Town

Generally, you can found new towns all over the world with the help of settler units. However, each town requires sufficient space for its town center and future expansion. Furthermore, a new town may not be founded too near to an existing one. For details, please refer to settler.

A town that is located near a body of water will automatically build a harbor.

Because each town can only produce 5 commodities for export, selecting the right location is crucial as it will determine the types of raw materials that can be obtained or created.

The population of the surrounding area will migrate to a town and become citizens there if the town provides attractive living conditions. This includes jobs and a reliable supply of commodities.

The more prosperous a town is, the higher the amount of taxes you can levy without enraging its citizens. You can adjust the tax rate in the town dialog located under the balance category.

Population
A town provides home for up to 3,000 inhabitants. Each worker employed the businesses of the town provides four citizens as they bring their families with them. This way, the number of inhabitants are directly connected to the number of businesses and creates a limit on how many production buildings can be built in a town.

With additional buildings and technologies, the maximum number of inhabitants can be increased.

Prosperity
The prosperity of a town is primarily dependent on how well its citizens are supplied with commodities. If there is a shortage of only a few commodities in the town, this will not have a significant impact. However, the following rule of thumb applies: The greater the number of commodities in short supply, the lower the prosperity.

Some events additionally affect prosperity: Plagues, famines, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions lower prosperity, while festivals increase it temporarily. The current prosperity level and its effect on the citizens can be viewed under the town dialog. To access it, select the town center.

The situation will reach a critical level when prosperity falls below 40% - that's when workers and citizens will start leaving the town. In addition, workers will only start migrating to the town if the prosperity level is above 60%.

If a town attains a prosperity level of 80% or more, all businesses will start to operate more effectively (labor expenses fall) and the number of workers migrating to the town increases.

The more prosperous a town is, the higher the amount of taxes you can levy without enraging its citizens.