[shovel_ready]

I generally agree with Jaroslaw's above points, though there is one thing that needs to be clear here.

Modernist city planning and modernist architectural design are two different things. Using the Tokyo and Seoul examples about, a city can be full of modern-style buildings that easily conform to classical/human scale proportions. Just as easy, a centerless sprawling area can be full of buildings that badly try to emulate historic architectural elements.

It's the modernist planning which is the bad part. Things like: sterile plazas, parking lots, poorly-built/ disposable one-story buildings, highway ramps, extremely wide roads built to accommodate only car traffic, are what makes a city a dreadful place to be.

I think trying to regulate architecture is a rather slippery slope. Setting parameters for urban deign is great: setbacks, height limits, ect., architects excel best when given a context to work with. But NEVER try to dictate style, you'll end up with the most banal, lowest-common-denominator crap possible.