Public works
Public works covers everything the city builds and then has to keep running: the roads underneath every commute, the parkland and the things on it, and the shelters that catch citizens before they fall out of the housing system entirely. The big idea here is recurring cost. Every park zone you pave, plant, or fence draws a monthly maintenance bill, every road segment draws a yearly one, and every shelter draws a payroll plus an operating bill. So the long-run question is rarely whether you can afford to build something. It is whether you can afford to keep it.
Parks
Parks pay you back in approval and indirectly in property values, not in revenue. Standard parkland has a baseline maintenance cost per 20 by 20 meter zone. Specialized features cost more or less depending on the labor they really need. Mowing grass is not the same job as cleaning a graffitied public restroom. Construction is a one-time hit per zone, with public restrooms in particular costing a small fortune. Modular sanitary installs with full utility hookups really are that expensive, and the numbers on this page are anchored to actual New York City modular restroom projects.
Maintenance scales with zone count, not population, so a dense network of small pocket parks costs many times more than a single equivalent-area park. Mind the count, not just the area.
Roads
Roads are the quiet expense. A street costs a fixed amount per square meter of pavement to build, and a fraction of that every year to keep paved. Once a city has grown to a few thousand citizens, road maintenance is one of the largest single lines in the budget. A sprawling grid is permanently more expensive than a compact one before a single car drives on it, so compact street networks save money even on day one.
Both the price and the upkeep follow the street’s width, because that is how cities pay for streets: asphalt is resurfaced by the square yard and sidewalks are poured by the square foot. Every street has one car lane each way to start with, and each feature you add makes it 10 meters wider. Four lanes, two each way, carry twice the traffic at the same speed:
| Layout | Width | Price per 10 m of street | Upkeep per 20 m a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lanes only | 10 m | $12,500 | $299 |
| Street parking | 20 m | $25,000 | $597 |
| Bike lanes | 20 m | $25,000 | $597 |
| Four lanes | 20 m | $25,000 | $597 |
| Street parking and bike lanes | 30 m | $37,500 | $896 |
| Four lanes and street parking | 30 m | $37,500 | $896 |
| Four lanes and bike lanes | 30 m | $37,500 | $896 |
So a narrow street costs half as much to build and to keep as a 20 meter one, and a 30 meter one half as much again.
To change a street’s layout, drag the road tool along it with the new layout chosen. The whole street is rebuilt with that layout, at the price of building it new; a bridge on it is repainted at the street’s price, not the bridge’s. Only a layout of the same width can take another’s place, street parking and bike lanes for instance, since any other width would move the street’s kerbs.
Bridges
Streets stop at the shore. The Bridge tool crosses water and ravines, starting from a street, and that street carries on over the bridge with its name and its layout: the bridge is as wide as the street, 10, 20 or 30 meters, and any kind of bridge can carry any street. The same drag lays the road on dry ground on either side of the crossing, at a street’s price, and that road opens at once. A bridge is built 20 meters at a time, and the street over it opens when the last 20 meters are done. Its deck is priced by its area, on top of the street it carries, so the table below is for a 20 meter street; a 10 meter one costs half, and a 30 meter one half again.
| Kind | Price per 10 m | Upkeep per 20 m a year | Longest crossing | Days per 20 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beam bridge | $750,000 | $2,388 | 500 m | 22 |
| Cable-stayed bridge | $1,750,000 | $3,582 | 1,100 m | 28 |
| Suspension bridge | $2,500,000 | $4,776 | 2,000 m | 33 |
| Stone bridge | $750,000 | $1,194 | 500 m | 44 |
A beam bridge stands on a pair of piers every 60 meters, and boats pass between them. A suspension bridge hangs from a tower on each bank with nothing in the water, and it reaches across water far too wide for a beam bridge. It costs more than three times as much to build and twice as much to keep, because its towers, cables and hangers are steel that has to be inspected and painted again and again. It is painted red, as the Golden Gate is, or steel grey.
A cable-stayed bridge also keeps the water clear: a fan of cables holds its deck from a pylon on each bank. It reaches about half as far as a suspension bridge and costs less to build and to keep.
A stone bridge, like the Charles Bridge in Prague, rests on arches between piers in the water, on the beam bridge’s 60 meter rhythm. It is the slowest to build, laid arch by arch, and the cheapest to keep, with nothing to rust.
Bridges built before the Bridge tool became the kind their width calls for: a stone bridge under a 10 meter street, a beam bridge under a 20 meter one, and a red suspension bridge under a 30 meter one.
Shelters
Shelters are the largest single capital decision in this category, by an order of magnitude. They exist to absorb homeless citizens who would otherwise be locked out of the regular housing market. The immigration affordability check demands three months of rent upfront, and most homeless citizens have negative balances. Shelters are how those people stay in your city instead of disappearing from your population.
Parameters
Maintenance park price
$600
The cost of maintaining a 20x20 meters plot of parkland per month. This cost includes expenses related to landscaping, cleaning, security, and other operational costs associated with park maintenance.
