In Cities: Skylines, just like in real life, there is a growing concern over noise pollution. It is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and even poor mental health. Cities can reduce the din by building roads with sound barriers and planting trees. They can also reduce noise by encouraging citizens to use public transport rather than drive cars. But they can do much more, including banning vehicles with combustion engines and reducing traffic speeds.

Noise pollution is caused by traffic, commercial areas and special buildings such as power plants or concert halls. Each has a different area that they will affect, and you can see the range of that impact in the info view when you place them. It’s a good idea to build residential zones away from commercial and industrial areas to limit the amount of noise that will be generated.

When you are more advanced, you can unlock highways with sound barriers which will significantly reduce the amount of noise from traffic. There is also a road upgrade option for residential roads that will help reduce noise pollution as well.

Another great way to reduce noise pollution is by placing parks around your city. These will lower the level of noise and increase citizen happiness. Just like trees they will reduce noise pollution, but they also improve the land value of the property they are placed on. You can even put parks in the middle of noisy zones to help mitigate the effect of traffic and other noisy activities.