From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishribbon developmentˈribbon deˌvelopment noun [countable, uncountable] British EnglishDHTBB long lines of houses along the sides of a main road leading out of a town or city
Examples from the Corpus
ribbon development• Two-thirds of the way down is Buchi Emecheta's house, built in the anonymous style of 1930s ribbon development.• These powers were permissive, and in most of Britain urban sprawl and ribbon development continued more or less unabated.• It can be the dreary horror of ribbon development.• Subsequent ribbon development has been so spectacular that they were booming even before the election announcement. 