Canals and locks: what it changes for a pre-industrial city

Canals and locks: water carries food 50% further.

A city of 20,000 on a river, in a temperate forest

• With it: 4,500 km² of countryside, 1.5 days by cart (strained)
• Without it: 4,500 km² of countryside, 1.5 days by cart (strained)

Ages that know it

Early modern, 18th century

Build your own city from this place

Other techniques

Heavy plough, Three-field rotation, Clover and turnips, Horse collar, Manure, Marl and lime, Night soil (town waste spread on the fields), Guano and nitrates, Irrigation, Watermills, Windmills, Coal, Metalled roads, Ocean-going ships, Herring busses and salting at sea, Paper mill, Printing press, Gunpowder, Aqueduct and fountains, Sewers, Filtered water, Vaccination

Orders of magnitude for play: sourced figures and Hearth estimates together. Every source, and every figure still waiting for one, is listed in the builder under Sources.

Open the city builder — MGS Toolbox