To me the issue is keeping my feet in contact with the pedals.
Bumps and such frequently jar one foot or the other off of it's pedal. You have to be careful when that happens or you'll bark your shin. When I make short trips on my beater bike I use whatever shoes I happen to have on. Certainly, however, if the trip is going to be longer than around 3 miles I'll take the time to switch into SPD shoes.
The vast, vast majority of my riding is done using Shimano SPD pedals and cleated shoes. I tend to be a restaurant-to-restaurant rider so I do a significant amount of walking off of the bike. In well over a decade I haven't encountered the shoe sole wearing issue that europa reports.