A road is a utility. It exists purely to facilitate the transport of humans and cargo via vehicles; a road system is an infrastructure, and it can be designed to promote different things, such as better bike infrastructure or more highways. It imposes restrictions on its users through its design, but simultaneously, it carves out possibilities and tells stories about the world we live in.
I have been thinking a lot about roads as of late because I’ve been playing Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Project Red, and besides its gameplay, story, characters, themes, and general world-building, it made me think about roads. That is because the streets of Night City are fascinating and an excellent example of a utilitarian design consideration. Which nevertheless functions as a way of telling the player about the world, its inhabitants, and the struggles of living in a dystopian future. In developing an open-world city where the players can drive cars and motorbikes, roads are a natural thing to add; they are as much a part of our real-life cities as the people and buildings. However, in designing Night City, it is clear that considerable effort went into the design of its roads and the stories they tell, and so in this Post, I seek to explore this aspect of the game by taking a road trip through Night City. I will be focusing almost exclusively on what the roads tell us about the world of Cyberpunk, with some occasional musings on the immediate surroundings. I will only talk about things that can be learned from the roads, and as such, there will be no significant spoilers other than the names of a few gangs and some general story themes. So let’s jump on Jackie’s Arch and start where the game really begins: at Misty’s Esoterica.
Already, the Roads around here tell us a lot. Immediately, we are confronted with a clearly pedestrian area where little consideration has been given to vehicles besides a single parking spot and a warning that you are entering a non-vehicle area. The roads are also clearly dirty but generally well maintained, with few cracks or obvious flaws.
As we travel to the crossing, we are confronted with the first clear sign of the cyberpunk future in the shape of a pedestrian crossing
The pedestrian crossing is clearly electronic, like most of the pedestrian crossings in this game, and is built into the tarmac itself. This tells us a few things: one: the city planners are expecting pedestrians to use the tarmac to inform them about when to walk and when to not and that it is future with an excess of electrical waste, it is not enough to put a simple traffic light up, no the builders have build signage into the ground itself in addition to the conventional traffic lights.
As we turn left from here, we are confronted with strange duplicity in the roads.
Here, while the roads are fairly well maintained, they do not hold a candle to the many screens advertising various products. The painting on the streets is damaged and fading, at risk of becoming ineligible. Even though this is a steep curve, it was deemed safe to bombard drivers with advertisements meant to catch their attention and are placed very much to distract drivers in this sharp and semi-blind curve. It is immediately apparent that safety is not a significant concern regarding road design, at least not in this city area.
As we exit the tunnel, we see another contrast to the faded and damaged paint: a pristine and clear advertisement built into the road itself, this is just one of many such installations which could have been used for safety considerations but instead are used to distract drivers from the road and trying to sell them stuff. This further reinforces that the people who live here are regarded as consumers first and foremost, and not to be overly worried about. It also signifies that corporations must have significant leverage in the design and construction of roads since they have been allowed to incorporate such flagrant advertisements directly into the tarmac itself.
Exiting the tunnel, we move into a more dilapidated area; the roads are poorly maintained, with potholes and missing paint and clear signs of patches on the tarmac. Looking just to the right of the road is a garage entrance with no official road in it and a skull graffitied onto it. The lack of a road leading into the garage door tells us that consideration is not given to pedestrians in this area, and the graffiti tells us that this area is influenced by a group with a clear visual identity. If you have played the game, you know this is the sign of the gang maelstrom, but even without that background knowledge, we can tell it’s a sign made by people interested in twisting the human body, the human skull has been modified with additional red eyes and the strong iconography gives a clear picture of the people who would want to be associated with such imagery. Another aspect of note is the lack of advertising in this area, which tells us that the corporations either do not consider this a valuable area to advertise in, or they simply don’t care about this area, which could also explain the poor conditions of the road.
As we exit this area, we take a ramp onto a highway; the ramp has been patched into the existing road and is far better maintained than the road it is coupled onto.
As we enter Japantown, we are using a much prettier road, and some manicured greenery is also introduced. However, in small amounts, the conspicuous absence of any trees or bushes until now makes it clear that this is a city where every tree is carefully planted and must be maintained. Thus, only certain areas get this treatment. The increased wealth of this area is further evidenced by the good conditions of the road and associated lane dividers, although there is still some grime and dirt, so it is not a top-notch area.
