh water inside its radius (rivers or inland seas) doesn't require Aqueducts to grow", and advises waiting until size 4 or 5 before building one, to save the upkeep (Prima, p. 123). In Conquests, Shakespeare's Theater also lets its city grow past 12 (see Wonders).

Source: 2001 manual, p. 128; Prima's official strategy guide, pp. 120-123.

Size also changes what a government gives. Under Monarchy and Communism a town supports two units free, a city four and a metropolis eight (2001 manual, pp. 128-130; see Governments), and a large population puts pollution in the radius unless a Mass Transit System is built (Complete manual, pp. 88-89).

Citizens and specialists

Citizens have four moods: happy, content, unhappy and resisting. The first citizens of a city are content; as it grows, more are born unhappy, how soon depending on the difficulty level, and a city falls into civil disorder when its unhappy citizens outnumber its happy ones (Complete manual, pp. 137, 146-151). Happiness and War Weariness covers moods, luxuries and We Love the King Day.

4:04 A citizen taken off the land becomes a specialist. The 2001 manual names three: an Entertainer makes one happy face, a Taxman produces one gold and a Scientist adds one to the city's research; clicking a specialist's icon cycles it through the three (2001 manual, pp. 175-177). Prima calls Taxmen "Tax Collectors", and notes that, unlike in earlier Civilization games, a city of any size may have specialists (Prima, pp. 39, 80). Specialists still eat, so each one costs the city a square's output. Once every square in the radius is worked, each new citizen becomes a specialist (Complete manual, p. 137).

Conquests added two specialists, the Civil Engineer and the Police officer, by the official site's feature list (civ3.com, archived). What they produce is not described in the Complete manual or any other source read for this page.

The City Display

3:01 The City Display is the city screen. It shows the city's radius as a resource map, the Population Roster with each citizen's mood and nationality, the Food Storage Box with turns until growth, the Production Box with turns until the current item is done, the luxuries the city enjoys and its culture per turn, per the Complete manual (pp. 74-79, 134-137). Clicking a worked square turns its citizen into an Entertainer, and clicking an empty square puts him back to work, which is how you choose between food, shields and commerce.

Commerce from the city is split three ways by the rates you set on the Domestic Advisor's screen: research, luxuries and tax. Part of it, and part of the shields, is lost to corruption and waste, rising with the city's distance from your capital. Each improvement's upkeep and every unit beyond your free allowance are paid from the treasury, not by the city, because units have no home city (Complete manual, pp. 57, 136-138).

Production and rush buying

2:37 A city builds one item at a time with its shields. Switching from one item to another costs nothing, except that shields beyond the new item's cost are lost (Complete manual, p. 141). A city with nothing worth building can make Wealth, turning shields into gold at 8 to 1, or 4 to 1 after Economics (Prima, p. 122).

Rushing costs gold or people. Where the government allows it, a rush costs "four times as much gold as the remaining shields needed", and no Wonder can be bought; under Despotism and Communism you rush by spending population instead (2001 manual, p. 112). Two free ways remain: disbanding a unit in the city adds part of its cost in shields, and clearing a forest in the radius sends its shields to the current project, 10 of them per Prima (Prima, p. 35). A Great Leader finishes anything at once, and is the only way to hurry a Wonder (Great Leaders and Armies). Nothing can be rushed while resistors remain in the city (Complete manual, p. 149).

City governors

Every city has governors who pick the next build when the current one finishes, guessing from your past orders. On the governor screen (G on the City Display) you can let them manage citizens with an emphasis on food, shields or commerce, let them choose production while never starting Wonders or Small Wonders, and set how often they should pick each kind of item, from offensive and defensive units to Settlers and Workers; the orders can cover one city, every city or the cities of one continent (Complete manual, pp. 77-79).

Capturing, razing and losing cities

27:06 There are three ways to take a city: force, subversion and defection. A city taken by force is yours to keep or to raze; propaganda needs a planted spy and a lot of gold; and a rival city near your borders may defect on its own when "your culture vastly outranks theirs" (Complete manual, pp. 72-73; see Culture Flipping). Capture can also bring plundered gold and captured Workers.

Captured cities keep some of their past. Great Wonders pass to the captor, but every Small Wonder in the city is destroyed, and a razed city's Great Wonder is lost forever (Complete manual, pp. 73-74, 130-131). Its citizens keep their nationality, and some resist your rule and do no work until a garrison, your culture, a freer government and more luxuries calm them, or until you make peace with their homeland (Complete manual, pp. 148-149).

Frequently asked questions

How many tiles does a city work in Civ 3? A Civilization 3 city works a "fat X" radius that by our count of the Complete manual's description is 21 squares, its own square plus 20 around it, as long as the squares lie inside its borders.

When do you need an Aqueduct in Civ 3? In Civilization 3, a city needs an Aqueduct to grow past size 6, although Prima's official guide says a city with fresh water (a river or inland sea) in its radius does not need one.

What is the city size limit in Civ 3? In Civilization 3, cities stop at size 6 without an Aqueduct and at size 12 without a Hospital; above 12 a metropolis has no further cap.

What do specialists do in Civ 3? In Civilization 3, an Entertainer makes one citizen happier, a Taxman produces one gold and a Scientist adds one research, and a city of any size can have them; Conquests adds Civil Engineers and Police.

How much does rush buying cost in Civ 3? In Civilization 3, rushing a job costs four times the remaining shields in gold, per the 2001 manual, and Wonders cannot be bought; under Despotism and Communism you spend population instead.

Can you raze a city in Civ 3? Yes: in Civilization 3, a city captured by force can be kept or razed, but razing destroys any Great Wonder in it forever.

Sources

• Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete manual (Steam-hosted PDF), Atari and Firaxis Games, 2005
• Civilization III manual, First Edition (archive.org copy), Infogrames and Firaxis Games, Sep 2001
• Sid Meier's Civilization III: Prima's Official Strategy Guide (archive.org copy), Prima Games (David Ellis), 2001
• Civilization III Updated Preview, GameSpot, Oct 18, 2001
• Civilization III: Conquests features (archived), Atari, 2003
• Civilization 3: Everything you need to know, Suede, Nov 12, 2025 (video)
• How To Play Your First Game Of Civ 3, Suede, Feb 12, 2020 (video)
• Top 7 Mistakes That New Players Make In Civ 3, Suede, Aug 31, 2019 (video)
• Top 6 Essential Buildings In Civ 3, Suede, Feb 9, 2021 (video)