Automated initialization of a neighbor list for a target cell may include determining one or more donor cell from among a plurality of candidate cells, and creating a neighbor list for the target cell based on one or more neighbor list of the one or more donor cell. A donor cell may be a co-site cell, or otherwise identified based on location, technology, coverage, and other characteristics. The neighbor list of the donor cell is used to initialize the neighbor list of the target cell, which may be refined through subsequent processing.