Whether you like it or not - big cities are very representative of a country and often - whether you agree or not - are the windows into the nature of a country. I have travelled extensively and I am not a fan of big cities for a number of reasons - which may align, or not, with your reasons.
The fact remains though that the world sees France through Paris, and sees Australia through Sydney just like they see Italy through Rome and the UK through London. That is why people gravitate and migrate to those big cities and not some outback Australian town or some village in the Jura mountains.
Blame the Romans - they gave Europe some of its biggest cities and they probably just as bad back in the day.
