Hello, city builders! Is your city developing the way you want it to? Well, what if we reveal to you a few tips on how to develop your city even better? Are you interested? First, a brief introduction. Cities: Skylines is a simulation game whose goal is to build the most successful city possible, but it is not an easy task.
In the whole process of building the city, players must pay attention to many factors – balance the budget, preserve the environment, build enough industrial and commercial zones to create new jobs and thus reduce unemployment, maintain health, and quality of life. And much more, actually.
Paradox Interactive may not have even guessed that when publishing this game back in 2015 that it would gain global popularity among different age groups. This city-building simulation has been gathering players for 7 years, and in addition to the PC version, this game is also available on the PS4, Xbox One console, and Nintendo Switch.
Its popularity is due to the Steam platform as well as the Steam community, which is constantly working to improve this game, and mods creators also enhance its diversity by inserting a variety of content that enhances and facilitates the construction of the perfect city.
As we have already mentioned, the goal of this game is to build but also to lead a prosperous city. If you want to be a respected mayor, you have to take care of the well-being of your citizens. Listen to their wishes and improve their lives in your city. Happy citizens, happy mayor – the formula for a prosperous city. In this article, we will explain what unique buildings are and how to use them to improve the city, more precisely what their purpose is.
Also Read: How to Clean Pollution in Cities: Skylines?
What are unique buildings in Cities: Skylines and what’s their purpose?
Unique buildings in Cities: Skylines are, as their name suggests, unique. Each type of unique building can be built only once, and can only be built when certain negative or positive criteria in the game are met. Of course, some are much easier to unlock while some are really hard and you will have to work hard to be able to unlock and build them.
Most unique buildings improve the quality of your city, for example, raise the level of tourism, but there are some that can be unlocked with a negative appearance. One of them is the Lazaret Plaza which is unlocked if the population of your city is extremely sick.
Per level
| Building | Cost | Upkeep | Visitor capacity | Noise pollution | Unlocking criteria |
| Level 1 | |||||
 Statue of Industry | ₡20,000 | ₡320/week | 150 | 10 | 10,000 squares of industrial zone built |
 Statue of Wealth | ₡25,000 | ₡400/week | 150 | 30 | City money: 500,000 |
 Lazaret Plaza | ₡17,500 | ₡192/week | 150 | 25 | Average citizen health under 20%Maintain for 3 weeks |
 Statue of Shopping | ₡10,000 | ₡16/week | 150 | 25 | City money: -1 |
 Plaza of the Dead | ₡17,500 | ₡80/week | 150 | 25 | Fill 3 instances of cemetery |
| Level 2 | |||||
 Fountain of Life and Death | ₡30,000 | ₡240/week | 150 | 25 | One full lifespan lived in the city |
 Friendly Neighborhood Park | ₡20,000 | ₡320/week | 150 | 25 | 10,000 squares of residential zone built |
 Transport Tower | ₡60,000 | ₡960/week | 300 | 25 | Public transport has 1,000 weekly passengers |
 Mall of Moderation | ₡19,900 | ₡320/week | 300 | 35 | Average garbage piling per building at least 25 |
 Posh Mall | ₡45,000 | ₡960/week | 300 | 30 | All tax rates at most 4%Maintain for 20 weeks |
| Level 3 | |||||
 Colossal Order Offices | ₡70,000 | ₡1,200/week | 300 | 10 | Weekly education expenses 20,000Maintain for 10 weeks |
 Official Park | ₡45,000 | ₡128/week | 150 | 25 | 10,000 squares of office zone built |
 Court House | ₡55,000 | ₡960/week | 300 | 25 | Crime rate over 50%Maintain for 5 weeks |
 Grand Mall | ₡85,000 | ₡1,280/week | 300 | 30 | Construct airport |
 Tax Office | ₡18,000 | ₡320/week | 150 | 10 | Construct water treatment plantConstruct 3 instances of water pumping stationElectricity production of 1,000 MW |
| Level 4 | |||||
 Business Park | ₡80,000 | ₡400/week | 300 | 25 | 20,000 squares of commercial zone built |
 Grand Library | ₡90,000 | ₡1,360/week | 300 | 10 | Construct 7 instances of universityMaintain for 10 weeks |
