Population

Your population is one of the most important considerations you have as the manager of your city. The larger your city, the more money you will get, and the more you'll be able to build and do.

People are both a blessing and a curse, however, and this page will break down all the ways in which your population is important, and what you need to think about.

Population Data
Firstly, it's important to note that the game doesn't only generate people who live in the city, but also a wider pool of people who act as tourists, immigrants, or visiting workers. Every individual has a number of characteristics that the game generates for them:


 * Name
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Ethnicity
 * Languages (between 1 and 4)
 * Education
 * Orientation
 * Base Skills (up to 3)
 * Passions
 * Religion
 * Wealth Category
 * Political Leaning
 * Personality

As you can see, each citizen has a lot of depth to them, and all of these things will define and characterise how they interact with your city and other people in it. For example, religious people will tend to gather at churches, and highly educated people will seek out well-paying jobs. You might find protests breaking out if too many people disagree with your politics, and depending on how progressive your city is, you might find people facing discrimination and abuse based on their orientation, ethnicity, or religion. Wealthy citizens will live in nicer homes and drive nicer cars, while homeless people may congregate in your city centre begging for food or money.

These are all social problems you will face and be forced to confront. How you resolve them is up to you. You can bring the iron fist down on protestors and stamp out dissent aggressively if you are prepared to accept that this will greatly diminish your city's attractiveness to tourists and hamper innovation.

Age
The age of your citizens depends what type of activity they'll be involved in. Children need to go to schools, so you must have enough educational facilities to support that.

It's also useful to look at your age bubbles in the population age pyramid. A city with a larger share of young adults will be prosperous, creating a lot of productivity and will likely fuel an economic booming period. On the contrary, an aging population will be a drain on healthcare and welfare. You may choose to solve this by bolstering your economy through other means, such as automation, or looking for income that doesn't require a large workforce such as luxury goods or the financial sector. Alternatively, immigration is a good way to increase your working population. Be careful though, that making it too easy for immigrants to come may result in growing resentment and even xenophobia, leading to discrimination or racial abuse.

A younger population is also more likely to participate in protests or violent behaviour, especially if they are poor and uneducated. Keeping kids and young adults off the streets and promoting education is a good way to stifle antisocial behaviour.

Gender
The vast majority of citizens will be male or female, but depending on the country and your city policies, there may be small numbers of non-binary or transgender people too. Your city can undertake programs and sign policies to support LGBT+ rights, which will increase your city's "Liberalism" rating. There are lots of events and decisions related to this. Alternatively, you could choose to recognise only two genders, which will reduce your city's "Liberalism" rating, and increase abuse or violent acts against them, but prevent any events or decisions connected to it.

Ethnicity
The game recognises a wide range of major ethnicities, and the ethnicities of your population will mostly depend on the country. If you play the New York campaign, you'll find your city bustling with dozens of major ethnicities, while the Soviet city of Norilsk will be almost solely Russian.

Ethnicity comes with its own events and decisions. Where ethnicities mix, there is potential for ethnic abuse or violence and discrimination. You can support them or leave them to their own devices. If a foreign ethnicity starts becoming too populous in a city, it could provoke xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiments in the majority population.