Combat on Buildings terrain

In that case ...

Defense against sieges is one factor to consider when placing a city, but there are a lot of other ones as well.  Most players go through years in Illy without being sieged.

Hiya Whistlemist. Honestly, I really don't think that's the case. In fact, when it comes to being sieged, I'd say that being in an alliance is actually more likely to get you sieged, since if the alliance you are in gets into a war, your city might be chosen simply by virtue of the fact that it sits next to terrain that is favorable to defend (alla buildings or mountains). This isn't to say that non-affiliated players never get sieged, but my experience tells me that those who are sieged are usually gc trolls of the worst kind. If you're just minding your own business, you're most likely not going to wake up one day and see a siege army rolling into your back yard.

Also, regarding building your city next to buildings, I wouldn't do it. Yeah, they look cool, but as you can see from the chart above, it's no secret that they afford optimal terrain bonuses to bows and infantry. Recently in our current war we sieged from a building and had fabulous kill ratios in defending the siege. A best practice is to make sure your city is surrounded by plains, since cavalry work optimally on plains and can really chop down a siege.

Best of luck to you in your endeavors.