noun
back street; back alley; slums
Refers to narrow, often shabby streets or alleys away from main roads, sometimes with a connotation of poverty or disrepute.
彼は裏町の小さな飲み屋でよく見かける。
He is often seen at a small bar in the back streets.
裏町には古い長屋がまだ残っている。
Old tenement houses still remain in the back alleys.
路地 is a narrow alleyway or lane, often between buildings, without the strong connotation of poverty or shabbiness that 裏町 can carry.
Compound of 裏 (ura, 'back, rear') and 町 (machi, 'town, street'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since at least the Edo period to refer to side streets and poorer quarters.