 Observatory | ₡85,000 | ₡1,600/week | 225 | 10 | 1,000 abandoned buildings in the cityMaintain for 5 weeks |
 Opera House | ₡135,000 | ₡1,600/week | 300 | 40 | City extracts a total of 3,000 units of natural resources |
 Oppression Office | ₡80,000 | ₡880/week | 300 | 10 | Unemployment rate over 50%Maintain for 5 weeks |
| Level 5 | |||||
 Science Center | ₡20,000 | ₡320/week | 300 | 10 | 5,000 full lifespans lived in the city |
 Servicing Services Offices | ₡20,000 | ₡320/week | 300 | 25 | Construct 300 city service buildings |
 Aquarium | ₡20,000 | ₡320/week | 300 | 40 | 5,000 children in elementary schools |
 Expo Center | ₡100,000 | ₡1,600/week | 450 | 75 | 2,000 tourists visit the city |
 High Interest Tower | ₡125,000 | ₡1,600/week | 300 | 25 | City debt: 2,000 |
| Level 6 | |||||
 Cathedral of Plentitude | ₡130,000 | ₡1,440/week | 300 | 35 | Construct all city service buildings (30 city service buildings as of Cities: Skylines Snowfall Patch 1.3.0) |
 Stadium | ₡200,000 | ₡4,000/week | 600 | 100 | City produces a total of 1,000 units of goods |
 MAM Modern Art Museum | ₡130,000 | ₡1,040/week | 300 | 10 | 50% of population highly educated |
 Sea-and-Sky Scraper | ₡20,000 | ₡320/week | 300 | 25 | Construct harborConstruct cargo harbor |
 Theater of Wonders | ₡175,000 | ₡2,400/week | 450 | 25 | Construct 3 instances of elementary schoolConstruct 3 instances of high schoolConstruct 3 instances of university |
Source: https://skylines.fandom.com/wiki/Unique_building
As you can see from the table, unique buildings are divided into 6 levels, so you can unlock them in that order, depending on which milestone you cross.
In addition to these unique buildings there are additional unique buildings that you get if you play the European Map Theme or Deluxe Edition of the game. They are called Landmarks and you also have to meet special conditions to be able to unlock them.
Remember that when you unlock a certain unique building in one city, you will be able to build it in other cities, without meeting the criteria again.
Also Read: What Are Canals For in Cities: Skylines?
Other unique buildings
Monuments – When you reach last milestone, a special category of unique buildings, called Monuments, will be unlocked. To unlock Monuments you must have built certain unique buildings from all six levels, depending on the conditions for unlocking Monuments.
With Airports expansion you can build the “Aviation Museum” and the “Airline Headquarters Buildings”, both of which are unique.
More unique buildings are from the Campus expansion, nine Unique Faculties, three Museums. Also, check out Steam Workshop where you can find more custom buildings to improve your game, but for custom unique buildings you can’t unlock any Monuments, remember that.
Also Read: How to Undo in Cities: Skylines?
Final Thoughts
If you are thinking about how to improve the quality of life of your city, you may need to start building unique buildings that will further improve your city. As you could read in this article, there are different types of unique buildings. They are divided into 6 levels, and you can build them when you meet certain criteria for each of them. Each unique building can only be built once, so you cannot have multiple unique buildings of one type built in one city.
If you have additional expansion packs for your game, you will be able to build additional unique buildings; for example, the Deluxe Edition of the Cities: Skylines comes with additional unique buildings.
Try to unlock as many unique buildings in your city as you can because this will increase the happiness of your citizens who live near unique buildings. With unlocking Monuments, you can increase the tourist count, which will boost the popularity of your city.
As you can see, there are many possibilities for your city to become an ideal place to live. In addition to building primary living areas such as residencies and industrial areas, you must try to provide your citizens with additional facilities to keep their level of satisfaction high. Remember, the happier your citizens are, the easier it is to run the city for you as its mayor. If you have some more ideas about why it is good to have unique buildings, feel free to share them with us.
