Notable exception being Tokyo
Ironically, if you look NYC in the 1910s, kids used to play baseball in the street because it wasn't yet overrun by cars, suddenly not enough space for kids, so move to the suburbs, which means more and more cars...
Plenty of other data shows the same thing. Racism is very much a part of what built suburban america in the large even if it doesn't apply to you or your family personally.
Today, it usually isn't about racism, it's mostly just continuing status-quo trends without question. But it's important to not put the initial motivation of those trends up on a pedestal.
Modern suburbs were created by central policy in many ways; the FHA wouldn't underwrite loans for properties with small lots or in mixed-use areas.
If we want to give people the option of living without cars then let's start by fixing our cities.
And before someone throws out some nonsense politics. I live in the inner city (less than a mile to downtown) in a west coast major city. I can count several neighbors on my block, people who've lived here decades, who are leaving due to crime / rampant drug use.
I would suggest people making this claim learn about the difference between correlation and causality.
And then look at El Salvador. It is incredibly clear that increased incarceration lowers crime.
The fact that the japanese in general have no children at all makes this notable exception not be one at all. Humans are not meant to live on top of one another. To me the correlation between fertility and urbanization is a clear sign that living on the burbs is a plus for quality of life and the perpetuation of the human race. Cars are just a necessary tool for being a human in 2023.
what modern skyscapers are doing wrong is putting in only large-footprint high-end retail (like department stores) on the street level, or nothing at all. A zoning change to require small retail stalls at the street level would go a long way to making cities more livable. And all those people living upstairs generate a lot of foot traffic to help all sorts of businesses thrive. (what I'm talking about overall is what makes midtown NY so unpleasant compared to other NYC neighborhoods)
...is not mandating proper insulation/noise-proofing.
Near the subway, and surrounded by historical buildings and nice architecture ... where an apartment usually costs an exorbitant price.
It's not that it's very expensive to build (well, it's not cheap either), it's that there's so little supply and so much demand.
There's more urban dwelling options than just skyscraper.
Low Japanese fertility appears to be a product of their work culture; you don't have time to go on dates if you leave the office at 10pm.