This is a bit of a myth. Many (most?) American cities were designed before the car too. But urban planners in the 20th century went all in on cars and racism and demolished their central cities to to evict all the undesirables and replace them with car infrastructure.
Actually some European cities did this too, but many repaired them later. Still, it wasn’t as common because the racial stuff wasn’t in play and the central cities had way more historical significance.
Admittedly the sheer amount of suburban development we have today is going to be a challenge to roll back. In my view some of it may ultimately need to be abandoned but we’ll see how it plays out. See Detroit for an example.
This is a bit of a myth. Many (most?) American cities were designed before the car too. But urban planners in the 20th century went all in on cars and racism and demolished their central cities to to evict all the undesirables and replace them with car infrastructure.
Actually some European cities did this too, but many repaired them later. Still, it wasn’t as common because the racial stuff wasn’t in play and the central cities had way more historical significance.
Admittedly the sheer amount of suburban development we have today is going to be a challenge to roll back. In my view some of it may ultimately need to be abandoned but we’ll see how it plays out. See Detroit for an example.