Maintenance hardscape park price
$250
The cost of maintaining a 20x20 meters plot of paved park ground (a concrete plaza) per month. No mowing, irrigation or fertilizer — the bill is sweeping, litter collection, security and occasional joint/surface repair, which municipal hardscape-vs-turf comparisons put at roughly 40% of an equivalent lawn’s upkeep.
Maintenance park trees price
$10
Estimated monthly maintenance cost for one mature street/park tree, covering general care, pruning allowance, and pest control. This is based on budgeting $120/year for proactive tree management.
Source: NYC.gov Street Tree Overview (Air Quality Value)
Maintenance park maze price
$500
Estimated monthly maintenance cost for a 20x20 meter maze park zone. Higher than general parkland due to the specialized labor required for detailed path maintenance and hedge/plant trimming.
Source: Understanding the Cost of Parks (Mini Park Maintenance Range)
Maintenance park fountain price
$300
Estimated monthly maintenance cost for a park fountain, including water system cleaning, chemical balancing, and minor pump/electrical checks. This accounts for specialized commercial service.
Source: Outdoor Water Fountain Installation Cost (Labor/Plumbing Factors)
Maintenance park pergola price
$250
Estimated monthly maintenance cost for a 20x20 meter pergola zone. Based on routine inspections and minor repairs.
⚠️ Source pending
Maintenance park wc price
$5,800
Monthly NYC maintenance for a high-traffic public restroom, including daily cleaning, supplies, and waste management.
Source: Urban Design Forum - NYC Public Bathrooms
Maintenance park picnic table price
$420
Monthly operating cost for a high-traffic wood picnic table in NYC. Includes daily litter/surface cleaning (10 min/day) and monthly deep maintenance for graffiti and wood-rot prevention.
Source: NYC Parks Inspection Program (PIP) Standards
Basketball court maintenance cost month
$1,000
Monthly maintenance cost for a full-sized basketball court’s upkeep
Source: NYC Parks & Recreation
Shelter construction cost
$50,000,000
State of Maine Homeless Shelter Cost Study
Source: Shelter Cost Study 2025
Shelter annual maintenance cost
$7,000,000
State of Maine Homeless Shelter Cost Study
Source: Shelter Cost Study 2025
Park construction price
$8,612
Cost to construct a 20x20 meter general park zone (natural grass). Based on NYC sod installation costs of $1-3/sq ft, averaging $2/sq ft ($21.53/m²).
Source: Angi.com - NYC Sod Installation Costs
Park trees construction price
$3,300
Average cost of NYC tree planting per unit. Based on FY24 and the Parks Department.
Source: It costs the city $3,300 to plant a tree. Here’s why
Park playground construction price
$35,000
Cost to construct a 20x20 meter playground zone. Based on playground equipment costs of $15,000-50,000 plus surfacing costs of $3-14/sq ft, totaling approximately $35,000 for 400 m².
Source: Mass Initiative - Playground Construction Costs
Park maze construction price
$8,612
Cost to construct a 20x20 meter maze park zone. Based on natural grass installation costs plus maze design elements (hedges/plants).
Source: Angi.com - NYC Sod Installation Costs
Park fountain construction price
$4,300
Cost to construct a park fountain zone. Based on water fountain installation costs.
Source: How Much Does a Water Fountain Cost in 2025? - Lawn Love
Park pergola construction price
$120,000
Cost for a 20x20m zone featuring a large, non-combustible commercial steel pergola. Includes concrete footings and NYC labor rates ($45/sq ft avg).
Source: Lawn Love - Pergola Costs 2025
Park picnic table construction price
$3,500
Heavy-duty 8-foot commercial wood picnic table with steel frame, including assembly and concrete anchoring in a NYC public park.
Source: Global Industrial - Commercial Park Furniture
Park wc construction price
$1,000,000
Cost for a 3x3m ‘Portland Loo’ style modular cubic restroom. Unit is ~$185k; installation and utility hookups in NYC average ~$815k.
Source: amNewYork - NYC Modular Restroom Project 2025
Park castle construction price
$45,000
Cost to construct a simple castle playground. Price includes commercial-grade prefabricated wooden modules, safety wood fiber surfacing, and professional installation labor in a public park setting.
Source: Pro Playgrounds - Commercial Systems
Road construction price
$50,000
Cost to construct 20 m of a 20 m street, about $125 a square metre. Based on urban road construction costs in the United States. Streets of other widths are priced by their paved area, the way cities buy asphalt by the square yard and sidewalks by the square foot: a 10 m street costs half as much per metre, a 30 m one one and a half times. Every layout has the same three fifths of asphalt and two fifths of sidewalk, so one rate per square metre fits them all; for the record, municipal bid tabs put asphalt street surface at about $24 to $31 a square metre (Baraboo, Wisconsin, 2026) and a 4 in concrete sidewalk at about $65 to $96 (University City, Missouri and Grand Chute, Wisconsin, 2021 to 2022) (plans/roads_2_1.md, 3.13).
