"It gives buffer space to avoid living with your neighbors (eg. seeing, hearing everything that happens in their apartment). It reduces noise reverberation." T

"It gives buffer space to avoid living with your neighbors (eg. seeing, hearing everything that happens in their apartment). It reduces noise reverberation." This can be solved by technical means (employing the needed construction materials). "I can tell you that if narrower streets can be cute, they also let less light go in the building, and can be stressful when too crowded." If by "crowded" you're not referring to the actual amount of people on the streets but rather to the ambient feeling, then this is solved by requirements on the building architecture level. On narrow streets each floor higher then the 2nd should take a little bit less space than the one underneath it. This allows more light and gives a spacious feeling on the street level, even if the space there stays the same.