As you start to gain levels in CityVille and construct more buildings, farms and roads, you’re going to eventually run out of space. That’s where expansions come in. These are items that you can purchase to allow you to add another 12×12 area to your city. To get started, you’ll need some coins saved up and have a Zoning Permit, which is an item you can get from friends through gifting. Note: you’ll also get one Zoning Permit as a quest reward for completing the Become Mayor quest, but more likely than not you’ll be expanding even before you get to that point.

To get started, click on your Build button and then choose Expansions from the menu. Right now, there’s only one choice available: the 12×12 expansion. The first one costs 20,000 coins and 1 Zoning Permit. Future expansions cost more: the number of Zoning Permits required goes up by one for each additional expansion, and recently the coin cost began to increase as well. For example, the second expansion costs 22,000 coins and two Zoning Permits to complete.

Once you purchase your expansion, you can choose where to place it. You’ll see a blue square on your screen, which represents where the expansion can go. It must be adjacent to an area that’s currently part of your city and you’re limited to certain spots on the grid. Once you’ve decided upon your spot, you’re all set to go. Now you can begin clearing trees to make way for the new buildings!