(I'm just having fun thinking about the comparison, nothing too directed at your statement as I also agree with that)
Both pictures contain the same amount of people, but there is likely three more shops around the shop in the below picture which all fit in the same space as the upper one, one of which is probably also not as crowded. Also, there are at least 30 apartments in that area as well as other shops and it has worked like that for centuries, if not a millennium