It's the way city planners think, nationwide and worldwide.
They are control freaks, plain and simple.
They can justify all their actions with opinion polls, ivory-tower "studies" and sky-is-falling Armageddon doomsday prophesies such as globull warning, peak oil and such.
And they don't pay any attention to the dissidents who will be paying--in time, inconvenience and tax money--for all the misconceived and misdirected "improvements" to urban life that are foisted on them.
Why should they, when most of the big-city (and even small-town in some areas of the country) politicians find themselves in full agreement with the APA's policy agenda.
Here is one small sample of their freaking thinking, and there are plenty more where this came from:
I know what’ll fix it!
“Bike Pooling”.
Mandatory tandem bikes. 2 people, 1 bike space. Problem solved.
Where’s my study money?