Well the point is rather that this stuff should not require unlocking in the first place on account of being known by default to literally everyone in the relevant area and immediately obvious to new arrivals too - who, after all, mostly enter via the gates/other urban entrances to begin with...Personally agree, especially considering the way to unlock the north exit is to work at the pub doing dish's twice, and without doing that you'll never unlock the north exit or City Hall. Although to give some leeway, the game is still very much early in development - so I'd assume that when they complete more of it... there will be actual quest's and prompt's to get a player to do certain things that will be needed to unlock further area's.
It's tantamount to those dumbass PnP GMs that demand skill rolls to tie your damn shoelaces or locate the mall down the street. (Which is legit for absurdist comedy games, granted, but odds are this isn't.)