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InCities: Skylines 2, you can make a variety of city types. From a sprawling metropolis to a quaint European mountain village, the choice is yours. If you are aiming to make a walkable city, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you can learn just how to make a city more walking-friendly.
This will include tips about sidewalks and pedestrian paths, as well as road layouts that promote walking rather than driving. In its current state, Cities: Skylines 2 does not have bicyclists, so you will not have to worry about creating efficient bike routes as well.
In general, your citizens will travel with the following methods.
Citizens (and tourists) will use the form of transportation that ismore convenient for them.For example, if their job is right down the street, they will walk. If, on the other hand, their job is clear across the other side of town and there is not enough public transportation,then they will drive.
If you want a walkable city, you areaiming to reduce the amount of driving needed.Public transportation can still be an option though, especially with the use of underground subway lines.
Placing Residental And Commerical Zones
One of the best ways to encourage walking in your cities is toplace housing and job locations near each other.In real life, your home may be just around the corner from stores. Maybe you even have a job that’s just a few minutes away.
In Cities: Skylines 2, it can be tempting to create large stretches of residential zones and commercial zones, butin order to create a walkable city, it’s important to mix the two.When your citizens get a job, they won’t have to travel too far away, and walking will be a great option.
If there are not enough jobs nearby for your citizens,you can set up a public transportation line that takes them straight to another commercial zone.
How To Use Pedestrian Streets
Pedestrian streets aresmall roads that general traffic cannot drive on.These paths are meant for foot traffic, however,you will see city services and some residents driving on the paths if necessary.
You can placepublic transportation stopson these streets. With a tram line going through a pedestrian road, you can make apicturesque area that combines foot traffic and public transportation.
With these streets, you may essentially force walkability. Those who live in housing that is along a pedestrian street willwalk to their destination without needing to wait for crosswalks.
Pedestrian streets can also be used to makewalkable campuses,as shown above. Try placing parks and some residential buildings on the street to make the campus feel more alive!
How To Use Sidewalks
Sidewalks are also a great way to promote walkability. With asidewalk connecting two areas,you can avoid citizens hopping in their cars and driving to their destinations. In the image above, you can see asidewalk that connects a residential street directly to a main road.
We recommend using sidewalks to connect areas while also making acustom ‘park’.With no park-based DLC available, you’re able to stillmake your own open green spaces with sidewalks, trees, and bushes.
How To Use Raised Sidewalks
Is your city a bit too walkable? While this may sound bizarre, it’s possible thatenough citizens are walking that it’s causing some serious traffic jams.If you have a downtown (high-density) area with public transportation stop, there may be some traffic jams nearby.
Zoom in to the jam; is it caused by a mass of people crossing the road? This can happen from time to time, but you canuse raised sidewalks to prevent this from happening.Simply place a sidewalk going above the road,eliminating the need to cross the street.
After the raised sidewalk is placed, you will also need to disable the crosswalk. With the crosswalk gone, it’s important to note thatsome citizens may cross anyway.There is no preventing this, but if the raised sidewalk is close enough, your citizens will hopefully utilize it more.
Sidewalks can alsocross directly over highways,giving citizens a way to quickly get to the other side without driving.
Avoid Relying On Highways
Lastly, we suggest toavoid relying on highways for transportation. Highways are great, but if it’s the only way to reach another part of your city, it may be wise to change this. For example, if a highway cuts directly through your city and is the only way to travel, then it’s not very walkable.
Rather than deleting the highway,add another street.In real life, highways and interstates are often accompanied by a frontage road as well as smaller roads that allow foot traffic.They could even run alongside a walking trail that people can take.
Regardless of what you choose, it’s a good idea to havemultiple ways to reach one destination(this will help ease traffic at major intersections as well).
