District (Civ6)

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A district is one of the many parts of a city in Civilization VI that manifests the city's development and specialization over time. Districts are a brand new feature in Civilization VI.

Districts and World Wonders around a city

What is a District?

A district is a distinct part of a city which is found on terrain outside the city center (i.e. the city's main tile), and which focuses on developing some gameplay aspect in this city. Think of it as a visual manifestation of the implied parts of a city in other Civilization games: a military part, a scientific part, a cultural part, etc.Civilization VI emphasizes these parts, giving them autonomy outside the City Center, and making them at the same time more powerful and more vulnerable to enemy attacks. Most Buildings of a city are now built in these Districts outside its center, where only the most essential ones (such as the Monument and Granary) reside.

Once built, districts will confer stat yields, bonuses and unlock new possibilities for their parent city, such as the ability to build certain buildings and possibly units. What's more, buildings that are related to a certain district will appear in the district itself rather than the city tile. Your Library and University, for example, will appear in your Campus district (the Science-oriented part of the city), not in the main city. Similarly, once you've built an Encampment district, your military units will start appearing there, instead of in the main city. Once you've built a Harbor district, you will be able to build ships there, even though your city center is away from the shore.

Most Districts are "Specialty Districts"; that is, they fulfill a specific gameplay role, not technically related to the city's basic functioning. They are subject to Population constraints except Spaceport District and also take part in numerous Social Policy bonuses. But the Aqueduct and the Neighborhood Districts are exceptional - they are considered an integral part of the city systems (despite being built outside of the City Center), and may be built in any city, regardless of Population and how many other Districts it has. Specialty districts also have a project attached to them. These projects take some turns and upon completion award a set amount of yields and Great Person points (depending on the district), and may be done as many times as desired.

Different districts are unlocked over time via technical or civic development. Check individual articles for specifics.

Building a District

Districts are built via the normal production process of the city - just look in the Production list to find all possible Districts you've already unlocked. To build a district, however, you will need to increase the city's Population first. New cities won't have enough citizens to populate and work a separate district; over time, this situation will change, and you will be able to choose to add a district to the city, instead of, say, build a building or a unit. Starting from Population of 1, each 3 additional Citizens allow support for one additional District (so 4, 7, etc.).

Note that each Specialty District may only be built once in a city! This is also valid for non-Specialty Districts, the only exception being the Neighborhood. Also, once you choose a place for a District, even though you haven't finished building it yet, you will be unable to alter your choice! These two facts mean that you should really think very carefully before placing your Districts, so as to maximize your future gains and prevent conflicts of interests (for example with Wonders).

Suitable locations

After you unlock a District and have enough Population to build it, just select it from them menu and an interface will appear in order to select a location. Valid locations will be highlighted in green. Each city can only build districts on tiles which are included in its own territory. You cannot place districts in other cities' territory, even if these other cities belong to you and the tile in question is up to three tiles away from the city center!

You cannot place a District on Floodplains Terrain (in Gathering Storm on Desert Floodplains terrain, the other types of Floodplains accept districts), unless playing as Egypt; on a tile with a Strategic or Luxury Resource, a tile containing an Antiquity Site or a Shipwreck (you may use these tiles later, after you excavate its Artifact), or a tile containing another District or Wonder. The tile may contain a Bonus Resource, but it will be removed on placement, so you should either reconsider the placement, or Harvest the resource beforehand.

Note that hidden Strategic resources do not block placement of districts! After you develop technologies later which reveal them, it's often the case that you've built a district in a tile with a Strategic Resource. In this case you will be granted access to that resource, even though you don't have the appropriate improvement on it, and even though you haven't discovered the appropriate technology to access it (which is the case with Oil when found in the sea - its access technology is more advanced than the one revealing it).

