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.

Image 1 of 15

An image of a pedestrian street from Cities: Skylines — (Image credit: Colossal Order)

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.

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.