This is the only way it can work. Walking makes natural sense in dense city centers, and the paths don't even have to be pretty. By all means, have ample roads and parking around the center so people can drive to it, but there's no reason people need to drive through it. Close 4 blocks, let businesses develop, then close more.

Just making the paths nice and other stuff mentioned in this article isn't enough if there's nowhere to go. A lot of the time, this effort only worsens traffic.