What is RICO and What Does it Mean in Cities: Skylines?

RICO stands for Residential, Industrial, Commercial, and Office in Cities: Skylines and refers to the needs for each zone in the gameplay. It’s also known as RCI (Residential, Commercial, and Industrial) – as shown by the three bars seen in the game. They are known as “Zones” in the game.

Zoning In City: Skylines

You may designate where residences, stores, and industries will be developed using zones. When a zone type is given to an unfilled zone, buildings will be developed there over time (provided people wish to live or conduct business there!).

Residential, commercial, industrial, office, and municipal zones are the five distinct sorts of zones. Each zone produces a unique type of building:

• Residential – Residential zones are areas where individuals can live.
• Commercial – Shops and other facilities will be located in commercial zones, selling items produced in industrial zones and/or imported.
• Industrial – Industrial zones offer individuals work and commercial establishments for products. They may be tailored to make use of available natural resources.
• Office – Office zones offer pollution-free work for residents with an increased skill level, but they do not produce any products. (counts as a business)
• Municipal – Buildings and services owned by the government are referred to as municipal. (For example, a courthouse or police station)

When utilizing the zoning equipment, zoned regions will be shown, separated into little 8×8 m squares. Zones may be created up to four tiles apart from a roadway. Although zoning is free, the roadways and other facilities that structures demand are not. Residents and companies that inhabit these structures, on the other hand, pay the taxes, which are the city’s primary source of revenue.

The “growables,” or structures that are constructed in zones, come in a range of sizes, but the front of all structures must be right near the road.

Without a mod, it is impossible to construct growable structures. Mayors must make these zones appealing enough for people and companies to want to relocate there. It will level up if the building’s residents are performing well. Jobs are more plentiful and of higher quality in leveled-up employment buildings, while residents are more abundant and rich in leveled-up residential buildings.

Only low population residential, low population commercial, and low population industrial zones will be accessible to the player at the beginning of the game. At early achievements, the additional zone varieties are unlocked.

Also read: Taxis in Cities: Skylines – A Complete Guide

Building Demand

“Building Demand(s)” are the citizens’ demands for different buildings, including industrial, commercial, and residential buildings. In simple words, when your citizens have a residential demand, this means they need more buildings to live in, which includes both high and low-density residential.

On the other hand, when your citizens have a commercial demand, it means they need more commercial buildings, including both high and low-density commercial. Finally, industrial demand refers to the demand of the citizens for more industrial buildings. 

On the panel at the bottom of the screen, slightly to the left of the center, you can see the three demand bars. Residential demands are green, industrial demands are orange, and commercial demands are blue.

Also read: How to Use Heavy Traffic Ban in Cities: Skylines?

RICO Mod

RICO is also the title of a mod, Ploppable RICO, which enables you to ‘plop’ structures that act as zonal buildings.

This mod allows you to place structures that serve as:

• Residential 
• Commercial 
• Office 
• Industrial

The Ploppable RICO mod will turn any poppable object into a RICO structure.

Parks, for example, can be transformed into farms, while unique structures may be transformed into offices. RICO structures will work in the same way as their growable equivalents. Sub-Buildings Tabs and Sub-Buildings Enabler additionally allow for mixed-use buildings and infinite footprint sizes.