After having spent a month in Russia, another large country with significant distance between cities, it appears they have solved the problem. Instead of building out, they've built dense vertical cities where everything you need is within close walking distance. And around 40% of Russians have a dacha, or 'summer house', located in enclaves within pubic transit distance from their city where they can stretch their feet and/or work the soil.
My guess at the reasons Russian cities developed this way is due to central planning and costs to build and maintain roads. Now, I'm not advocating central planning. The reasons suburbs exploded were due to the subsidization of once unaccessible land by the federal government via interstates. Take away the pricing distortions from land and we'll have to build up. A solution to this is market based - sell of the interstate system and let users fund them.
My guess at the reasons Russian cities developed this way is due to central planning and costs to build and maintain roads. Now, I'm not advocating central planning. The reasons suburbs exploded were due to the subsidization of once unaccessible land by the federal government via interstates. Take away the pricing distortions from land and we'll have to build up. A solution to this is market based - sell of the interstate system and let users fund them.