Troubleshooting
Start with the affected building's inspector, the relevant map layer and the city reports. Make one targeted change, then allow time for construction, hiring and daily updates before judging it.
I cannot zone
Place City Hall beside a road first. Zoning becomes available as soon as it is placed, while it is still under construction. A locked density or tool in Arcade may have a separate population or complaint requirement.
See Zoning and Arcade vs Simulation.
Nothing is being built
Use the Development layer and Economy → Business. Check road frontage, connection to the region, a supported footprint and consistent zone type and density across the plot.
Then check demand, workers, customers and construction viability. Empty housing already in the city can hold back further housing growth. Higher-density zoning alone will not create demand for a tower.
See Zoning and Development.
A finished building is empty
A new building can take time to fill. Inspect its occupancy, rent or business conditions. Check whether households can afford it and reach jobs, or whether the workplace can attract suitable staff and trade.
Persistent vacancy is a different problem from slow construction. Long-empty homes may become condemned but do not automatically disappear.
See Residents and jobs.
There are jobs and unemployed residents
Compare the education levels of workers and vacancies in Society → Employment. Then check the routes between the affected homes and jobs, including walking and transit for residents without a car.
A distant opening beyond commuting reach is not an available job for that household. Congestion, parking shortages and disconnected streets can all reduce access.
Shops are struggling
Use Market, Business profit and Economy → Business. Check the customer base and the trips from homes and workplaces. Other shops, including those outside the city, compete for spending.
More commercial zoning can spread the same customers across more businesses. Improve access or let demand catch up instead of assuming every vacant shop needs another shop beside it.
See Trade and visitors.
A school has spare places but children are unserved
Check the relevant Elementary, High school or University access layer. Capacity at the wrong education level cannot solve the shortage, and spare places at an unreachable school are not useful to those pupils.
Inspect staff and funding. Check walking access and school-bus capacity; a School Bus Depot is separate from the school and from ordinary bus depots.
See City services.
A service building is nearby but outcomes are poor
Read the service's named constraint: staffing, funding, capacity, slow route, disconnection or no provider. Check that the building has completed construction.
See City services and Map layers and reports.
Bus or metro service is inactive
For buses, check that a completed, staffed depot can reach the stop over the road network.
For metro, inspect the line, station platform connection, depot, trains and staff. Use Underground to check disconnected track.
Traffic remains bad after widening a road
Check the whole journey. A bridge, junction, damaged road or parking shortage elsewhere can still be the limiting point. Residents without cars need usable walking or public-transport connections too.
Use Road traffic, Road condition, Parking and transit layers together. Consider whether homes and destinations could be closer or connected by another route.
Several utilities stopped working
Check whether the local street network still connects to a road, avenue or highway reaching the map edge. Restore the regional connection if it was cut.
If the network is connected, inspect supply, contracts, local facilities and unpaid bills. A physical connection and an account disconnected for non-payment are different issues.
See Utilities.
The city keeps losing money
Open Economy → Money and distinguish recurring spending from a recent construction purchase. Look at staff, upkeep, utility supply commitments and debt payments. Borrowed cash can hide a continuing deficit.
In Arcade, the construction discount does not reduce staff or upkeep. A cheap large facility can still be expensive to operate. Fix the recurring gap rather than relying on emergency borrowing indefinitely.
See Economy and budget.
Simulation mode only: a vote fails or a bond is unavailable
Read the vote forecast and its reasons. Residents' burden, service needs, trust and recent votes affect approval. Excess idle cash can undermine the case for another tax increase.
For a bond, also check credit rating, recurring revenue, outstanding bonds and total debt headroom. Financial capacity and voter approval are separate requirements. These controls are disabled in Arcade.
A save is missing
Check that you are using the same browser and local storage, and look for both the named slot and the city's autosave. Import an exported city file if you have one.
See Saves for loading, importing and exporting cities.
3D does not start or the game feels slow
If WebGPU cannot start, the game offers WebGL 2. If neither 3D engine works, return to the main menu and select 2D. Check System requirements.
A smaller map, less graphical detail, fewer effects or a different frame-rate limit can help with graphics load. A large city's simulation may also be unable to sustain 4x; use a lower calendar speed if the game reports simulation lag.
A graphics-engine or visual-mode change may require saving and restarting through the offered control. See Controls and camera.