Honestly, this could be an idea for end-game content or an NG+ type of expansion in the future.
Once your first town is up and running, not only surviving, but thriving- a small group of settlers from your main town go out to build a new settlement on a new map. Not conquest, but expansion.
You, the player, would need to juggle the establishment of a new town that could trade or swap resources that they have in abundance, that your original town does not have- essentially expanding the trading system. They aren’t sending anything for free, but would act as traders like the current AI traders we have. But you could choose what to send and what gold prices or barter items to swap would be (new town has lots of sand, but little clay, original town has lots of clay but little sand- barter/swap it- the game would use the same pricing ratios that it has, but you could choose to set it to the high end or low end of the range. 1 sand = 2 clay or 3 sand = 1 clay- something along those lines).
The game would still be Singleplayer, no servers needed, and you would be dealing with the same issues in the new settlement(s) as you were getting your original settlement established- and you may be dealing with serious issues in both at one time. Greater challenge for those that have that masochistic tendency and love beating themselves up. A DLC expansion in the Farther Frontier Future, for those that want it, but not a part of the game for those that aren’t interested in buying it.
It would be a lot of work for Crate to make it balanced and fun at the same time, so I wouldn’t expect to see this as a DLC for a year or 2, maybe more (depending on what they have going on with GD and this game, and maybe another new game- and whether the global economy allows them to hire more devs and support staff).