Cities vs. Towns in Civilization 7: Mastering the New Settlement System

Civilization 7 has revolutionized how settlements work, introducing a dual system of cities and towns that adds fresh strategic depth to the game. If you’ve been playing previous Civ titles, you’ll need to adapt your approach to empire building. Let’s break down how this new system works and how you can use it to dominate the map.

The Settlement Revolution: Cities vs. Towns

One of the biggest changes in Civilization 7 is that not all settlements are created equal. In previous games, every settler created a city with the same fundamental capabilities. Now, there’s a clear distinction:

Cities are powerful administrative centers with production queues that can build units, buildings, districts, and wonders. They’re your empire’s powerhouses and main centers for development.

Towns serve as support settlements that automatically convert production into gold and send resources to connected cities. They require less micromanagement and can be specialized to serve different functions.

City vs. Town: Complete Comparison

Understanding the differences between cities and towns is crucial for effective empire management in Civilization 7. This comprehensive comparison will help you make better decisions about your settlements.

Feature	City	Town
Production Queue	Yes – Full control over production	No – Production converts to gold
Wonders	Can build wonders	Cannot build wonders
Units	Can produce units	Must purchase units with gold
Buildings	Can produce buildings	Must purchase buildings with gold
Districts	Can build all districts	Limited district options
Specialization	Uses districts and specialists	Town specialization system (at population 7)
Resource Distribution	Resource hub – receives resources from towns	Sends resources to connected cities
Population Growth	Standard growth rate	+50% growth as Growing Town (default)
Establishment	Only capital starts as a city	All settlers create towns
Conversion	Cannot convert to town	Can upgrade to city (costs gold)
Happiness Impact	Higher impact on empire happiness	Lower impact on empire happiness
Governance Requirements	Requires more governance resources	Minimal governance requirements
Management Complexity	High (requires regular attention)	Low (mostly set-and-forget)
Defensive Capabilities	Stronger inherent defenses	Weaker unless specialized as Fort Town
Tech/Culture Generation	High potential for science and culture	Limited unless specialized (Urban Center)

As you can see, cities and towns serve different but complementary roles in your empire. Using them strategically together will give you a significant advantage over AI opponents who might not optimize their settlement networks as effectively.

Here’s the kicker: only your capital starts as a city. Every settler afterward creates a town, which can later be upgraded to a city for a gold cost.

Town Mechanics: How They Work

Towns function differently from cities in several key ways:

• They don’t have production queues – all production is automatically converted to gold
• Buildings and units must be purchased with gold rather than produced
• They automatically send food and other resources to connected cities
• They can be specialized to serve different functions once they reach 7 population

This system brilliantly reduces the micromanagement that bogged down late-game play in previous Civ titles. Rather than managing dozens of production queues, you can focus on a handful of key cities while your towns provide support.

Town Specialization: The Secret to Success

Once a town reaches 7 population, you can choose a specialization that provides unique bonuses. Each town can have only one specialization per era, though you can revert to a Growing Town if needed.

Here are the specializations you can choose from:

• Growing Town: +50% growth rate, sends excess food to cities
• Fort Town: +5 healing for units, +25 wall health
• Urban Center: +1 Culture and +1 Science per Quarter
• Farming Town: +2 Food on farms, pastures, plantations, fishing boats
• Mining Town: +2 Production on camps, lumber mills, mines, quarries
• Trade Outpost: +5 trade route range, +2 Happiness per resource tile
• Religious Site: +2 Happiness, +1 Relic slot in Temple
• Hub Town: +2 Influence per connected settlement
• Factory Town: +100% gold towards purchasing a Factory, +1 resource slot

The key to success is matching specializations to each town’s location and surrounding resources. A town near hills and mountains should become a Mining Town, while one surrounded by plains and rivers would make an excellent Farming Town.

When to Upgrade Towns to Cities

Towns can be upgraded to cities by spending gold, but should you do it? The answer depends on several factors:

• The cost increases with each city you already have
• The cost decreases with the town’s population
• Cities require more micromanagement but offer more control

Converting a town to a city is best reserved for settlements that:

• Have reached their potential as specialized towns
• Are in strategically important locations
• Have access to resources needed for wonders or unique units
• Have grown to a substantial population

Not every town should become a city. A mix of specialized towns supporting a few powerful cities often creates the most efficient empire.

Strategic Tips for Town and City Management

To get the most out of the new settlement system, try these strategies:

1. Use towns to claim territory and resources without overwhelming yourself with micromanagement
2. Create a network of specialized towns around each major city to feed it resources
3. Focus on growing your towns to 7 population quickly to unlock specializations
4. Adjust town specializations to support your chosen victory path
5. Reserve city upgrades for towns in key locations or with exceptional resource access

Comparing to Previous Civ Games

If you’ve mastered previous Civilization games like Civilization VII, you’ll need to adjust your strategy. The city/town system creates a more realistic approach to empire management that rewards thoughtful planning over aggressive expansion.

This system pairs perfectly with other changes in Civ 7, such as the leader and civilization combinations that provide unique bonuses. For example, some leaders might excel at managing specialized towns, while others gain advantages from converting towns to cities.

Resource Management in the New System

The town and city system fundamentally changes how you’ll approach resource management. Rather than maximizing production in every settlement, you’ll need to:

• Designate which settlements will focus on production (cities)
• Determine which settlements will focus on resource extraction (specialized towns)
• Create efficient resource networks between your settlements
• Balance gold income from towns with production needs

Towns essentially function as resource nodes in your empire’s economic network, with cities serving as the processing centers that convert those resources into wonders, units, and buildings.

Final Thoughts: Embracing the New System

The city/town system in Civilization 7 might seem complex at first, but it creates a more engaging and realistic empire-building experience. By understanding when to specialize towns and when to upgrade them to cities, you can create an efficient empire that outpaces your opponents.

This system rewards players who carefully plan their empire’s development rather than mindlessly expanding. It’s a welcome evolution that adds strategic depth while reducing the tedium that plagued previous Civ games.

Have you tried different town specialization strategies in Civilization 7? Share your experiences in the comments!

---

Looking for more Civilization 7 tips? Check out our complete review of Civilization VII and our guide to mastering leader and civilization combinations.