Districts can only be built on "clean" land. Any removable feature (Woods, Rainforest or Marsh) will be removed at placement, if you have the respective technology...and if you don't, you won't be able to place the District there. Furthermore, the Harbor and Water Park Districts may only be placed on a Sea Coast tile adjacent to land; the Aerodrome and Spaceport Districts may only be placed on flat land (no Hills!), and the Encampment District cannot be placed next to the City Center. Also, the Aqueduct district must be placed adjacent to both the City Center and to a tile with River, Lake, Oasis or Mountain. The idea here is that you can decide for strategic purposes to Found a City close to, but not adjacent to these features, and later connect the city to them by an Aqueduct to get the Fresh Water Housing Housing bonus. In Gathering Storm, Dam districts may only be placed on a floodplain tile of the same river the city is built on; and Canal districts may be placed so as to connect bodies of water either with other bodies of water, or with a City Center.

Finally, note that the native yields of the target tile will be removed, and replaced later with yields associated with the District itself (Adjacency bonus yields, as well as Specialist yields). So, take care where you place your districts! Theoretically, the best locations for Districts are tiles with little or no native yield, such as Desert or Tundra. But of course, you should pay attention to the Adjacency bonuses (current and potential) first and foremost.

The perfect location for a District will depend on many additional factors. When you choose to build a District, a special lens will appear, showing the city and its surroundings. Possible locations for the new district will be highlighted, along with some special info:

• Little icons, combined with colored arrows show possible Adjacency bonuses. These depend wildly on the type of District you're attempting to place; one common icon, a 5-point Star, signifies "Bonus from Districts". Pay attention to these, as they may show you how you can expand Adjacency bonuses in the future.
• A red exclamation mark means that an existing feature will be removed if you place a District there. This feature may include Terrain features such as Woods, Resources, or an Improvement.
• A yield icon and a number (+1, +2 and more) means that if you place a District in this tile, it will benefit from bonus yields. Mouse over to see what exactly affects these bonuses.

Note that, once placed, a District cannot be removed in any way barring Razing the city!

Production cost

The Production cost of a District is progressive, starting from a "base price" in the beginning of the game. Each technology or civic you research increases the price by the following formula:

$FLOOR (BaseCost (1 + 9 * FLOOR (100 * MAX (CompletedTechs / 67, CompletedCivics / 50)) / 100))$

In simpler language, the price is determined by the percentage of the total techs or civics you've researched, whichever is greater. The more techs or civics you have researched, the more expensive District construction is.

The base price for most Districts is 54 Production, with the exception of the Aqueduct (whose base cost is 36 Production), and the Spaceport (whose base cost is 1800 Production, equaling it to a Wonder). As a result of price scaling, Districts become increasingly more difficult to construct as the game progresses. For old, big cities this isn't such a problem, usually, (since their Production potential also increases gradually), but for newly established cities in the Modern and later Eras it becomes a great hindrance. So, it is highly important to place your districts the moment your city population and the relevant tech allows, or you risk wasting construction time unnecessarily. This means you need to plan ahead of time where and in what order you want to build your districts in each city. Usually, there is a generic ordering based on the phase of the game and the victory type you are pursuing. Check out the pages for each district for detailed strategy.

Moreover, the price of a District is 25% lower when the number of a given district you own is less than the all-player average. This is not necessarily useful in any strategy but has obscured player observations on district costs.

Constructing Districts, and Buildings can be accelerated via Industrial City-States. The Capital Capital gains a +2 Production bonus from every such City-State where you have at least 1 Envoy Envoy. All other cities which have an Industrial Zone will gain +2 Production bonus from every such City-State where you have 3 Envoy Envoys, and another +2 Production if you have 6 Envoy Envoys.

Each District you construct will come with a Road improvement underneath, starting with the City Center.

District Mechanics

Each District in the game is focused on a particular gameplay aspect. For example, the Campus is focused on Science, and the Theater Square on Culture. If you manage to activate their Adjacency bonuses, these Districts will start contributing a particular yield related to their gameplay aspect ( Science from the Campus, Culture for the Theater Square, etc.) even before you construct any Buildings in them. These yields may be enhanced further through Social Policies. For more information, see below. Furthermore, most Districts will immediately start contributing Great Person Great Person points towards a specific Great Person aligned with the District's domain; for example the Campus will contribute towards a Great Scientist.

