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Housing Housing is a new concept in Civilization VI, which acts as a slowing factor and eventually a hard limit on Citizen Population growth in each city. It is meant to emulate habitation and sanitation factors in cities, and the limits that overcrowding imposes on growth. Fortunately, there are many different ways that Housing Housing can increase.

Mechanics[]

Housing Housing acts alongside the traditional Food Food growth factor in the following way:

Housing Housing minus
Citizen Population
Growth rate
from Food Food
Notes
2 or more 100%
1 50% Starts at Housing Housing-1
0 to -4 25% Starts at Housing Housing value
-5 or less 0% Hard cap at Housing Housing+5

As shown in the table above, Housing Housing acts as an additional constraint on Citizen Population growth beyond Food Food supply. In practice, this means that a city will need Housing Housing to grow larger, even if it has more than enough Food Food. Conversely, if a city has too little Food Food, no amount of spare Housing Housing will help it grow.

Initially the amount of Housing Housing available is strongly dependent on fresh water access (quite correct historically). As the city develops, however, its Housing Housing becomes mostly dependent on the existence of tile improvements, buildings, and districts (that is, facilities inside the city which have no relation to nearby terrain). Later still, civics and governments will also add Housing Housing.

Note that Housing Housing is a fluid trait, especially when provided by "soft" sources such as policy cards. However, losing Housing Housing (e.g., because you stopped using a certain policy) will not cause a loss of Citizen Population; instead it will merely slow down Citizen Population growth, or stop it altogether. In that manner, Housing Housing is very different from Food Food: when you are losing Food Food in the city you will also eventually start losing Citizen Population.

For details on how to get more Housing Housing, see the section below. Also note that the "Housing" section of the City Details screen shows a detailed breakdown of all sources currently providing Housing Housing for the city.

Sources[]

The most basic Housing Housing conditions are related to a water source, and this depends on where your city (that is, the City Center) is placed. Fresh water (River, Lake, Oasis) provides 5 Housing Housing. Coast provides 3 Housing Housing if you don't have fresh water. Every other placement gives only 2 Housing Housing, meaning that your Citizen Population growth will be slowed by 50% from the very beginning until/unless you increase Housing Housing (as per the table above).

This is why water supply plays such a prominent role in the Settler lens - look for the dark green tiles to settle in the best possible locations.

Cities owned by the Maya start with 2 Housing Housing whether or not they have a water source. Being the Suzerain of Mohenjo-Daro makes all your cities start with 5 Housing Housing from water sources (except when playing as the Maya).

Starting era[]

Starting the game in a later era gives all cities extra Housing Housing.

Starting era Extra Housing Housing
in Capital Capital
Extra Housing Housing
in other cities
Ancient N/A N/A
Classical 2 0
Medieval 2 1
Renaissance 5 1
Industrial 5 2
Modern 8 2
Atomic 8 4
Information 11 4

Buildings and districts[]

Many buildings grant Housing Housing. After researching Pottery, every city is able to build a Granary, which adds 2 Housing Housing, and later they can build Sewers, which also adds 2 Housing Housing. Some buildings in District Districts add 1 Housing Housing, such as the Barracks in the Encampment, the University in the Campus, and the Lighthouse in the Harbor. The Palace in your Capital Capital city also adds 1 Housing Housing. Lighthouses also provide an additional 2 Housing Housing if the city is adjacent a Coast or Lake.

Some Holy Site buildings are capable of adding Housing Housing. In vanilla Civilization VI and Rise and Fall, the Pagoda and each Shrine or Temple in a city with the Religious Community follower belief adds +1 Housing Housing; in Gathering Storm, the Gurdwara adds +1 Housing Housing and each Shrine or Temple in a city with the Feed the World follower belief adds +2 Housing Housing.

Aqueducts are the earliest engineering means of increasing Housing Housing by providing additional access to water. They will add 2 Housing Housing for cities that already have fresh water; otherwise they will set the water Housing Housing value to 6. Note that Aqueducts must be built adjacent to both your City Center and either a Mountain or a source of fresh water, so plan accordingly.

Housing from Water
City location Housing Housing Housing Housing
with Aqueduct
Fresh water  base 5   7 (+2)
Coastal water  base 3   6 (+3)
No water  base 2   6 (+4)

One can see from this table that 1) while not mandatory for placement, fresh water is a huge boost to early city growth; 2) for fresh water placements, an Aqueduct can still help, but not until later, allowing early concentration on other projects; and 3) for non-fresh water placements, taking the time to build an Aqueduct is a strong equalizer.

