Whereas in games like Pharaoh, they were designed so that you had to have many things within a certain (close, but not too close) distance of your population in

Whereas in games like Pharaoh, they were designed so that you had to have many things within a certain (close, but not too close) distance of your population in order for your people to be happy and avoid crime, fires, etc. Zoning is non-existent. This is much closer to how planning permission works in my country - there's no specific zoning (though you're unlikely to get planning permission to put an industrial estate in a city centre), and people enjoy having shops etc nearby.