<t> Given how 'idiosyncratic' the AI's decision making on building new infrastructure is, I wouldn't be to keen on it building new cities. Cities can't be easily destroyed.<br/>
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As mentioned above, the AI doesn't use the same administrative strain or logistic rules we do, so it doesn't have ...

What start options are you using? Also are you using 1.05? I've personally never had that situation, but especially in earlier versions some starts are prone to start you in some form of death spiral (some of which, eg city state on seth planet with no water mine, still exist).

<t> Yes, you are limited by your road system when exploring, especially early on. Later you can build roads to assist to explore further out. <br/>
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In this game, units claim territory - your borders expand with their movement unless you are up against a major or minor you are at peace with ...

<t> The new city will start with just the workers in the asset you used to create the new zone, so you will want to use colonists to increase population. You will also want to use some of the strategems to increase private credits, so they build their farming dome to feed themselves & start earning ...

<t> All the options on that event have pros and cons. In particular the other two are skill checks that risk increasing unrest - the pay rise is the 'easy way out'. The problem being that as OP discovered, the pay rise is very expensive for you.<br/>
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I partly referred to option c because ...

Foxador has it right. You picked the middle option in a certain event. Next time consider the merits of option c.

<t> I had this problem (it seemed to be a problem if you conquered a city resulting in its zone getting split). It resolved itself after a couple of turns. I *think* the trigger for resolving it was a logistic building being upgraded but may have just been time.<br/>
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If its in 1.04, you may ...

Yep, you probably used them all up - bottlenecks view should confirm. Suggest upgrading the truck bases or building rail. You probably also want to remove the traffic sign to the north in Hanson - it can't possibly be helping.