Priority questions CAN be complicated to resolve, but the Counry Club Plaza is widely regarded (by both laypersons and SCHOLARS) as the first shopping center specifically designed to accomodate the automobile.  See, e.g., the following sources:  Evan McKenzie, Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government (Yale University Press, 1996). Robert Pearson and Brad Pearson, The J. C. Nichols Chronicle: The Authorized Story of the Man and His Company, 1880–1994 (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas). Sherry Lamb Shirmer, A City Divided: The Racial Landscape of Kansas City, 1900-1960. William S. Worley, J. C. Nichols and the Shaping of Kansas City: Innovation in Planned Residential Communities (Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1990). Questioning the factual accuracy of Wikipedia articles CAN be quite easy for laypersons unfamiliar with the nuances of the topic.