Which Civ:BE tile improvements provide benefits without being worked?

Solution 1:

You need to work the tile to get its benefits.

The difference between "provides" and "yields" is that provided resources are added directly to the city's yield when worked whereas yield is added to the tile (which could be modified further).

The only improvements which do not require working are resource upgrades (which still provide the resource if unworked) and victory-related improvements.