I have also written about this elsewhere...
In front of the children’s school, eight building plots were sold by the city; there used to be another school building there. First, one half was sold, where there are now four single-family houses. Then the other half (here the street probably had to be officially designated first). Here stands a top-class single-family house, everything was ready from the start, and there are two off-road vehicles with a star in the garage. And a developer acquired the other three plots and built semi-detached houses. There really is only the setback area maintained, with just enough length at the front for a parking space. None of these homeowners needs a lawnmower.
The state can of course collect a lot of real estate transfer tax this way; each semi-detached house half cost 400k€. Surely the city also collects more property tax than with the single-family houses...
Another plot, in my district and actually just right for a single-family house with a nice garden, was now built with two single-family houses. Here too, setback strips and space for cars in front, nothing more. I think two parties joined forces here; there is no developer behind it. But financial reasons surely also led to this.