Take a look at QR image in the post. I haven't seen a QR code in the first world that carries more data, especially not a printed one. It's doubtful they're optimizing for poor cameras or printers any more than is done in the first world, and to be clear, in the first world we still have to optimize for poor cameras and printers.

Decreasing the message size while improving security would obviously be ideal and most likely quite achievable, but there are plenty of wealthy municipalities in the US who don't exactly cover themselves in honor in similar situations.

While I'm not at all saying it's illegitimate to speculate on wealth disparities as a cause, in this case I think it's lazy to call this a "third world issue", even with speculation up to 100.