You've not thought about this for very long, but almost instantly replied to me as if I'm trying to argue with you.
Why do people base their life upon work? Moving closer to where jobs are. This isn't a thing people do because they want to but because they need to. Because capitalism demands it.
Universities don't need proximity, as evidenced by the UK's largest and arguably most left wing university in the country. But again, people move close to them because of a sense of need, not want.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University
Recreation, do rural people not have recreation? Many recreational centres being in cities is due to the centralisation of populations. It's perfectly viable to have recreational venues spread across an area when the chase of profit is no longer the driving goal.
Grocery stores, lol.
I'm not saying cities will disappear or that there will be no need for them. But there's certainly no need for countries like the UK to have over 10% of the population within one city and over 80% of the entire population living in urban environments. It results in misery, mass pollution, unsustainable practices as everything must be transported, and as you originally noted, issues with enforcement of civility.
Cities will forever be a thing in human society I'm sure, but current cities are an abomination due to the constant centralisation of power and wealth. Never before has human civilisation been so centralised into so few places and it has created a myriad of problems. It's time for a change on our perspectives beyond the constant chase of wealth, there's plenty to go around if it weren't hoarded by a select few as our current system enables.