Incremental Development
This pattern is shaped by
Problem
When development happens all at once — a master-planned subdivision, a block demolished and rebuilt, a tower inserted into a neighborhood — the result is a monoculture. Every building is the same age, the same style, built by the same developer for the same market. The neighborhood has no variety, no depth, no ability to serve different incomes or life stages.
Evidence and Discussion
The most beloved neighborhoods in every city share a trait: they were built incrementally, by many hands, over many decades. Each generation added to what the last one built. The variety of building ages, styles, and scales creates visual richness, economic diversity (older buildings are cheaper), and resilience (different buildings serve different needs).
Therefore
allow and encourage neighborhoods to develop incrementally — one lot at a time, over decades, by many different builders. Prefer small developers, owner-builders, and cooperative housing over master-planned developments. Allow existing buildings to be expanded, subdivided, and adapted rather than requiring demolition for change. Welcome the variety that comes from many hands: the neighborhood where a 1945 bungalow sits beside a 2020 laneway house beside a 1970 duplex is richer, more affordable, and more resilient than any planned community.