The part where they're required to build these lots virtually always results in subsidized parking. Yes, technically you could charge for spots, and then they wouldn't be subsidized, but in practice that's so much effort that it's much easier to just let the spots be free. For most businesses, running a paid parking scheme involves too much overhead to be worth it.
> This causes congestion (cars circling trying to find parking) and makes going to these areas less pleasant.
Then the city can charge; since they'd be doing it in many areas (and many cities already charge for this anyway in a section of their core), it's much less of a burden for them to do it than for individual businesses.
> How do these other countries deal with the lack of parking?
In Tokyo, you can't buy/register a car unless you can prove you have an off-street space.
> I think simply suggesting better public transportation and redesigned cities does not solve problems that people are having right now.
Well yeah, actually implementing those things is what's important.