Climate variance works both ways, and I'm not sure which side is more important. For example harsh winters and big temperature differences make maintenance of

Climate variance works both ways, and I'm not sure which side is more important. For example harsh winters and big temperature differences make maintenance of motorways significantly more expansive compared to railways and walking paths. Hence you have trans-siberian rail but no trans-siberian motorway network. Also Netherlands did car-centric design in 50s. Then they stopped and reverted it because they realized it sucked.