  We introduce a generalized version of the Causal Dynamical Triangulations
(CDT) formulation of quantum gravity, in which the regularized, triangulated
path integral histories retain their causal properties, but do not have a
preferred proper-time foliation. An extensive numerical study of the associated
nonperturbative path integral in 2+1 dimensions shows that it can nevertheless
reproduce the emergence of an extended de Sitter universe on large scales, a
key feature of CDT quantum gravity. This suggests that the preferred foliation
normally used in CDT is not a crucial (albeit convenient) part of its
background structure.
