If you ever wish to obtain power, fame, or fortune, you must understand the basics of expanding your province and building your infrastructure. While war is always an option for growth, in many instances, you will need to peacefully expand your province. Below, I will describe the methods and benefits of each of your options.
Your People and Their Happiness
First off, you will need people to make your province a success. Without them, you have nothing. It will be important, however, to find an effective balance within your population. The total number of people within your lands is limited by space, and that total includes both peasants and military forces. Because only the peasantry works your lands, will need a large number of peasants to maintain a healthy economy -- and that can mean a small military. If your military is too small, however, you are in danger of attack from outside. It will be up to you to come up with an adequate balance, but that may often be dictated by what your neighbors are doing as well.

Your people want a leader who will make them proud - one who is brave and daring, and one who brings new riches to your lands. Depending on your leadership style, you may find that your people get upset and stop working as hard, or perhaps they will be thrilled with your leadership and support your efforts even more. You will quickly learn that your people have a long memory. Your actions today will not make them forget previous actions immediately. It will take time to garner the support of your people - and time to lose it as well. This can work both to your advantage or disadvantage, depending on your actions.

You have a Civilian Advisor who serves to watch over your populace and report back to you. This advisor can provide you with more details on your people.


Economics: Employment & Taxes
The Utopian World features a rich, vibrant economic system. The buildings on your land employ people to generate tax revenues for your province. In addition, your people power your buildings to provide non-financial benefits to your land.

The currency of choice in Utopia is the gold coin, demoninated by either "gc" or "$", the dollar sign as you know it. Your coffers need be plentiful if you wish to grow your province over the long term. You have one primary source of money -- tax revenues. It will be important to ensure that your people have adequate work: all buildings employ 15 men or women each.

Exploration
To gain additional lands for your province, you can send an exploration team to search out and claim new territory. These expeditions will require both money and soldiers. Unfortunately, as your empire grows larger and receives more notoriety, fewer of your men will be willing to go on these dangerous excursions, and the costs of finding new land rises sharply.

Once you have your new lands in place, you will be able to begin developing them into more useful territory. It is important to understand that your people are essential to exploration, as they settle the lands. Your people will not allow you to explore unless at least 50% of your land has already been put to use.

Construction
Land alone is nice to have, but without buildings and infrastructure, it is of little use to anyone. You have a variety of buildings to choose to build, but remember this: You will need many people to make your province go, and you will need to provide these men with jobs to work. Only employed peasants will bring in the tax revenues that make your province go! Advisors within your Council will help provide you the information you need to keep your economy healthy.

The Utopian World offers a variety of buildings and structures to place on your lands. Each of these has some inherent benefits which allow your province to grow or specialize. It is up to you to determine how best to fill your lands, as there is no perfect or ideal balance for growth.

Your Construction Options
Homes While all land houses some peasants, setting aside acreage specifically for the purpose of housing can help to increase your total population. All provinces should set aside a portion of your land for residential areas.
Mines Because mining is a fairly stable and self-sufficient operation, Mines provide you with a small but steady source of income. Mines provide a source of income above and beyond standard tax revenues.
Farms Food is vital to the growth of any and every province. Without it, your peasants and military will starve! It is important that you keep an adequate portion of your land as farms, or you will find your province quickly fall to ruins.
Mills Mills are all about building better buildings. Your mills make the building process much more efficient and help you to construct buildings more cheaply.
Armouries Armouries give your men better facilities with which to train themselves into a stronger fighting force. Over long run, this allows to you build better troops at lower costs.
Barracks Barracks help train your troops and keep them in better shape. In combat, this allows your men to conduct battle more quickly and return home more hastily.
Thieves' Dens Thieves' Dens give the thieves in your land a place to organize, prepare, and rest. Spreading these across your lands will reduce your losses when conducting thievery operations and allow you to more efficiently plan your ops.
Forts Forts help to organize your military when defending your lands. By installing forts throughout your province, you can reduce the amount of land captured by invading opponents.
Banks By creating a central place for monetary transactions, you can increase the overall efficiency of your economy. Banks help boost overall income -- and thus taxes collection -- in your society, while also protecting your gold from would-be looters.
Hospitals Hospitals are a valuable way to keep your military in good health. Oftentimes in battle, you will find many of your soldiers wounded, but not killed. Without Hospitals, these men will often perish without treatment. With them, your men may be saved.
Guilds Alas, Wizards are needed to cast your spells, and Wizards can only be trained at these Guilds. Developing a powerful army of Wizards takes time and patience, as well as many of these Guilds.
Towers Your Towers serve as a locale for your wizards and mages to work to develop runes. They allow you to produce new runes each day, giving you the ability to cast spells.
Watchtowers Watchtowers serve as watchposts for potential problems within your lands, mostly caused by thieves. Having an array of Watchtowers can help protect your land from infiltration.
Schools Schools are vital to making your peasantry smarter and poised for studies in the intellectual arts. Having Schools helps give your people the fundamentals needed to advance in the sciences.
Universities The ultimate locale for students, your Universities will help provide them the resources they need to learn the arts and sciences that will give your province an edge in the future.
Stables Stables help breed, train and house War Horses which can be used by your military to strength your offense. More can be learned about War Horses within Chapter VII, "Going To War".
Libraries Libraries serve to help educate your populace. This, in turn, improves the level of knowledge throughout your province and serves to create a natural source of new discoveries without continuous spending on your part.
Dungeons Dungeons are used to house prisoners from war captured during battle. Through torture, combined with the promise of freedom, you are able to use these men as mercenaries in future wars. As with mercenaries, after used, these men earn their freedom and free your dungeons for more prisoners. Prisoners
The Actual Numbers
The term "%" below refers to the percentage of land you have of that kind of building. For example, if you have 10% of your buildings as Barracks, "% * 2" would refer to 20%.
Land Capacity Each built up acre of land houses 25 people; Barren lands house 20 people.
Homes Increases Maximum Population by % * 1/3 (No Max)
Mines Earns $50 Per Day
Farms Produces 70 Bushels Per Day
Mills Decrease Building Costs by % * 4 (80% Max)
Reduces exploration gold expenses by % * 2 (50% Max)
Armouries Decrease Military Training Costs by % * 1.75 (50% Max)
Train % * 2 more Elites in Combat (30% Max)
1% daily chance of training a Specialist Unit into an Elite Unit
Barracks Lowers Attack Time by % * 2 (50% Max)
Increase Offense by % * 0.5 (20% Max)
Thieves' Den Lower Losses in Thievery Operations by % * 5 (80% Max)
Increase Thievery Effectiveness by % * 1 (No Max)
Forts Decrease Resource Losses when Attacked by % * 1.5 (30% Max)
Increase Defense by % * 1 (10% Max)
Banks Increase Income by % * 2 (No Max)
Protect % * 5 Gold from Thievery (60% Max)
Hospitals Decrease Combat Losses by % * 4 (60% Max)
% * 3 chance of curing The Plague each day
Increase Birth Rate by % * 10 (100% Max)
Guilds 2% Chance of Training a Wizard Daily
Towers Produces 10 Runes Per Day
Watchtowers % * 3 Chance of Catching Enemy Thieves (60% Max)
% * 5 (60% Max) chance of identifying enemy thieves
Schools Increase Science Maximum by % * 1.5 (60% Max)
Universities Decrease Learning Costs by % * 2 (50% Max)
Reduce Science Decay by % * 3 (60% Max)
Stables Produces One Horse Per Day
(Max 75 Horses Per Stable)
Libraries 1.5 Free Science Points per Day
Protect % * 3 Science from Enemies (60% Max)
Dungeons House 75 Prisoners of War