Parks and environment

Parks provide green space within walking reach, improve the surroundings and attract visits. Dense neighbourhoods need accessible park space close to the residents who use it.

Building a park

Choose Park under Leisure and paint the ground you want to use. Parks are built instantly and can fill slopes, waterfront strips and awkward spaces where buildings won’t fit. In Arcade, Park unlocks when residents first complain about green space.

Park ground touching edge to edge forms one connected park. Adding adjacent ground extends it; removing a strip can split it. Click any part to inspect the connected park as a whole.

Green-space access

The Green space layer measures how well residents' nearby park space meets their needs. It is not simply a count of parks or a citywide total of green cells. Homes are coloured by their access, and the parks themselves in their own colour.

Spread smaller parks through residential areas when the problem is local access. One large park at the edge of the city may be a useful attraction without serving residents across town. The park inspector shows its size, visits, nearby residents and green-space conditions.

A lake entirely enclosed by the same park can contribute to its area and benefits. Open water touching another property, a street or the map edge does not automatically belong to the park.

Upkeep and other amenities

Parks need upkeep even though they are built instantly. Include that spending when expanding the network of green space.

Libraries, museums, sports venues, concert halls and marinas provide other amenities under Leisure.

Some major attractions also draw visitors through terminals. See Trade and visitors before building an airport mainly to fill an underused venue.

Pollution and noise

Use Air pollution and Noise pollution to check residential sites before zoning. Industry and traffic can make nearby housing less desirable. Keep noisy or polluting activities away from homes where possible and provide useful connections between the separated districts.

The appearance of a street, access to amenities and environmental conditions also contribute to a location's desirability and value.

Improving an area can make its land more valuable and affect housing costs. Read the Affordability layer alongside improvements so you can see whether the residents already there can still afford their homes.