I'm thinking about a game--somewhat 'old', and only a demo as far as I played it: It concerns itself with an egyptian civilization, much like a strategic civilization game. It was isometric, and you built your civilization by making 'huts' which grew based on their connections to 'civil services' and other goods that you grab from the environment around you. It was somewhat pixel-ish, and the last mission of the demo needed you to make some kind of monument (I couldn't do it because of balancing both the flood plains food needs, getting paper across the darn river for my schools, finding out how to make boats that won't die to sudden 2 invaders kicking my boats, and getting my populace happy to do anything).
THere were certain buildings like a well where you have a dude get water from, and he somehow walks over in your roads to the buildings and...somehow that puts out fires and gives the inhabitants water, your residential buildings can 'conglomerate' into a bigger building if they exist in a 2x2 square together, there's some kind of police force I think that helps, and the market can hire market-kids to help deliveries--I never found out how to work this efficiently because I was busy worrying about flood plains and 'oh wow seasonal harvests!'. I also worshipped the Goddess Bast, in that demo.
Then I forgot the name of the game and whether any full-er version can be played. :I As far as I know, there was no direct control over people, but control over the pathing and such. Oh and you can adjust taxes.