• Race to settle but the location you want is just a little further than you can reach in a turn?
• Need a bit of extra dust, science, and/or influence while your settler reaches its destination?
• Threatened by enemies in cold war, or by Minor Factions, and not enough health to retreat?
• 10 titan bones to settle the province, but once it's settled, you'll need 15 to reap any benefits?
  
  

No problem! Found a city now and queue Salt the Earth on your first turn. The next turn, the city will crumble, and your settler (magically healed) will be returned to you. Get him a little closer to his destination, and repeat.



The caveats:

• City hall, which is automatically built in each new city, has some upkeep cost, so it might cost you Dust (depending on the tiles you settle)
• Don't forget to take your starting pop off of food/industry
• Won't do much to win settler races with AI, who will just settle first thing next turn anyways, but can be helpful against other humans
• Even a settler can capture a newly settled city
• I have no idea what happens if you buyout a new unit at the same time that you sac the city