The new topography system looks like it is probably 10 steps forward and 2 steps backward. Overall, it looks like it improves on a lot of issues and is a better foundation for improvements moving forward, but it does have some problems.
One issue is that the new sub-divisions cannot recess into the topography. They can expand upward, which is wonderful, but we also need them to go down so we can better model things like roads and parking lots. We are still going to have to rely on splitting the topography to do this, which can cause tons of headaches, as we know from the previous system.