Cities generally include a gradient of density and uses from highest density and most commercial uses at the center, to the lowest density and most residential uses at the outer fringes. As with the bullseye on a target, these outer rings occupy much greater land area than the center. The fabric of cities is interrupted as they grow because even in the United States, these structures have a service life that far outlasts the city's growing density and use gradients. Homes in these outer rings increase in monetary value, while their contribution to the urban fabric and value to the city diminishes.
The primary function of local government is to provide the best infrastructure they can for their communities, though the close-in post-modern suburbs of the 20th century leave gaps of lower density near the urban core, making everything from streets, utilities, public transport and employment less efficient and thus more costly for everyone. Ring roads are built, satellite cities develop, and in time sprawling metropolises will see redevelopment of these areas of lower density.
The service life of 20th century construction is not the only laggard in the life cycle of cities, there are important social factors to consider as well. Many people don't like to see change around them, particularly when it brings more people, more noise, and higher costs. The challenge, is that this happens primarily because the urban density gradient has already been interrupted.
Sideflats units enable these inefficient tracts of desirable land to better serve the urban construct and increase the efficiency of the overall system - using complimentary building materials for complimentary uses. If a city continues to grow, values will eventually outpace the use and new development will come along, though for a few generations following installation, Sideflats presents a solution for cities and neighborhoods to patch the holes in this density gradient with benefits to be felt by the entire city for decades to come.
