The rigid separation of zones drove me nuts when I last played SimCity 4. Here in Vienna it's completely normal to have flats, shops and offices in every building. As far as I know this is even more extreme in Asian cities.
What I would love to see would be a triangle slider for zoning where you could for instance say this block should be 60% residential , 25% industrial and 15% commercial. Maybe some industries or commercial venues will require higher percentages to settle but this could also be an interesting tool.
Or no zoning like in some cities in Texas. Where businesses usually, naturally gravitate towards busy intersections and shopping districts on their own.
Houston Texas is like that. A few other cities too. There are no zoning laws. It has pros (economic), it has cons (personal) but it does work in specific situations. It allows the free market to decide where it wants to go. Zoning sometimes fails because you end up with massive neighbors without a grocery store or business areas too close together without residential areas nearby and forcing people from other areas to commute there. It can get messy. But when there are no zoning laws businesses naturally gravitate toward heavy loud noisy streets and intersections anyway. Industrial companies naturally go far out where the land is cheaper. And residents go towards the areas that suit their lifestyle or that they can afford. It doesn't always work out perfectly but that's the theory anyway. Anyone from Houston please chime in.
My engineering ethics class covered a case in Houston, which has 0 zoning of any kind (or at least it did in the late 80's early 90's at the time of the events we covered. things might have changed) and the effects of putting a heavy metal incineration plant near government subsidized housing and elementary schools.
The rigid separation of zones drove me nuts when I last played SimCity 4. Here in Vienna it's completely normal to have flats, shops and offices in every building. As far as I know this is even more extreme in Asian cities.
What I would love to see would be a triangle slider for zoning where you could for instance say this block should be 60% residential , 25% industrial and 15% commercial. Maybe some industries or commercial venues will require higher percentages to settle but this could also be an interesting tool.