There are also some districts which may be better described as engineering projects: the Aqueduct, Dam, Canal and the Neighborhood. They are more simple districts which serve specific purposes, such as providing Fresh Water to the city, or protecting it from floods.

As mentioned above, most Districts unlock specific Buildings associated with them. In fact, even the main city is now considered a separate District, called a City Center. The Monument, Granary and all other buildings available to a city right from the start are actually available only because they are associated with the only District this city has for now, the City Center. So, when you build additional Districts later, all Buildings associated with them will also unlock.

Buildings add more functionality to Districts. This usually means more of the yield the District is focused on, but it may also mean additional Housing Housing, certain type of Great Person Points, and also additional Citizen slots where you can assign Specialists. This is particularly important for very large cities, as they won't have enough terrain slots to put their Citizens to work. Building special Buildings in your Districts will provide you with alternative occupations for your Citizen workforce.

District Adjacency Bonuses

Main articles: Adjacency bonus (Civ6) § District adjacency bonuses, and Adjacency bonuses

Most Specialty districts may gain additional bonuses from features which surround it: terrain (such as mountains or jungle), Wonders, Tile Improvements or even other districts. For example, a Campus (the research district) will get a bonus for each adjacent mountain and jungle tile, because they are useful to scientists; while a Holy Site (the religious district) will get bonuses from adjacent Natural Wonders and woods, which help inspire people. These adjacency bonuses may also extend to certain buildings within the district (particularly unique buildings). You should study the individual requirements of each district and plan its placement accordingly!

Production-oriented Districts

Certain Districts are focused on producing specific types of units: the Encampment is focused on land unit production, the Harbor on naval unit production, and the Aerodrome on airplane production. After building these Districts in a city, all relevant units will be built there in the future, not in the City Center. What's more, in certain circumstances these districts are required for you to be able to produce units:

• Air units may only be produced in a city with an Aerodrome District.
• (Vanilla Civilization VI and Rise and Fall): Naval units which require certain strategic resources, of which you only have 1 count, may only be produced in a city with a Harbor (even if the city itself is on the coast). This restriction is lifted if you have 2 counts of the resource.
• (Vanilla Civilization VI and Rise and Fall): Land units which require certain strategic resources, of which you only have 1 count, may only be produced in a city with an Encampment. This restriction is lifted if you have 2 counts of the resource.

There are several more situations where production of a certain unit requires a District:

• Religious units may only be produced in a city with a Holy Site, and certain buildings in it (Shrine for the Missionary, Temple for the other units).
• An Archaeologist may only be produced in a city with a Theater Square with an Archaeological Museum. In addition, only 1 Archaeologist may exist per city at the same time.

Buildings in production-oriented Districts confer a bonus to experience (that is, the rate at which the units earn experience) for certain or all units of the particular domain produced in this city. For example buildings in a Harbor will confer experience bonus to all ships built in the city, while an Encampment - a bonus to all land units (although there's a further distinction based on whether you constructed a Barracks or Stable in the District).

The final buildings of the Encampment and Harbor Districts, respectively the Military Academy and the Seaport permit building of units as Formations (Corps, Armada, etc.). They also boost the Production speed of these Formations, so as to be cheaper and faster to build Formations than individual units!

Area-effect Bonuses

Finally, the effects of certain district-specific Buildings extend not only to their own city, but also to all other cities whose City Center is up to 6 tiles away from the relevant District. This is the case with the Factory, the Zoo and some other buildings. To make best use of this ability, try to make cities close to other cities' Industrial or Entertainment centers - they will greatly benefit their neighbors!

In Gathering Storm Power Plants also produce Power for all cities within 6 tiles.

Note that bonuses from the same type of buildings in different Districts do not stack. Thus, if you have two Factories within 6 tiles of two different City Centers, both these cities will get only a +3 Production bonus, not +6.

Unique Districts

Some civilizations possess unique districts that replace generic ones. For example, the Greek Acropolis replaces the Theater Square. As a rule, unique districts cost half the Production to build (as compared to normal ones). Note that unique districts follow the rules of the district they replace in regard to population requirements to build. For example, Germany's Hansa district replaces the Industrial Zone specialty district and does have a population requirement. However, Roman Bath districts replace Aqueducts and do not have a population requirement since Aqueducts do not have a population requirement.

