Starting my first playthrough with Tropico, I have two major problems.

How do I reduce pollution? I keep getting complaints from environmentalists, but I don't know how to solve the problem. There doesn't seem to be any buildings for doing so. And pollution reducing edicts don't help enough.

Another problem is that it takes forever to construct buildings. It doesn't seem to matter how many construction offices I make, or how close I place them to building sites, it seems like the construction workers spend half the year wandering around aimlessly, then may they will go to a construction site to make 10% of a building and then leave.

@ Pollution

Pollution is one of the complexer challenges you are faced with. Some hints:

1. Enact anti-litter immediately, because it will only reduce future pollution, not remove already caused litter.

2. Pay attention to the wind direction. Place polluting buildings at the coast, so that the wind blows the major part out on the sea.

3. Stay away from logging and mining or in case of the former, make at least use of the horticulture upgrade and selective harvest. High-profit Tourism is the way to go then...

4. Beautify your island as much as possible. You can't affect the true pollution that way, but people also do factor beauty in the score. Do this by building statues, fountains and beautiful vegetation.

5. For games where you REALLY want to have no troubles, just combine the Environmentalist background with the Green Thumb trait. That whopping reduction by 80% forgives you most your sins.


@ Construction

Better slowly develop your island from one end to the other. If you have to built something on the other end, you have to support the constrution offices over their with housing and some basic services to keep distances short...but of course, you have to built those first and to MM eventually to make sure that the construction workers live in the bunkhouses you have created there. Still, it is better then trying to built that airport alone directly with a far away construction office only. A second dock with freighters only setting at the "outpost settlement" can come in handy, too, as the immigrants can quickly fill any new-built building there.

I've always found that having too many people in an area causes bad pollution without green thumb (I love/hate that trait since it harms factory productivity but makes things clean :P.) Using a spread out system, no apartments, houses and low density will do wonders to pollution. Make it yellow.

Question. I never tried this, but has anyone tried enacting anti litter late and seeing what happens to an area where all the buildings are then demolished?