Car-free zones are pretty common in German cities. My hometown has a really nice and fairly big one with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, and other businesses

Car-free zones are pretty common in German cities. My hometown has a really nice and fairly big one with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, and other businesses. It's a bit like an outdoor mall in the US, except that it's a real city where you can live (shops tend to be on the ground floor, apartments on the upper floors).