Unique Districts often have more powerful - or outright different - Adjacency Bonuses than the normal Districts they replace. Read their descriptions carefully before deciding where to place them!

When a city with a Unique district changes hands (gets conquered by another civ), this District will revert to its generic equivalent. For example, the Acropolis will turn into a normal Theater Square.

Types of Districts

The names of unique districts and buildings are italicized in the table.

District	Buildings	Adjacency Bonuses/Effects
City Center	Granary Monument Water Mill Ancient Walls Medieval Walls Renaissance Walls Tsikhe Sewer Flood Barrier	5 Housing Housing if adjacent to a River, Lake, or Oasis. 3 Housing Housing if adjacent to a Coast. 2 Housing Housing otherwise. Aircraft Capacity: 1 Tile is always worked for free. Yields are at least 2 Food and 1 Production.
Campus  Seowon	Library University Madrasa Research Lab	Science-oriented District. Adds Points towards Great People Great Scientist. +1 Science from each adjacent Mountain +1 Science from every 2 adjacent Rainforest and district tiles. +2 Science from every adjacent Geothermal Fissure.
Canal	None	Allows passage of naval and embarked units between bodies of water or through a city center. Ignores the normal population requirements for district construction. Any number of Canal districts may be built in a city. Shortens maritime trade routes. Provides additional Gold for each trade route that passes through the Canal district
Dam	Hydroelectric Dam	Provides +3 Housing Housing and +1 Amenities Amenity from Entertainment. Prevents Flood damage on this River, and reduces yields from Floods by 50%. Also prevents Food loss during Droughts. Ignores the normal population requirements for district construction. Only the first Dam to be built on a river will receive benefits from a Dam.
Holy Site  Lavra	Shrine Temple Stave Church Prasat6 Worship Buildings	Faith-oriented District. Adds Points towards Great People Great Prophet. +2 Faith from each adjacent natural wonder. +1 Faith from each adjacent Mountain. +1 Faith from every 2 adjacent Woods and district tiles. Allows Purchasing with Faith of Religious Units.
Theater Square  Acropolis	Amphitheater Marae   Art Museum Archaeological Museum Broadcast Center Film Studio	Culture-oriented District. Adds Points towards Great People Great Writer, Great Artist and Great Musician. +2 Culture from each adjacent wonder. +1 Culture from every 2 adjacent district tiles. Buildings contain Great Work slots.
Encampment  Ikanda	Barracks Basilikoi Paides4 Stable Ordu Armory Military Academy	Military District. Adds points towards Great People Great General. Has a defense value and can fight as the City Center. . Produced military units appear here. Cannot be built next to the City Center.
Harbor  Cothon  Royal Navy Dockyard	Lighthouse Shipyard Seaport	Seafaring District. Adds points towards Great People Great Admiral. +1 Gold from each adjacent coastal resource. +1 Gold from every 2 adjacent district tiles. +2 Gold from adjacent City Center. +1 Trade Route Trade Route capacity. Must be built on Coast or Lakes Terrain adjacent to land. Produced ships will appear here. Landlocked cities with this District may produce ships. Removes the Movement penalty for embarking and disembarking to and from this tile.
Commercial Hub  Suguba	Market Sukiennice2 Bank Grand Bazaar Stock Exchange	Commerce-oriented District. Adds points towards Great People Great Merchant. +2 Gold from each adjacent river and Harbor, or City Center. +1 Gold from every 2 adjacent district tiles. +1 Trade Route Trade Route capacity.
Industrial Zone  Hansa	Workshop Factory Electronics Factory Power Plant (Vanilla and only) Coal Power Plant Oil Power Plant Nuclear Power Plant	Production-oriented District. Adds points towards Great People Great Engineer. +1 Production from each adjacent Mine and Quarry. +1 Production from every 2 adjacent district tiles. Some District buildings' bonuses extend to each city within 6 tiles.
Entertainment Complex  Street Carnival	Arena Tlachtli1 Zoo Thermal Bath Stadium	Amenity-boosting district. Mutually exclusive with Water Park. +1 Amenity Amenity Some District buildings' bonuses extend to each city within 6 tiles.
Aqueduct  Bath		Housing Housing from water is increased by 2 or set to 6, whichever is higher. Must be built adjacent to both the City Center and one of the following: River, Lake, Oasis, or Mountain. Ignores the normal population requirements for district construction. Any number of Aqueduct districts may be built in a city
Neighborhood  Mbanza	Food Market Shopping Mall	Gives Housing Housing based on tile's Appeal: Breathtaking: +6 Charming: +5 Average: +4 Uninviting: +3 Disgusting: +2 Ignores the normal population requirements for district construction. Any number of Neighborhood or Mbanza districts may be built in a city. The Mbanza provides +5 Housing regardless of appeal.
Aerodrome	Hangar Airport	Aircraft-building District (only cities with this District may built aircraft). Cannot be built on Hills. Aircraft Capacity: +4 (+4 more with Buildings)
Spaceport		Enables projects leading to the Science Victory. Cannot be built on Hills. Ignores the normal population requirements for district construction
Government Plaza	Ancestral Hall Audience Chamber Warlord's Throne Foreign Ministry Grand Master's Chapel Intelligence Agency Queen's Bibliotheque National History Museum Royal Society War Department	Unique District. May only be built once per civilization. +8 Loyalty to this city. +1 adjacency bonus to all adjacent districts. +1 Governor Title. Buildings provide varied powerful gameplay bonuses, but only one building per tier is allowed.
Water Park  Copacabana	Ferris Wheel Aquarium Aquatics Center	Amenity-boosting district. Mutually exclusive with Entertainment Complex. +1 Amenity Amenity Some District buildings' bonuses extend to each city within 9 tiles.

