[color=9f9f9f]I cannot wait to write with you all lol. It's a mix of everyone's answers. If you can picture the size that this outer ring has to be and then imagine living conditions like a gradient, you get a married version of the above speculation. Not all areas are as ill maintained as others and some places are probably not so terrible. But when everything is so crowded and there are just too many people and sometimes the city just feels like an endless maze of building that are infinitely tall, every street starts to feels like a dirty alleyway. There's too much trash and too many corners for people to hide in and eventually everything gets neglected. 

I wish I could find it but there's a scene in the film Blade Runner 2049 where K is returning to his apartment. The stairwell is trashy and there are people loitering inside that seem like drifters. It doesn't feel safe but it's still home to some.

[@vietmyke] interpretation of the difference between above and below ground is pretty spot on.[/color]

Visual aids:   [url=https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/004/900/545/4k/francis-tneh-pitch-pack-cyberpunk-downtown-final.jpg?1487085945][][/url]   [url=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ef/48/a0/ef48a04d4618b3e7f901beaab7032b11.jpg][][/url]   [url=https://64.media.tumblr.com/ef5f39b1905f9188506cc57bbfaa0dee/tumblr_mtcnbxpr2A1qdkeiao3_1280.jpg][][/url]   [url=https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/010/592/253/4k/rutger-van-de-steeg-cyberstreet2.jpg?1525226601][][/url]