Ever since ditching car culture and joining the urbanist cause (on the internet at least but that has to change), I’ve noticed that some countries always top the list when it comes to good urbanism. The first and most oblivious one tends to be The Netherlands but Germany and Japan also come pretty close. But that’s strange considering that both countries have huge car industries. Germany is (arguably) the birthplace of the car (Benz Patent-Motorwagen) and is home to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Japan is home to Toyota, Honda, Nissan and among others. How is it that these countries have been able to keep the auto lobby at bay and continue investing in their infrastructure?
Many cities is europe expanded beyond their medieval borders. Their cities are built better because they are designed better and more thoughtfully. The American methods is more like a cookie cutter, just place the same things anywhere they can fit.
Europe is better designed because people actually took the time to plan their cities, not just because they are old.
Europe is generally planned according to 1000 year old desire paths.