This kind of question doesn't really have a right or wrong answer; it's all up to personal preferences and intended use case. I've been using clipless about 20 years, starting with combi pedals (like in the OP's picture) and currently having SPD-SL for my road bike and both dual-sided and combi SPDs for my gravel bike.

The most decisive thing, in my opinion, is what is meant by "driving around the city". Or specifically, does the use of the bike involve walking around (like doing the groceries). If yes, then road pedals (SPD-SL etc.) and shoes are a no-go. They are awful to walk with and at least the plastic SPD-SL cleats wear very quickly if you walk any longer distances. On the other hand, if your friend only needs to drive in the city to get to his favourite countryside road, then, like DoNuT writes in a comment, road pedals will likely be what he ends up having, even if he starts with something else.

Many people (me included) start with combis because they are not sure if they want to commit to clipless and they are afraid of falling. But I don't think they are very good for that purpose. If you are using clipless, you need to learn the unclipping ankle-twisting movement as a reflex. And when you have it as a reflex, it's practically no slower than putting your leg to ground from flat pedals. I've had my share of falls due to failing to unclip, but it never happened because of emergency braking. In all cases the problem was that I was applying power to pedals, and you can't unclip in such situation. The prototypical case is that you go uphill and realise you have too big gear, try to grind to the top, but lose all momentum and start falling. At that point you must stop trying to pedal to be able to unclip, but stopping to pedal in steep uphill feels counterintuitive. On the other hand, if somebody opens their car door in front of you, you'll try to brake and you only need to unclip when you've stopped. At that point you don't try to pedal and unclipping is easy (you still need to have the basic reflex, but you don't need to fight against your instincts of trying to continue pedalling).

Using the flat side of combi pedals with clipless shoes is also not great. Cycling shoes that meant to be used with clipless MTB pedals tend to have quite hard rubber at their bottom (perhaps to protect the cleat) and because of the cleat, there is not that much rubber to start with. That means that the flat side of the pedal can be quite slippery, making the combination less safe than being clipped (your shoe slipping off the pedal when braking is no fun). I'm sure there are some shoes that don't have this problem, but you definitely need to check before buying.

Combi pedals have their uses. If your friend intends to use his bike with clipless shoes (say, for exercise) and with normal shoes (say, for doing the groceries), I'd go for combi. That's one of the reasons why I have combi pedals. If your friend plans some walking (say, commuting where he can switch to normal shoes at work), then MTB-style clipless can be a good choice. But if the road bike is primarily for riding in roads, and the city part is only the necessary evil to get to and from those roads, then, as said, I would go with road pedals.

This kind of question doesn't really have a right or wrong answer; it's all up to personal preferences and intended use case. I've been using clipless for about 20 years, starting with combi pedals (like in the OP's picture) and currently have SPD-SL for my road bike and both dual-sided and combi SPDs for my gravel bike.

The most decisive thing, in my opinion, is what is meant by "driving around the city". Or specifically, does the use of the bike involve walking around (like doing the groceries). If yes, then road pedals (SPD-SL etc.) and shoes are a no-go. They are awful to walk in and at least the plastic SPD-SL cleats wear very quickly if you walk any long distances. On the other hand, if your friend only needs to ride in the city to get to his favourite countryside road, then, as DoNuT writes in a comment, road pedals will likely be what he ends up having, even if he starts with something else.

Many people (me included) start with combis because they are not sure if they want to commit to clipless and they are afraid of falling. But I don't think they are very good for that purpose. If you are using clipless, you need to learn the unclipping ankle-twisting movement as a reflex. And when you have it as a reflex, it's practically no slower than putting your leg to the ground from flat pedals. I've had my share of falls due to failing to unclip, but it never happened because of emergency braking. In all cases the problem was that I was applying power to the pedals, and you can't unclip in such a situation. The prototypical case is that you are going uphill and realise you are in too big a gear, try to grind to the top, but lose all momentum and start falling. At that point you must stop trying to pedal to be able to unclip, but stopping pedalling on a steep hill feels counterintuitive. On the other hand, if somebody opens their car door in front of you, you'll try to brake and you only need to unclip when you've stopped. At that point you're not trying to pedal and unclipping is easy (you still need to have the basic reflex, but you don't need to fight against your instincts of trying to continue pedalling).

Using the flat side of combi pedals with clipless shoes is also not great. Cycling shoes that meant to be used with clipless MTB pedals tend to have quite hard rubber at their bottom (perhaps to protect the cleat) and because of the cleat, there is not that much rubber to start with. That means that the flat side of the pedal can be quite slippery, making the combination less safe than being clipped (your shoe slipping off the pedal when braking is no fun). I'm sure there are some shoes that don't have this problem, but you definitely need to check before buying.

Combi pedals have their uses. If your friend intends to use his bike with clipless shoes (say, for exercise) and with normal shoes (say, for doing the groceries), I'd go for combi. That's one of the reasons why I have combi pedals. If your friend plans some walking (say, commuting where he can switch to normal shoes at work), then MTB-style clipless can be a good choice. But if the road bike is primarily for riding on roads, and the city part is only the necessary evil to get to and from those roads, then, as said, I would go with road pedals.