The Neighborhood district is exclusively dedicated to providing Housing Housing through additional habitation space based on the tile's Appeal (with the bonus ranging from +2 for Disgusting Appeal to +6 for Breathtaking Appeal).

The Roman and Zulu unique districts - the Bath and the Ikanda - provide +2 and +1 Housing Housing bonuses (respectively) above and beyond the districts they replace.

In Gathering Storm, the Dam provides +3 Housing Housing by improving the sanitation from nearby rivers, and Liang's Water Works title causes Aqueducts and Neighborhoods in the city in which she is established to provide an additional +2 Housing Housing.

The Preserve also provides up to +3 Housing Housing (+1 base, +2 for Charming Appeal, +3 for Breathtaking Appeal). Unlike the Aqueduct, Dam, and Neighborhood, however, it is a specialty district.

To maximize Housing Housing, the best possible location for a city is on a coastal tile with fresh water, a Harbor and a Lighthouse, an Aqueduct, and a Dam (on Floodplains). This amounts to 13 Housing Housing (base 5 from fresh water, +3 from the Lighthouse, +2 from the Aqueduct, +3 from the Dam).

Improvements[]

Each Farm, Pasture, Plantation, Camp, or Fishing Boats supports a small amount of Citizen Population, +0.5 Housing Housing for every such improvements within 3 tiles of the City Center. Supporting rural Citizen Population in this fashion will allow for slightly larger Citizen Populations prior to the Industrial Era, when the Neighborhood district becomes available. Note that unlike district adjacency which requires pairs of matching improvements for each minor adjacency bonus (2 Mines/Lumber Mills/Woods/Rainforests), Housing Housing improvements that provide +0.5 Housing Housing are simply additive (e.g., a city with 1 Farm, 1 Pasture, 1 Plantation, and 1 Fishery will receive a total of +2 Housing Housing).

In Gathering Storm, the futuristic Seastead provides +2 Housing Housing and can be constructed in any water tile (except Reefs), providing a late-game means of increasing Housing Housing with floating homes.

Civilization and leader abilities[]

Some civilization and leader abilities grant additional Housing Housing:

There are some civilizations whose unique tile improvements provide extra Housing Housing apart from standard improvements. Below is the list of unique tile improvements that provide Housing Housing:

Policies[]

Another major source of Housing Housing is policy cards. The following policy cards, when slotted, will increase Housing Housing:

Policy card Function First available
Economic Policy Insulae +1 Housing Housing in cities with 2 or more districts. Classical Era
Economic Policy Civil Prestige R&F-Only Established Governors with at least 2 Promotions provide +1 Amenity Amenity and +2 Housing Housing. Medieval Era
Economic Policy Medina Quarter +2 Housing Housing in cities with 3 or more districts. Medieval Era
Economic Policy New Deal +4 Housing Housing, 2 Amenities Amenities, -8 Gold Gold in cities with 3 or more districts.

GS-Only 4 Housing Housing and 2 Amenities Amenities in cities with 3 or more districts.

Modern Era
Dark Age Policy Collectivism R&F-Only Farms +1 Food Food. All cities +2 Housing Housing. +100% Industrial Zone adjacency bonuses.

BUT: Great Person Great People Points earned 50% slower.

Modern Era

Wonders[]

Some wonders also supply bonuses in Housing Housing. Below is the list of wonders that provide Housing Housing:

Other[]

There are also other sources of Housing Housing, which are generally non-permanent. They are related to specific forms of government, or to its agents (the Governors), or the Suzerainty of Mohenjo-Daro. Since these may be changed or relocated at any time, you should aim to utilize them strategically in periods of the game for general growth, or in specific cities to allow a temporary growth spurt.

If Liang has the Aquaculture title and is established in a city, one can also improve Coast or Lake tiles in it with Fisheries (same +0.5 Housing Housing bonus as the Fishing Boats).

There are some improvements unique to a specific city-state that players can build once Suzerain of that city-state. Below is the list of city-state specific improvements that provide Housing Housing:

Civilization VI [edit]
Rise and FallGathering StormNew Frontier PassLeader Pass
Lists
Concepts
Miscellaneous
R&F-Only Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.
GS-Only Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.
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