The best way to plan a LEGO city is to start with your available space, then decide on your building system (baseplates or MILS), design the road network, divide the city into districts and leave room for future expansion before buying lots of sets. Spending a couple of hours planning can save hundreds of pounds, prevent frustrating rebuilds and make your city far more realistic and enjoyable to expand.

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Why Planning Your LEGO City Matters

Planning isn’t the most exciting part of building a LEGO city—but it’s one of the most important.

Many beginners buy the buildings they like first and only think about roads, parks and layout afterwards. The result is often a collection of excellent LEGO sets that don’t feel like a real city.

With a simple plan, every purchase has a purpose.

Roads line up properly, buildings fit together naturally, transport links make sense and your city can continue growing for years without constantly rebuilding sections you’ve already finished.

A little planning now saves time, money and frustration later.

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Required Parts and Tools

You don’t need specialist software to plan a LEGO city.

A few simple items are enough:

• Tape measure
• Pencil and eraser
• Squared (graph) paper or a notebook
• A ruler
• Your room measurements
• Optional: spreadsheet or drawing software if you prefer digital planning

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Step 1: Measure Your Available Space

Before buying a single brick, decide exactly where your city will live.

Common locations include:

• A desk
• Shelving units
• A dining table
• A dedicated LEGO room
• A loft or garage
• A custom-built display table

Measure the usable area rather than estimating it.

A layout that looks manageable on paper can quickly become much larger once roads, pavements and open spaces are included.

Also think about access.

Can you comfortably reach the middle of the layout?

If not, routine jobs like cleaning, adding minifigures or repairing buildings soon become awkward.

Brick Squared Tip

If your city will eventually sit against a wall, try to keep it no deeper than you can comfortably reach from one side. If it’s larger than that, consider leaving access from multiple sides or designing removable sections.

Read next: How Much Space Do You Need for a LEGO City?

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Step 2: Decide on Your Building Standard

Before placing any buildings, decide what everything will stand on.

The two most common options are:

Standard Baseplates

Ideal if you:

• are starting your first city
• want the lowest initial cost
• prefer a quick setup
• don’t expect to transport your layout

MILS (Modular Integrated Landscaping System)

A more advanced building method that creates raised, stronger modules.

Advantages include:

• stronger foundations
• easier transport
• consistent building heights
• easier long-term expansion
• smoother integration between modules

The downside is higher cost and extra building time.

For many beginners, standard baseplates are the sensible choice. If you already know you’ll eventually build a large display city, starting with MILS can save rebuilding later.

Read next: What Is MILS in LEGO?

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Before You Buy

Changing from baseplates to MILS later usually means rebuilding every section of your city.

If you think there’s a good chance you’ll eventually switch, decide before buying large numbers of baseplates.

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Step 3: Design the Roads First

Roads form the skeleton of your city.

Everything else fits around them.

Many beginners see roads as something to add later, but experienced city builders usually do the opposite.

They design the roads before deciding exactly where buildings will go.

Popular layouts include:

Grid Layout

• easiest to expand
• suits LEGO Modular Buildings
• straightforward for beginners

Main Street

A single road with shops and cafés on both sides.

Perfect for smaller spaces.

European Layout

Curved streets, town squares and irregular blocks create a more historic appearance.

Modern Mixed Layout

Combines straight roads, curved sections, junctions and commercial areas to create a contemporary city.

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Common Mistake

Buying several Modular Buildings before deciding on the road layout.

The buildings may fit individually but often leave awkward gaps that roads, parks and pavements can’t easily solve.

Roads should determine where buildings go—not the other way around.

Read next: How to Build LEGO City Roads

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Step 4: Divide Your City into Districts

Real cities are organised into neighbourhoods with different purposes.

Doing the same makes your LEGO city feel far more believable.

Typical districts include:

Commercial Centre

• Modular Buildings
• cafés
• restaurants
• offices
• shops
• banks

Residential Area

• houses
• apartments
• gardens
• schools
• playgrounds

Industrial Area

• warehouses
• factories
• construction sites
• freight depots

Leisure District

• parks
• museums
• sports stadiums
• zoos
• fairgrounds

Transport Hub

• railway station
• tram stop
• bus station
• airport
• parking

Even if your city currently contains only one street, planning future districts helps every new addition feel intentional rather than random.

