I don't know if it's generic, but in my town (Eindhoven, also NL), the argument is that a less car friendly city centre makes the shops harder to reach, encoura

I don't know if it's generic, but in my town (Eindhoven, also NL), the argument is that a less car friendly city centre makes the shops harder to reach, encouraging people from neighbouring towns to go elsewhere where it's faster to get to and cheaper to park. It's a reasonable argument that the city is now trying to address by making free parking on the city border plus a free bus into town.