The depiction of London in In to Darkness.

And they bloody love a good cathedral. XD

 

You aren't taking into account the Eugenics Wars and World War III.

Kor

 

most of the world's cities were destroyed. it stands to reason they weren't rebuilt as identical copies. Christopher Wren didnt design london to be a carbon copy after it was rebuilt the last time.

 

Strangely I actually liked the visualization that I beleave was shot in Beverly Hills where we first see Benedict Cumberbatchc that was done with a bit of Panache and felt like the edge of London despite where it was shot.
Central London seemed to cramp the designers styles and was based more on all the worst traits of current building practice.rather than an enlightened vision of the future where we have learned to create better public spaces.
rather than simply crush tall buildings as close together as possible.

I would expect beter than that in 200 years time.

 

It was downtown Los Angeles, not Beverly Hills. Specifically, this building:

https://laloftrental.com/property/sb-spring/

 

Ah yes. I should have known that, because I've been to the Greystone Mansion several times. I thought he was referring to the Kelvin Archive scene.

 

People surviving after a World War might have a different point of view than us in our ivory towers.

Also, the Federation has very organized structuring according to Spock in TOS:
SPOCK: There are many who are uncomfortable with what we have created. It is almost a biological rebellion. A profound revulsion against the planned communities, the programming, the sterilised, artfully balanced atmospheres.

If you are expecting better then perhaps it is best to look elsewhere than TOS era.

 

On the other hand, perhaps the megapolis skyscapes we see are the historical relics, carefully preserved remembrances of the bad old days. Modern Feds live in "artfully balanced" environs, but they also take care to preserve some of the old, as monuments of monstrosity. And many, fed up with the "balancing" just like Sevrin's followers were, volunteer to actually live inside these monuments for the thrill...

Timo Saloniemi

 

Especially if, as I've always suspected, the Vulcans helped in the rebuilding.

 

In theory, assuming they stand by arcane rules 250 years from now, the OP is right. Buuuut... as others have said, Earth in Star Trek's future has gone through a bunch of wars between now and then, and no doubt a lot of rebuilding and social change. Consider the monumental way London and some of her landmarks were redesigned and rethought almost from the ground up following the great fire of 1666, and consider how that could be applied to a 'post nuclear horror' world.

 

I love it when they show future Earth and especially when it isn't limited to the USAmerica. I wish we could see a glimpse of Uhura's "United States of Africa" too.

 

It's all rich white people in gated communities now

 

My main gripe with how London was depicted was how super generic it was.

Like, everything just filled with supersized skyscrapers. Really? That's it? This is how any random city in any random futuristic setting would be depicted. But London is a city with lots and lots of history. You could be sure that the London of the future would look both completely different than today, but also still very recognizable as "London". The same holds also true for Paris in "Discovery" btw. (I'm kinda' okay with San Francisco, because that's a more "recent" city, but for most European cities I expect the historical centers to remain largely recognizable, and any futuristic superstructures more build around them).

I think it was done better on television, for example when TNG depicted Paris, or ENT San Francisco. Funnily enough probably simply out of a lack of a larger budget - but in those cases the cities looked both very futuristic, but still very familiar.

 

Prefabricated cites.