⚠️ Source pending
Road maintenance cost
$597
Annual maintenance cost per 20 m of a 20 m street (2 lanes). $24,000/lane-mile × 2 lanes / 80.47 segments per mile ≈ $597. Streets of other widths upkeep by their paved area: a 10 m street half as much per metre, a 30 m one one and a half times (plans/roads_2_1.md, D24).
Source: Transportation for America - Repair Priorities 2019
Bridge construction price
$1,500,000
Cost to build 20 m of a 20 m bridge deck (400 m² of deck), charged on top of the ordinary street that carries the span onto each shore. A deck is as wide as its street and priced by its area: a 10 m deck costs half as much per metre, a 30 m one one and a half times (plans/roads_2_1.md, 3.12). A 400 m² (4,306 sqft) bridge deck section runs roughly $0.9M to $2.2M in the real world, centered near $1.5M, about 30 times a normal $50,000 road tile. The premium pays for in-water piers, cofferdams, foundations and over-water permitting. Anchored to FHWA’s 2024 National Bridge Inventory replacement unit costs ($383/sqft non-NHS to $429/sqft NHS, i.e. $1.65M to $1.85M per tile) and cross-checked against NZTA’s standard NZ$5,600/m² rate and TxDOT’s FY2024 low-bid averages. A 100 m crossing (5 water tiles) costs about $7.5M and a 200 m crossing (10 tiles) about $15M.
Bridge maintenance multiplier
4
Annual bridge upkeep as a multiple of the $597/year road segment rate, covering mandatory inspections, anti-corrosion, joint replacement and seismic checks. Bridges are a distinct, higher-cost asset class than equivalent roadway; a 3 to 5 times multiple is the realistic band and 4x lands in the middle, about $2,388/year (roughly $199/month) per bridge tile.
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory inspection regime; NZTA OIA-14963 bridge on-cost guidance
Suspension bridge construction price
$5,000,000
Cost to build 20 m of a 20 m suspension bridge deck (400 m² of deck), charged in place of the beam bridge’s price and priced by its area the same way. About $12,500 a square metre, three and a third times the beam bridge’s: the deck hangs from two towers and their main cables, with no piers in the water. The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, the longest suspension span built, cost about $2.7 billion for 4,608 m of 45 m deck, about $13,000 a square metre; cable-supported decks run several times a girder deck’s price per square metre.
Sources: 1915 Çanakkale Bridge (cost, length and deck width); STRUCTURE magazine: Efficiency and Economy in Bridge and Building Structures
Suspension bridge maintenance multiplier
8
Annual suspension bridge upkeep as a multiple of the $597/year road segment rate: twice the beam bridge’s. Its steel towers, main cables and hangers are inspected and repainted without end; the Golden Gate Bridge keeps a standing crew of painters and ironworkers on its steel all year.
Source: Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District: Bridge Maintenance
Cable stayed bridge construction price
$3,500,000
Cost to build 20 m of a 20 m cable-stayed bridge deck (400 m² of deck), charged in place of the beam bridge’s price and priced by its area the same way. About $8,750 a square metre, between the beam and the suspension bridge: the deck hangs by stays from a pylon on each bank, with no piers in the water and no anchorages for main cables. STRUCTURE magazine’s comparison of built bridges puts a cable-stayed deck’s cost per square metre and metre of span close to a suspension deck’s, and cable-stayed bridges serve spans about half as long, so a square metre of one costs less.
Source: STRUCTURE magazine: Efficiency and Economy in Bridge and Building Structures
Cable stayed bridge maintenance multiplier
6
Annual cable-stayed bridge upkeep as a multiple of the $597/year road segment rate: between the beam and the suspension bridge. Every stay is inspected, its sheathing and dampers kept, and a worn stay is replaced on its own while the bridge stays open; there are no main cables to unwrap and recoat.
Source: Freyssinet: Maintenance of stay cables
Stone bridge construction price
$1,500,000
Cost to build 20 m of a 20 m stone arch deck (400 m²), priced by its area as a beam bridge is, and at the same rate. A masonry arch needs little specialised plant, and costed against steel and concrete for the same crossing it comes out close to a steel bridge.
Stone bridge maintenance multiplier
2
Annual stone bridge upkeep as a multiple of the $597/year road segment rate: half the beam bridge’s. Unreinforced masonry arches are very durable and need less maintenance than other bridge forms, with nothing to rust; most of those still in use have long outlived their intended service life.
Source: UK Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, CD 376: Unreinforced masonry arch bridges
Promenade construction price
$50,000
Cost to construct a 20x20 meter promenade segment — a pedestrian-only, tree-lined shopping street. Priced the same as an ordinary road segment: what a promenade saves in lane striping and heavy-duty sub-base it spends on pavers, planting and street furniture.
⚠️ Source pending
Promenade maintenance multiplier
1
Annual promenade upkeep as a multiple of the road segment rate. 1x today: sweeping and tree care in place of asphalt resurfacing lands promenade maintenance in the same band as an ordinary road segment.
⚠️ Source pending