Kundarian Raisers
Kundar is a crowded city at the best of times, and the tall buildings looming over the narrow streets grant what little shade they can. Much of the upper stories however, were built as extensions from the ground floor, as it seemed impractical to build so high when so many stairs would make life very difficult.
Then came the Raisers.
Claimed to be invented by noble kobold merchant Makka Redscratch, any real history (of which there aren't many) would know that he was only taking the credit of one of his bright dragonborn warehouse labourers, Pratchen Urogar. She had worked out that crucial combination of pulleys, ropes and gears - each already used widely in the city separately - could be used together to create lifting platforms to make work much easier. Naturally, it is the kobold, not the dragonborn, who stands on the plinth of the statue raised in honour of the Raiser's invention.
No different than what one might see in a dwarven mine, Raisers are used in Kundar, several per street, to enable citizens to ascend to higher tiers of the city. Entire streets and markets take place atop the buildings - hotter in the direct sunlight, but less crowded and dusty. The wealthier and more privileged citizens of course have made sure to make some areas as exclusive as possible for this very purpose, walking with small parasols to keep off the sun as they shop.
Ultimately, when people marvel at the tall buildings of Kundar, they would not exist without the Raisers, which enabled a vertical expansion that tripled the capacity of the city - a capacity which Kundar has already nearly filled in the century they have existed.
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