Surviving and recovering after a disaster is not always easy. Luckily for those of you who have trouble doing so, there’s a new SimCity blog that just might help you.

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When it comes to planning a city that’s built to last, you have to prepare for the best (and the worst) case scenarios. Sure, it’s simple to design a city where everything works out perfectly as planned, but we all know Mother Nature can sometimes throw a population-crushing curveball. That’s why it’s smart to think about disaster prevention when laying out your city.

We’ve gathered three members of the Maxis team to give their tips about how to build a city that can survive the road to recovery after a devastating disaster.

Game Designer Brian Bartram:
My disaster prevention suggestion can be summed up with this phrase: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Only, when building a city, this translates to “Don’t put all your critical services in one area.” Use this thinking when building fire stations, clinics, and police stations. By spreading out these buildings, there is less of a chance that a single meteor, tornado, or earthquake will damage them all in one disastrous event. Another way to mitigate the damage is having redundant systems. Two small power stations, placed at opposite sides of the city, will mean that if one gets taken out the other will still be able to provide some power to your city. Of course, if you’re getting all your power, water, and/or sewage needs provided by a neighbor, then you don’t have to worry about a local disaster destroying this critical infrastructure.

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