Hi Terrence, and welcome!
I'm not sure about the "urban warrens" thing, or at least if that description does justice to the point of the exercise. In very warm climates it's all about creating shade for those living in close confines, so it's hardly surprising that the "warren" town planning model proved so endurable in that region of the world (and elsewhere). That said, where cities have expanded beyond their ancient confines in the same areas, I see no great antipathy towards modern building practices, modern street planning, and as much use of modern amenities and services as the local economy permits.
I agree with you however if your point is take the focus away from monumental structures if one wants to get any kind of an impression about what life was like for the ordinary person - who, after all, has always been in the great majority in any culture. Egypt offers many such glimpses, most notably at Thebes and the various domestic compounds/towns found in the region of the Valley of the Kings. Some of these reveal evidence of quite detailed forward planning and skill in construction, obviously by the very same architects and workforce engaged in the bigger projects nearby, which in itself says something about the nature of the relationship between the aristocracy and the commoner during most of Egypt's dynastic periods. The extent to which the former ran the show and monopolised the resources (including labour) leaving everyone else to make do with the scraps used to be the big question for Egyptologists and historians in the past. These days we tend to reverse the emphasis within that symbiotic relationship and regard it more as a well run society in which labour could be expended as a surplus for the benefit of that aristocracy, and in fact the huge social commitment to what might otherwise have been termed "vanity projects" might in fact have been something of a linchpin activity creatively and practically that kept all the more subsistence type projects society ultimately depended upon well serviced with funding, skills and commitment too.
And one of the greatest proofs indeed of that well-oiled system producing innovation in design with a labour force motivated and skilled enough to bring it all to fruition may in fact have been the very "urban warrens" to which you referred. For people who were largely laying down the first principles of city planning they certainly came up with a model that could hardly be bettered for millennia to come.
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