Although European cities do exists for way longer, for most cities, that's only true for the small city center. The larger newer parts have been built in about the same period as most USA cities: the 19th and 20th century. Since the 1940s the car has become the dominant mode of transportation in European cities as well, and particularly up till the early 1970s new city planning was quite car focused. You can still see that today by these large multi-lane roads through heavily populated areas in cities. But also a lot of industrial parks have been setup with only cars in mind. In the meanwhile these choices are in the process of being reverted by limiting through car traffic, adding bike lines, sidewalks, more green areas, and so on.