If Ukraine and Bulgaria can have very livable cities I don't think it's a stretch for developing countries to have them. It's much more expensive to keep resurf

If Ukraine and Bulgaria can have very livable cities I don't think it's a stretch for developing countries to have them. It's much more expensive to keep resurfacing streets and roads over and over due to the immense amount of car traffic that an undeveloped public transportation system pushes to. What costs are you talking about? There's nothing too expensive about doing decent urban planning in line with the resources you currently have, it's much more a question of follow-through on long-term plans than absolute cost of implementation... The issue is much deeper and nuanced than cost, it's corruption, it's short-sighted politics due to populism and uneducated populations, etc.