¹ Preorder DLC. Became available for all players free of charge 90 days after the release of the game.
² Added in Poland Civilization & Scenario Pack (20 December 2016).
³ Added in Australia Civilization & Scenario Pack (23 February 2017).
⁴ Added in Persia and Macedon Civilization & Scenario Pack (28 March 2017).
⁵ Added in Nubia Civilization & Scenario Pack (27 July 2017).
⁶ Added in Khmer and Indonesia Civilization & Scenario Pack (19 October 2017).

Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.

Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.

Civilopedia entry

In Civilization VI, buildings are no longer trapped in your City Center, but may sprawl across your territory as part of districts. The map is more important than ever as you are faced with important strategic placement decisions. The Campus and Holy Site each receive special boosts from placement near Mountain tiles, but the Campus also benefits from a nearby Rainforest tile.

A city must expand its Population before it can construct multiple districts:

• 1 Population for 1 District
• 4 Population for 2 Districts
• 7 Population for 3 Districts
• Each additional District requires +3 Population

The Aqueduct, Neighborhoods, and Spaceports ignore this Population requirement. Districts which require a certain number of Population are specialty districts.

When a city is ready to construct something, the Choose Production button will appear. If a district can be constructed, it will appear on this menu. Click on the district to order the city to begin construction, opening the district placement lens. Here, you will be given an overview of the different yield outcomes available on the tiles surrounding your City Center, and you can better make a decision about where to place your district. This lens will also show you which tiles are unavailable, as some districts have very specific placement requirements (for example, the Encampment cannot be built adjacent to a City Center). Furthermore, all districts must be built within 3 tiles of a City Center.

Districts may be placed on top of features such as Woods or Rainforest if you have the technology to remove those features, but for a longer construction time. No District can be built on a floodplain.

Related achievements

District 12 Build every district type in one city and the Colosseum In the book series The Hunger Games, contestants from 12 districts compete in a televised fight to the death in a custom-made arena.

Meiji Restoration Playing as Japan, have a district with 6 adjacent unpillaged districts. The Meiji Restoration was when Japan embarked on industrialization after being visited by Europeans with superior technology.