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Step 5: Think Like a Real Town Planner

This is the stage many guides overlook.

Instead of simply asking where a building fits, ask why it’s there.

For example:

• Houses are usually close to schools and parks.
• Factories are often placed away from residential streets.
• Restaurants and cafés benefit from busy shopping areas.
• Train stations are surrounded by roads, taxis and bus stops.

Thinking about how people would actually move around your city creates a layout that feels much more realistic.

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Step 6: Plan the View, Not Just the Map

You’ll rarely look at your city from directly above.

Most of the time you’ll see it from the front or at an angle.

Create visual depth by:

• mixing building heights
• avoiding one continuous wall of tall buildings
• leaving views down streets
• creating focal points such as fountains or town squares
• placing landmark buildings where they’ll naturally attract attention

A smaller city with interesting sight lines often feels larger than a bigger layout that’s packed tightly with buildings.

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Step 7: Leave Empty Space

One of the hardest lessons for beginners is that every baseplate doesn’t need a building.

Real cities contain:

• parks
• rivers
• pavements
• public squares
• playgrounds
• car parks
• green spaces

These empty areas stop the city feeling overcrowded.

They also make your favourite buildings stand out.

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Inspiration

Look at photographs of real town centres rather than other LEGO cities.

You’ll notice that roads, pavements, trees and open public spaces often occupy more space than the buildings themselves.

That’s one of the biggest secrets to creating a realistic-looking LEGO city.

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Step 8: Plan for Future Expansion

Even if you’re only building one street today, think about where the second street could go.

Ask yourself:

• Can roads continue naturally?
• Is there room for train tracks?
• Could another district be added later?
• Where might future Modular Buildings fit?
• Are there spare connection points?

Leaving expansion routes now means you won’t have to dismantle completed areas later.

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Step 9: Create a Shopping Plan

Now you know exactly what your city needs.

Rather than buying whichever set happens to be discounted, divide purchases into priorities.

Foundation

• baseplates or MILS parts

Roads

• road plates
• tiles
• pavements

Buildings

• one feature building
• smaller filler buildings

Landscaping

• trees
• benches
• street lights
• plants

Vehicles

• cars
• buses
• emergency vehicles
• bicycles

Buying this way usually produces a more complete-looking city while spending less money.

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Budget Builder

Instead of buying four expensive Modular Buildings immediately, complete one realistic street.

A finished street with roads, pavements, trees, vehicles and minifigures almost always looks better than several disconnected buildings sitting on bare baseplates.

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Step 10: Draw Your Plan

Your drawing doesn’t need to be artistic.

A rough sketch is enough.

Mark:

• roads
• junctions
• buildings
• parks
• rivers
• train lines
• future expansion areas

Many experienced builders still use graph paper because it’s quick, flexible and easy to update.

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A Simple Planning Checklist

Before buying your first major set, make sure you’ve answered these questions:

• ✓ Have I measured my available space?
• ✓ Have I chosen baseplates or MILS?
• ✓ Do I know where my roads will go?
• ✓ Have I divided the city into districts?
• ✓ Have I left room for parks and public spaces?
• ✓ Can my city expand naturally?
• ✓ Have I prioritised what to buy first?

If the answer is yes to each question, you’re ready to start building with confidence.

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Commercial Recommendations

Planning doesn’t require lots of purchases, but a few inexpensive tools can make the process easier.

Worth Considering

• Graph paper notebook for sketching layouts.
• Steel tape measure for accurate room measurements.
• LEGO Pick a Brick for buying large quantities of baseplates, tiles and landscaping pieces economically.
• BrickLink for sourcing discontinued road plates or specific parts.
• Storage organisers to separate bricks by type while building.
• LEGO city planning books for inspiration rather than copying layouts directly.

None of these are essential, but they can save time and money as your city grows.

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