Great Buildings

The Academy increases a city's scientific research as well as providing a small amount of culture.

    An academy is a school for advanced learning. Though China, Egypt, and India had such institutes earlier, the term "academy" was first applied to the Athenian school of philosophy, founded by Plato in approximately 390 BC. The school was built near a sacred grove named "Hekademia."
    An academy was an important asset for a city. It attracted both brilliant scholars and the children of wealthy or noble parents, who might then decide to settle in the city permanently. The academy could provide a broad, general education to its students, or it might concentrate upon a specific subject such as philosophy, mathematics, art, natural philosophy (the world and everything in it), or the martial arts.
    Today there are many educational facilities which bear the name "academy." The term is used loosely now, and in addition to its original meaning, is often applied to schools for children and teenagers.

The Administrative Center reduces the maintenance costs in nearby cities.

    An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. Local Government is a form of public administration which in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest tier of administration within a given state. The term is used to contrast with offices at state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or (where appropriate) federal government and also to supranational government which deals with governing institutions between states. Local governments generally act within powers delegated to them by legislation or directives of the higher level of government. In federal states, local government generally comprises the third (or sometimes fourth) tier of government, whereas in unitary states, local government usually occupies the second or third tier of government, often with greater powers than higher-level administrative divisions.
    The question of municipal autonomy is a key question of public administration and governance. The institutions of local government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Common names for local government entities include state, province, region, department, county, prefecture, district, city, township, town, borough, parish, municipality, shire, village, and local service district.

Armouries increase a city's military unit production.

    An armory is a building in which weapons and ammunition are distributed, stored, maintained, or produced. While dedicated armories have existed throughout history, the need for them increased significantly with the development of interchangeable parts and the mechanically intricate workings of modern firearms. Swords, bows, and even muskets could conceivably be maintained using only conveniently portable tools, but machined components for a rifle or machine gun require concentrated facilities.

    The increasingly elaborate organization of armories and arsenals has formed a key element of the rise of logistics in modern militaries. An army with large, well-organized, well-maintained stockpiles of weapons has a major advantage over an irregular or ill-equipped force that lacks them.

Manufactories increase a city's production and increase trade route yield.

    Although large mills and workshops were established in ancient China, Rome and the Middle East, the Venice Arsenal provides one of the first examples of a factory in the modern sense of the word. Founded in 1104 in Venice, Republic of Venice, several hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, it mass-produced ships on assembly lines using manufactured parts. The Venice Arsenal apparently produced nearly one ship every day and, at its height, employed 16,000 people.

    Many historians regard Matthew Boulton 's Soho Manufactory (established in 1761 in Birmingham) as the first modern factory. (Other claims might be made for John Lombe 's silk mill in Derby (1721), or Richard Arkwright 's Cromford Mill (1771) purpose built to fit the equipment it held and taking the material through the various manufacturing processes.) One historian, Jack Weatherford, contends that the first factory was in Potosa, for processing silver ingot slugs into coins, because there was so much silver being mined close by. See City and Factory Life for more background concerning factory conditions.

    British colonies in the late 18th century built factories simply as buildings where a large number of laborers gathered to perform hand labor, usually in textile production. This proved more efficient for administration and for the distribution of raw materials to individual laborers than earlier methods of manufacturing such as cottage industries or the putting-out system.

    Cotton mills used inventions such as the steam engine and the power loom to pioneer the industrial factory of the 19th century, where precision machine tools and replaceable parts allowed greater efficiency and less waste.

    Between 1820 and 1850, the non-mechanized factories supplanted the traditional artisan shops as the predominant form of manufacturing institution. Even though the theory on why and how the non-mechanized factories gradually replaced the small artisan shops is still ambiguous, what is apparent is that the larger-scale factories enjoyed technological gains and advance in efficiency over the small artisan shops. In fact, the larger scale forms of factory establishments were more favorable and advantageous over the small artisan shops in terms of competition for survival.

Musea greatly increase a city's cultural output. They also increase a city's Great Person birth rate depending on the culture level.

    A museum is an institution dedicated to the preservation of cultural and historical relics. The first 'museum', so named for its dedication to the Nine Muses of Greek Mythology, was founded in Alexandria by the Ptolemaic dynasty during the Hellenistic Era. It was in many ways more like a modern institute for advanced studies than what we now call a 'museum.'

    Modern museums, as distinct from display halls for the personal property of elite members of society, are mostly a phenomenon of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Public access to the museums was gradually broadened as they evolved from being kept 'collections' and also became facilities for displaying the artifacts and educating the public on their significance. Associated with the rise of archaeology and the investigation of our ancient past, and with the spread of higher levels of literacy among the general public, museums serve to keep and preserve relevant historical artifacts, often placing them on display for the public.

    Today there are museums of varying size on almost every subject imaginable that relates to our past, including but not limited to art, history, paleontology and ancient life, the sciences, technology, and various crafts.

The Secret Service increases its city's espionage output and gives experience points to Espionage Units built in it's city.

    Interpol (or International Criminal Police Organization) was created in 1923 to assist international criminal police cooperation. Interpol, once merely the organization's telegraphic address, was officially incorporated as the organization's new name in 1956, prior to which it was known as the International Criminal Police Commission. Interpol is the world's third largest international organization, after the United Nations and FIFA; it currently has 186 member countries.

The Stock Exchange increases its city's production of wealth.

    A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a corporation or mutual organization which provides facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade company stocks and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities, as well as, other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. The most famous one is New York Stock Exchange, based in Wall Street.