Services are an essential part of the game, and the other main thing in SimCity apart from zones. They range from water towers to universities, and are essentially all the things that the government builds for the benefit of the zones directly (as opposed to specialization, which benefits the player directly with money).
Utilities
The utilities are water, electricity and sewage (disposal of). All are supplied by channels under (or, at least displayed under) the roads. If the road is connected via other roads to a supplier, then the buildings along it will get what they request, unless there is a shortage. Utilities may be traded between towns in regions for a price, and will have bad effects if not supplied; people get annoyed and will not expand with no water and/or electricity, and too much sewage will literally burst out from under the roads.
Water
Water is produced at pumps and water towers which have been placed on area with groundwater, which can be viewed by an info map. Areas near open water such as lakes, rivers, seas, etc. will have their groundwater constantly replenished. Remember to keep pollution from industry out of the groundwater, or germs and other substances will be pumped into the system.
Electricity
Electricity, unsurprisingly, is generated at power plants. There are many types of power plants, ranging from wind plants, coal plants, and even nuclear plants. Some require research to be unlocked, and all have advantages and disadvantages; for example, nuclear is fairly clean but may meltdown with low skill workers, coal makes lots of pollution but is cheap, and wind is clean and cheap, but takes a lot of space.
Sewage
Sewage disposal is probably the simplest of the three. The sewage pipes can pump the stuff either a sewage treatment plant, which treats the sewage making it effectively disappear, or a sewage outlet, which basically dumps it onto a field to let it disperse and evaporate. Needless to say, dumping all the sewage on a field will cause pollution in the area.
Other Services
There are many other services, such as education, transport, aesthetics (parks, statues, etc.) and much more. They do a variety of things, and cover a great deal of what the plaer has to do in the game.
Education
Education is provided to Sims at schools. They learn first at a grade school, essentially an elementary or primary school, then go to high school or community college, and possibly after this, university. Education gives the city boosts in tech and other fields, such as knowing how to recycle, health, land value, etc. School bus stops must be placed to give people access to schools. Universities can be used to research things, giving access to various techs.
Transport
Transport is things such as train lines, bus depots, airports and such. Different types of bus depots may be built along with bus stops to provide coverage, as may train stations connected to regional rails. Airports can be built and expanded for either freight or passengers, and much more. Streetcars, or trams, are too included.
Public Space
Public space includes things like courtyards, gardens, parks, reserves and such. here is a very large variety of parks that may be built, all catering to different wealth levels, but all contributing to land value. Some examples are Blacktop Parks, Medium Fields and Wavy Path Parks.
Garbage Collection
Rubbish is collected from individual properties by trucks, which are dispatched by either a recyling centre or a dump. They collect the rubbish and take it back, where it may be recycled for resources, incinerated, or just dumped into a pit. Ignoring this will result in rubbish piling up all around the city, and great discontent. Note that recyling bins are different to rubbish bins in game.
Police
The police, like in real life, fight crime in the city. They will arrest criminals who are committing crimes, and with addons, even chase them to their homes, or find them out after the crime. They work from police stations, of which there are several variants, and one of which can be expanded with many things including helicopters, a detective's wing and much more. They put them in jails where the are rehabilitated after a while. If crime is no being handled, people will want to move out; especially higher wealth and commercial, as commercial gets robbed the most, though muggings, murders and arson occur too. Criminals come from low wealth, low education and generally unpleasant backgrounds.
Firefighters
The firefighters operate from their fire stations, which dispatch trucks to put out the fires. There are types of fire stations, and one, with research, can put out HazMat fires; a special type that starts only in industrial. The more educated people are, the less fire start. Fires cause low desirability, but realistically, with a city that isn't too flammable, fires will not be a large problem in terms of actual damage caused. Summer spawns fires more frequently.
Health
Health is caring for the Sims, and ensuring that their medical needs don't go untreated. This is done from clinics and hospitals, which have a capacity to treat them. Ambulances are very important, as they take those who need treatment to where they are needed. The hosptial may be expanded for more effectiveness, as well as abilities such as reducing the likelihood of sick Sims. Education helps in preventing problems too. There are different types of problems; injuries and sickness.