As we enter Japantown properly, we see this continuation of good quality roads with some wear and tear but primarily well maintained; we also see a return of the advertisement, although it is not overwhelming us yet.
Exiting Japantown again via a central highway, we see a clear upgrade in the infrastructure. Here, the lanes are painted and colour-coded, and there are more trees and bushes present again. However, we also see a return from the many advertisements. There begins to emerge a pattern: the better the road, the more omnipresent the advertisements.
As the highway continues, we notice minor faults in the paint. Exiting the city center, we see a massive part of the bridge dedicated to advertisement. Here again, more consideration is made for advertising than for the safety of the drivers, as their focus is almost certainly drawn up and away from the road ahead.
As we near the end of the bridge, the advertisement gives way to a clearly industrial area where the road paint also stops abruptly with one final indication of a down ramp.
Using the down ramp, we are once again confronted by advertisement; although not as omnipresent as before, and the road is much worse for wear and much dirtier than before, it is clear by the road itself that we have entered a less well-maintained area.
We take the tunnel to Pacifica. The tunnel itself is blessedly advertisement-free and relatively well maintained. However, the No Parking sign is barely readable, indicating that it may not be the highest concern that people actually follow said sign.
As we enter Pacifica, we are confronted with a dirty and smog-filled area where the roads are cracked and badly maintained.
Continuing along, we see signs of destruction with burning cars, crooked streetlights, and missing reflex indicators; it is evident by the road itself that this is a rough area. And it is clear by the complete lack of advertising that it is an area seemingly untouched by the corporations that have been so omnipresent until now. It is, however, also clear that it is an area in disrepair, and the burned-out cars also give us a glimpse of past violence, which indicates to us that we are in an area of unrest.
As we go under a bridge, we see the first signs of advertisements. However, they are crooked, dirty, and few. The far more telling part is the mess of tents, garbage, and the complete lack of a proper road; it is clear that this is not a welcoming area. It is likewise telling that half the road is blocked up and unusable by cars. This road is no longer only a road; it has become something more. It has become a home and a shelter, and its former primary function has been removed.
Under the bridge, this aspect of dirtiness and messiness is further reinforced with tents in the middle of the road; this road has become more of a home area than something meant for the use of vehicles; the needs of people have triumphed over the pure infrastructure. However, it is clear that conditions are bad and quality of life must be low. It is clear both from the condition of the area, with all the garbage strewn about, and the fact that the people who live here had no other alternative than to overtake this tunnel to take shelter. Also, the fact that they have been allowed to so decisively block up an otherwise fairly wide road, which in different circumstances could have been a major artery in the city, shows just how little the broader city cares for what the people who live here do.
We take a left into the entry area of Dogtown and are greeted with a hostile entry area with a narrow and well-guarded gate. Equally telling, however, is the state of the keep-out sign; its paint has long since started peeling off, and it is immensely damaged in numerous ways. The priority of the people here is not maintenance.
As we enter the checkpoint, the hostility continues, as we are scanned under the watchful eye of turrets, constantly pointed directly at us; and it is made abundantly clear that this is not a welcoming part of town. The inner parts of the checkpoint is remarkably clean, when compared to the state of the sign outside, and gives a glimpse of the priorities of the people controlling this part of the city.
As we get into Dogtown proper, we start travelling on barely functional roads. There are long, burned-out wrecks of cars and immense amounts of dirt. The area may be free of the advertisement that is so present in the rest of the city, but it is also barely keeping together just based on the conditions of the road. The road conditions also confirm that the priority here is not to maintain infrastructure, nor to maintain the safety of the people, but to maintain military might, which is also shown with the prominent watchtower. The people in charge here clearly conceptualise the area as a war zone and not as a permanent home.
As we explore Dogtown, this theme of badly maintained roads and omnipresent military is kept with roads that just abruptly end and are barely visible under a thick layer of dirt. It is telling that any area in the wider city would otherwise be dominated with adverts for various corporations, here instead dominated with stencils of a dog, which is the iconography of the group controlling this area and military installations, which signify their primary way of maintaining control.
Even on a “main” road within Dogtown, we witness this lack of care for the roads, with haphazard solutions meant to be temporary but have become fixtures of the roads. Little consideration is given to road traffic in this part of the city.
After exiting Dogtown and continuing out of Pacifica, we enter a wasteland with badly maintained roads and a clear lack of life. It is clear from the condition of the roads that we are nearing the edge of the city limits.
