SimCity BuildIt Factories & Commercial Buildings Guide
SimCity BuildIt Factories & Commercial Buildings Guide
SimCity BuildIt factories and commercial buildings are the engine of the whole game. Nothing upgrades without them. Factories make raw materials, commercial buildings turn those materials into crafted items, and crafted items upgrade homes. If your production chain stalls, your entire city stalls — which is why simcity buildit factories commercial buildings deserve a guide of their own.
Factories produce raw materials such as metal, chemicals and wood. Commercial buildings — stores and markets — combine those materials into new, crafted items. EA’s beginner guide states the loop plainly: use manufactured and crafted items from factories and commercial buildings to build and upgrade residential zones. Placing a residential zone gives citizens an area to start building homes, and those homes then need crafted items to grow taller and denser.
The placement rule is pollution. Factories generate pollution that spreads in a circle, and pollution lowers the desirability of nearby homes. Community layout guides agree on the fix: put factories and industrial zones at the map edge, residential zones in the middle, and commercial zones in between. Commercial buildings do not generate pollution, so sandwiching them between homes and factories works — homes get foot traffic from nearby shops, and factories stay far enough away to keep the air clean.
Production is also about timing. Each factory and shop has production slots and timers; upgrading factories adds slots, and keeping production running while you play other parts of the game is the difference between a city that grows every session and one that waits. Produce the long items overnight or while you are away, and the short items while you are actively playing. Sell surplus through the Global Trade HQ, and buy the items you are short of instead of waiting for a slow factory.
Regions have their own factories and shops, with their own materials. Green Valley, Sunny Isles, Frosty Fjords, Cactus Canyon and Limestone Cliffs each have distinct residential zones, factories, crafting shops and crafting materials. That means a regional factory is not a duplicate of the capital’s — it makes things the capital cannot, and regional production feeds regional upgrades and Export HQ deliveries.
One common beginner mistake is building too many factories too early. Each factory costs Simoleons and takes space that homes could use. Build factories to match demand: if your homes are waiting on nails and planks, add a factory; if your factories sit idle, spend on homes instead. Production should follow upgrades, not lead them.
FAQ
What do factories produce?
Raw materials such as metal, chemicals and wood, which commercial buildings turn into crafted items.
What do commercial buildings do?
Stores and markets combine factory materials into crafted items used to upgrade homes.
Where should factories go?
At the map edge, away from homes, because factories generate pollution that lowers housing desirability.
Do commercial buildings cause pollution?
No. Commercial buildings do not generate pollution, so they can sit between homes and factories.
Do regions have their own factories?
Yes. Each region has distinct factories, crafting shops and materials that feed regional upgrades and Export HQ deliveries.
Learn more in our best layouts for beginners guide and on the SimCity BuildIt homepage.