Because they are out of touch rich city people and think that is what everyone wants.

It's an ideology that stretches back to the Roman times; To fear the forest. They feared outside they city bounds, where the unknown was. It was mostly forests and rural landscapes; ie "trackless forest and swamps". While it is common to fear the unknown, especially if people leave for there and never come back, it was always important to attract people to a city and encourage them not to leave, even by use of fear tactics. A dwindling city had dwindling tax revenue and dwindling conscripts for their armies.