We meet the literal end of the road, where it was clearly planned to continue but abandoned at some point in development; it is clear that all have abandoned this area and that we have exited the city and its infrastructure by this point.
Turning left along a dirt road, we see signs of previous traffic with long burned-out wrecks, and garbage strewn about, but it is clear that this area, with its lack of tarmac or advertisement, is long abandoned and only rarely used by other humans.
And even as we enter a clear industrial area, the roads do not improve; they are still dirty, and while there are signs of former human activity in the shape of graffiti, there is no sign of current human life, only walled-off greenhouses and flying drones. It is a dead area, which nevertheless gives clear indications of the workings of the corporation that owns this area. They do not need humans, or at least humans do not need to exit the designated greenhouses.
We soon see a sign of the owners of the area, a company called Bio Technica, and again, we witness a complete lack of care for the roads; it is evident by the road conditions themselves that Bio Technica does not care about any vehicles, which may come this way and are not expecting any traffic either.
As we exit the area, we get a glimpse of just how truly massive it is, and we see how not even the entrance road is in good condition, which is only further testament to the lack of expected traffic coming this way. It is telling that such a massive area has little to no need for traffic; we can extrapolate that any humans working there almost certainly also live there, and that any exports and imports are transported via other means
As we reach the highway leading towards Socal Los Angeles, we do not notice any significant increase in road quality, nor do we get any advertisements. It is not a very travelled road, which is odd as this is the main way out of night city and the road leading to another major city, and the fact that corporations do not care to advertise to people entering or exiting the area tells us that not a lot of people use this road and whatever travel and trade between the two cities must happen via other means.
Turning left before the border crossing, we follow a road at the very edge of the city. Here, we notice a marked border with clear in-world warning signs. There is a lot of hostility toward anyone contemplating leaving Night City by anything other than the official route. These signs also tell us that the border is observed and that violence against anyone wishing to cross is a distinct possibility.
Following this edge road, we find massive solar arrays. Here, again, the roads are badly maintained and barely trafficked; this is not an area meant for visiting. We must conclude that the streets are only here because these solar arrays need maintenance of some kind.
We find a ramp leading down to the main highway into the city, and immediately, the contrast in road quality is stark. Suddenly, it is whole and even, and there is proper lighting; we even see the return of advertisement, signifying that we are once again entering the influence of corporations. This sudden increase in road quality further shows that the city is where the money and influence are; it is where roads are maintained, and everywhere else must make do with what they get.
For as much improvement as there is in the road quality, it is still clearly a mostly abandoned area, as attested by the badly maintained signage and dirt. We take the first down ramp into the outskirts of the city.
As we enter the area, we are immediately confronted by the massive gratify of an American Eagle. However, it is badly maintained and run down, mirroring the general conditions of the road itself. The appearance of the eagle itself is, however, still very telling, as it signifies significant allegiance towards the USA, something which has been conspicuously absent from the rest of the city and which by its general absence tells us that in this future, the USA is not what it once was.
As we continue down the road, we are confronted by another sign, this time for the group 666’th street, it is evident by how well maintained and prominent the graffiti is that they must have significant leeway in this area, and their iconography practically screams that they are a group which associates themselves with the USA, however curiously the street part of their logo seems to be a later addition as if the 666’th part is the most critical aspect of their branding. Here again the idea that the USA is perhaps not what it once was is reinforced, it is clear from the gratify that a group is still fighting for that identity, but by it’s placement in a generally run down and ill maintained area we can infer that it is not a particularly powerful or important group in the larger context of the city.
As we meet back up with a main street, we are clearly starting to enter into the city; this is signified by the clear increase in advertising, but also in better, although still rough, road conditions.
It is, clear that despite the increase in advertising, we are still in a poor and badly maintained part of the city, as becomes glaringly obvious when we see the pristine conditions of the highway ahead leading away from the area and into the city proper. The road conditions themselves are almost pulling us towards the city centre in this way, trying to show us how much better it is to live there than here.
And as we move towards Rocky Ridge, we see almost an attack of advertisement; we see how corporations seem almost desperate to make sure any travelers coming this way at least get to see their advertisements before they exit.
As we near the crossing leading into Rocky Ridge, we get one last massive reminder of the group dominating this otherwise mostly abandoned area. This time graffitied onto the road itself. This is the largest sign of the group we have seen, and it is telling that it has been placed in a mostly disused area of the city.
