Cities Skylines is ditching cars for walking in a new expansion

You know what's cool? When you can walk around a city and don't have to use a car. That's cool, and the developers of Cities: Skylines agree, as the upcoming Plazas & Promenades DLC will add pedestrian-only zones, specialized districts, and services that cater to a playstyle I've seen people clamor for since Cities launched in 2015.

The expansion trailer, from a literal bird's eye view, showcases the calm and delightful concept of walkable, bikeable city centers complete with outdoor plazas and trams. In addition to new zones and districts, the expansion includes "over 300" new assets for the reigning champion of city builders.

The new pedestrian-only streets are placed like any others, but the only vehicles that can access them are emergency services like fire, police, and ambulances. That lets you cut down on pollution and noise for citizen quality-of-life bonuses.

New district specializations add wall-to-wall buildings for pedestrian high density residential, commercial, and office areas that mimic more modern city centers. There are also service buildings to match. New policies go along with them, allowing you to slow road driving speeds, ban sugary drinks, and allow street musicians inside pedestrian-focused areas.

Images also show off some other neat features. The new plazas can have food trucks, for example, and huge constructed glass-roof sunshades can overhang metro stations and open-air malls. I'm a particularly big fan of the shots showing off bus-only and tram lines through the pedestrian areas.

Cities: Skylines - Plazas & Promenades has no official release date, but it's "coming soon" say Colossal Order. You can find out more on Paradox's website, and for now it's up on Steam and Epic but I'm sure it'll show up elsewhere soon enough.

Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.

Read more
A citizen of a city
A lot is going on for Cities: Skylines' 10th anniversary—from freebies to new creator packs—but there's still a big ol' elephant in the room
Cities: Skylines 2 screenshot - street level at night
Cities: Skylines 2's asset editor remains a distant dream: Colossal Order is still working on it but says it's 'proven more technically challenging than initially anticipated'
People swimming in a pool and lying on floats
Planet Coaster 2's spring roadmap splashes down, with 'round-bottomed flumes' coming in March and buildable restaurants arriving in April
A cloaked man ponders an offering of gold in a large chest in Streets of Fortuna.
This ancient city sim constantly simulates 1000 NPCs in a clockwork murder sandbox where you can poison someone's drink and leave 'confident that you've pulled off the perfect crime'
Manor Lords promo art - knight on horseback looking at a medieval village in the distance, viewed from behind
PCG's best city builder of 2024 is adding a map with a gigantic hill in the middle: the perfect spot for your next castle
The reintroduced Pathos 3 rids whirls players around in the air like a giant fidget-spinner in Planet Coaster 2
Planet Coaster 2's latest update adds synchronised rides, customisable video billboards, and stops guests suffering from perpetual panic
Latest in Sim
A citizen of a city
A lot is going on for Cities: Skylines' 10th anniversary—from freebies to new creator packs—but there's still a big ol' elephant in the room
Staring eyes in a face covered in oil
Death Stranding 2's PS5 release date is in June, let's hope it doesn't take 8 months to hit PC this time
Cities: Skylines 2 screenshot - street level at night
Cities: Skylines 2's asset editor remains a distant dream: Colossal Order is still working on it but says it's 'proven more technically challenging than initially anticipated'
Town in Tales of Seikyu with two townsfolk sat on the stairs
Tales of Seikyu is just your regular farming simulator, apart from the fact I've got shapeshifting abilities and I'm engaged to a pretty persistent kappa
A spacecraft flying near the sun in Elite: Dangerous
Elite Dangerous just implemented an entire system colonisation mechanic, in case you really want to get off this planet
Birds in a garden in Birdfull
This cosy birdwatching idle game has me leaving behind my binoculars and enjoying the hobby from the comfort of my desktop
Latest in News
spectre divide
Spectre Divide and its studio are shutting down after just six months: 'The industry is in a tough spot right now'
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
Henry from KCD2 wearing nice outfits
'Diversify your fashion endgame' with this Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 mod that gives Henry fly new gambesons, pourpoints, and caftans
Masked Counter-Terrorist in helmet in forefront with sunglasses and beret-wearing CT in background touching headset
There's hope yet for Classic Offensive after its Steam rejection: The team behind the Counter-Strike 1.6 revival mod is in touch with Valve about its 'concerns'
Recently appointed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
Here comes Intel's new CEO: a semiconductor veteran that won the same prestigious award as Jensen Huang and Lisa Su
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 15: Protestors attend the SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike Picket on August 15, 2024 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Lila Seeley/Getty Images)
8 months into their strike, videogame voice actors say the industry's latest proposal is 'filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse'