Mostly because Americans don't like "old". We want the latest and greatest of everything and I don't necessarily think that it is a bad thing, but we do lose something of our past in the process sometimes.

In St. Petersburg, it is against the law to build any building taller than St. Isaac's Cathedral in the center of the city. It has been that way since the cathedral was built. Even the Gazprom Tower, which is now the tallest in Europe had to be placed outside the city limits.

As for drones, we have thousands of drone photography/video enthusiasts here. It is quite popular and has created some issues with government agencies on security issues. I recently edited an article about this regarding nuclear facilities here in Russia.