As we enter the rocky ridge area, we get a final deluge of advertisements and a clear downgrade in road quality, it becomes patchy and poorly maintained again, and it is once again clear that we are in a poor and abandoned area and that we are going away from the city instead of towards it as the road is so clearly indicating would be the right choice.
Turning left, we are confronted with a railway crossing with minimal protection and signage, and combined with the barely existing road, it is clear that this is not an area where we are expected to be and where our safety is of no concern. It is clear that this is a wild area, with many bushes and barely maintained roads.
This hostility is further reinforced by a ghost town where only the electricity for the ads remains, and there are no visible signs of human life. That the advertisement screen is better maintained than the roads and the city itself is also telling of the priorities of the people in charge.
Turning further away from the city, we start driving on a dirt road, which shows we are squarely in an area where roads are merely a suggestion made by other vehicles before you and not something which is maintained or planned. We have not completely exited the influence of the city, the roads are gone, and the infrastructure along with it.
We get to a camp in the middle of nowhere, which is home to a group of nomads. The roads are entirely gone, with only minimal indication that some minimal traffic has levelled off the dirt. We have reached an area where no infrastructure is built, and no considerations are made for traffic. This is an area abandoned by the city and where the structure, order, and limitations of roads are no longer present. The people who live here must make their own order and carve out their own space in the wilderness; it is clear that the people in charge of the city and its surrounding area do not care what happens out here.
As we return to the more official road network, we see further evidence of the abandoned nature of this area in the ramshackle huts along the road.
Skipping some further dirt roads, we reenter the city, and immediately, roads start appearing again, inviting us into the city with its road lighting and ever-present advertisements. It is as if the roads themselves are telling you that you are going the right way again and that this is where you are meant to be.
We even start seeing considerations made for pedestrians with bridges and crosswalks. Notably, this is one of the first signs of dedicated pedestrian infrastructure we have seen beyond the crosswalks, from the complete lack of pedestrian infrastructure elsewhere in the city and a general lack of mass transit it is clear that this is a city designed with cars in mind and where owning a vehicle is important for your ability to reach anywhere in the city. This area is also very close to the centre of the city and is one of the only ones where there is any pedestrian infrastructure of note.
And as we enter into the city center, we start seeing a clear improvement in the road quality; no longer is it patchy with chipped paint; here, the road is even, and the paint is fresh. The road itself is a testament to the richness of the area and the importance of the people living here.
As we reach the corporate plaza, we see the best roads yet, they are pristine, every line of paint is perfect and unchipped, the road is level, and it looks as if it has just been laid. Curiously, while there is some advertisement, it is not as omnipresent here as elsewhere, it is clear that this is where the high and mighty live, those who are above the grime and dirt, and even above adverts.
As we exit this small, pristine area, we are once again attacked by a deluge of advertisements. it is as if we are punished for even daring to exit the area, and we see ahead that the road is once again decreasing in quality. We are shown here that as soon as you are not in the centre, you are a target for advertisers
And just to make it painfully obvious that we have reached a “lesser” area, we have a stark and immediate downgrade in road quality as well as an immediate increase in the amount of advertising. It is once again clear that the people here are seen as a commodity to be advertised to and sold to; they are consumers and, therefore, of lesser import than the high and mighty.
We are once again shown that what matters the most, for the most part, is this advertisement and its visibility; the roads themselves bend around the advertisements and incorporate them, placing them in higher regard than any other infrastructure.
And this is where we end our journey; we have seen the roads in the wealthiest of places and in the poorest, and we have witnessed how much the road tells us about an area and the people living there, we have seen how this is a world where only a small number of ultra wealth people are powerful enough to live free of advertisement and with good quality roads, and the vast majority of people must live with constant advertisement to live in an area with decent roads. If you wish to escape the advertisement, you better get ready for nonexistent infrastructure and barely functional roads, which are only sparsely maintained; the infrastructure itself drags you into the city. It shows you just how miserable you will be if you dare exit the influence of corporations.
We learn that it is a city where vehicles reign supreme. While there are pedestrian areas, they are few and far between, and you have to live almost in the centre of the city to have access to pedestrian bridges; it is a city where if you cannot drive, you are severely limited in your ability to get around. In this way, it mirrors many modern American car-centric cities and invites the player to think of the car as the main way of transport. Lastly, we see that the way we design the roads in our games matters; even though it is an aspect which may go unnoticed, it is an aspect which is still able to tell stories about the game world and inform the player about the world they inhabit.