A new Cities: Skylines 2 dev diary is here, shedding light on how zoning tools and options will work in the hotly-anticipated upcoming city-builder. The trailer also reveals the new Signature Buildings feature, which should give your city an even more iconic and unique look.
This new trailer is part of an ongoing series that has also featured deep dives into transportation, traffic, and road improvements. Of course, roads would be nothing without buildings to visit, and that's where zoning comes in. As Paradox's new trailer says, zoning is how you'll "create and stitch...together" your city.
As with Cities: Skylines, you'll have access to residential, industrial, and commercial zones, as well as offices. You can either drag over a rectangular area to zone it or zoom in and zone a neighborhood "cell by cell". How your zones look will be dictated by the type of map you choose; you'll either have a North American or European aesthetic, but you can also mix and match for added flair.
Starting off with residential zoning, there are now six types of zone. Low and high-density housing return from Cities: Skylines, but you now also have access to medium-density row housing, medium-density apartment buildings, and low-rent housing, as well as mixed housing, in which residents can live above shops.
Commercial zones are, as you'd expect, where residents will do their shopping, but they'll also engage in recreational activities like dancing, watching movies, and more. Industrial zones, meanwhile, contain warehouses and other buildings on which distribution networks rely, and office zones contain, well, offices (both low and high-density variants).
Lastly, the new Cities: Skylines 2 trailer gives us a look at Signature Buildings, which are unique for each zone. You'll unlock them as your city grows, and they bring unique benefits to your city. They're also free to build, but it's still important to build them in good places so surrounding districts can take advantage of their bonuses.
Cities: Skylines 2 is scheduled to launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 24th. You can read more about zoning and Signature Buildings in the new trailer's accompanying Steam deep dive.