The simulation is just so fake, almost everything that goes on is just decorative.
There is a budget, but after the first 30 minutes you'll always be running an enormous surplus without trying.
Citizen commute to work, but if they can't get there, the workplaces will continue to work, with some trivial penalty to efficiency.
There is traffic simulation, but if a jam forms, vehicles will start vanishing to unblock the road.
You can build public transport, but it doesn't matter if it's efficient, because the city's entire population can be standing at bus stops waiting forever with seemingly no ill effect.
Citizens will use parking spots if they're available, but if they aren't, they'll just disappear their car and reappear it later.
Zoned buildings get built and upgraded autonomously, but what gets built doesn't depend on economic factors, just on how many upgrade points are accrued from nearby services and attractions.
There is a large number of special buildings of various types that can be unlocked and built, but they all count as a tourist attraction and don't perform their actual function, they're effectively statues.
Cities Skylines is a bizarre un-game that has all the UX and presentation of a city simulator without any actual simulation.