Why not both? We have two kinds of buildings here:
All the houses, shops, farms and offices your citizen can live in and work at will be built from the ground up defined by zones the player design. Zoning is not free, so plan ahead.
In Silicon City there are than 50 buildings you can place in your city, these are your parks, utility builds and public services, you can find the list below.
🟨 Residential: Houses Apartments
🟥 Commercial: Restaurants Shops Offices
⬛ Industrial: Farms Factories
🟫 Energy: Power plants and power lines
🟦 Public Services: Police Stations - Fire Stations - Hospitals - Schools
🟩 Parks and Recreation: Parks - Outdoor Sports - City Decorations
🟪 Culture: Libraries - Stadiums - Theatres - Museums
Placing a large industrial zone where citizens can create factories. Factories are ugly, bad for the environment and gives a lot jobs and money to your city.
Farms are also industrial zones, for the first jobs of your community. The farm blocks will spawn easier nextby the road. Surrond your zones with cheap dirt roads.
Probably the most efficient zoning here made in Sandbox mode with 5x5 tiles of Apartments and Commercial zones. Once your city reaches Rank 5, the largest zone buildings become as big as that.
Making realistic shapes for small residential zones will result in beautiful housing arrangements. Don’t forget the trees and alleys, they keep the neighborhood attractive.