I'm in Woodelves (Human)...just reached the Grafting Sites on the Tree, everything else done that can be done.
My land is 9x9 or 81 5x5 squares total. I have a Culture Bonus of 150% with 30k Culture available and approximately 3500 available Population.
Main Hall (Level 22), 33 Residences (25@Level 23, rest Level 22). Since Level 2, I have had 9 Workshops (Level 22), 3 Armories (Level 23) and 4 each Mfgs (Levels 20 , 19 [II] and 16 [III]); Tier I and III bonuses are maxed out, II is getting close.
I have 4 AWs, each carefully chosen to benefit: Abyss (6) [coins/pop], Excavation (6) [relics/supplies], Halls (4) [good/pop] and Trader (4) [fees, offers, portal prod]. Unless I am 'stuck' on the Tree waiting to produce enough whatever to progress, I only toss 'extra' KP...from Quests, Tournaments, etc at them. Only once or twice have I deliberately sought to upgrade.
I am fortunate to be in an active Fellowship and have about a dozen active Neighbors...takes maybe 10 minutes to 'help' and I get extra Coins/Supplies. During that time, I'll produce Beverages for extra Supplies before setting them up while I'm away. And if I'm doing site maintenance, I'll produce Beverages. If I need more Coins, I have a huge World to hit on.
I am constantly 'trading' for Goods and I buy from the Wholesaler (this is where the Trader helps). I also look forward (Tree and upgrading) to see what extra Goods I'm going to need and stock up on them).
I'm always Scouting because you never know when you're going to need 19 Relics or Solve 23 Encounters or need a specific Relic to upgrade a Bonus or make a Magic Spell. And along with Scouting I try to Solve at least 1 Encounter every day because before you know it, you find yourself having gained enough Provinces to get an Expansion.
I always leave myself room...at least 1 5x5 square plus miscellaneous space. Right now, I have approximately 5-5x5 squares of space to work with AND 2 Expansions I haven't used. I took the time out after Orcs to do some serious upgrading and rearranging because I was anticipating that my space/production requirements for Woodelves would be equally or more and want to be better prepared.
And of course, you have to look forward. I have a spreadsheet that let's me track how much of what I need and how much of it I can produce realistically. I've also gone looking at other folk's places to see what the buildings look like, placement and amount.
Elvenar is a game of strategy, it's not a race. If you want to go 'fast', go play Grand Theft Auto or Grand Turismo.