Cities: Skylines City Arch Unlock Guide

The City Arch across a 6-lane road in Cities: Skylines
City Arch
Cost to Build ₡20,000
Upkeep ₡160/week
Tourism Value N/A
Entertainment Value 60
Noise Pollution 25

The City Arch is a level 1 unique building that you can build with the Cities: Skylines Parklife DLC. To build it, you’ll have to do two things:

  • Build a park area gate (Parklife DLC)
  • Reach the Tiny Town milestone (can be anywhere from 360 to 1,500 citizens, depending on the map)

Once you accomplish these requirements, you can build the City Arch from the level 1 unique buildings menu for ₡20,000.

It provides 60 entertainment value and produces 25 noise pollution.

And it’s one of the requirements for the Castle of Lord Chirpwick monument.

Building a Park Area Gate

‘Park area gate’ refers to one of the gates of any of the four custom park area types you can build from the Parklife expansion:

  • City park
  • Amusement park
  • Zoo
  • Nature reserve

Start out by painting a park area to place your gate in.

To do this, open the Districts and Areas menu (1) and select the Paint Park Area tool (2) / Cities: Skylines
To do this, open the Districts and Areas menu (1) and select the Paint Park Area tool (2).

If you’re not planning to build a park area at the moment and only need to unlock a city arch, just paint a small patch of park area enough to fit a gate. Otherwise, plan and paint your park area’s size and location as desired.

Once you’ve got your park area, it’s time to build your gate.

Go to the Parks & Plazas menu, and click the tab of your chosen park type / Cities: Skylines
Go to the Parks & Plazas menu, and click the tab of your chosen park type.

Each park type has a regular sized main gate that costs ₡5,000, and a small main gate that costs ₡2,500. All of these do the same job.

Tips for Placing the City Arch

The City Arch spans a road, and looks best when built across either a four- or six-lane road.

It might not be a very impressive building on its own, but it can look great in the right context, so build around it!

To make the most of the arch aesthetically, take the time to decorate the surrounding area with trees, paths, and various park & plaza assets.

A bird’s eye view of the city arch, with a group of visitors enjoying it / Cities: Skylines
A bird’s eye view of the city arch, with a group of visitors enjoying it.

In the above photo, the area is decorated with these canal assets, as well as amusement park paths, trees, and shrubberies.

Liz Villegas

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Liz is a writer and photographer with a love for building and strategy games. Her spare time is often split between lifting, reading, drawing, annoying her dog Mr. Porky Butt, and squinting at stat tables on the wiki pages of whatever game she's currently playing.

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