How i see it:
When a scout moves in the wilderness, a border around him (like that around the Great General) shows an area which can be claimed. After the player hits the "claim" button, the scout disappears, and a Frontier Fort is built on the spot -- it's a center of the new Territory. A Territory contains X tiles and its shape is determined by the rules by which a city's borders grow normally. The Fort requires maintenance, and can be captured or razed by the enemy: in result the Territory's ownership is switched or it is cleared, respectively.
The player can improve the Territory's resources just like around his core cities. This way remote luxuries or strategics can be hooked up without building a city. Territories can be traded via diplomacy.
Scouting units can pass through other players' Territories but can't claim land there. Settlers can pass too but can't found cities there.
Uses:
-- take up the land to settle it later
-- get resources without building a city
-- prevent barbarians from spawning in the wilderness
-- see other players' movements through the territory
-- create a buffer zone for defense
Scouting units can pass through other players' Territories but can't claim land there. Settlers can pass too but can't found cities there.
Uses:
-- take up the land to settle it later
-- get resources without building a city
-- prevent barbarians from spawning in the wilderness
-- see other players' movements through the territory
-- create a buffer zone for defense