Will the shopping mall accomplish what the socialist city planners couldn't?

Today I stopped off at the Cafe Barcelona across the street for breakfast again before heading to the City Library. The owner was there (he seems to be there a lot in the mornings) and we started chatting again. It is clear he has a fair amount of Yugo-nostalgia. I got the feeling he was probably a young up an comer in the early 80s. He made the comment that after the transition from the old system to the new one everything people had ever done, all their hard work, was just wiped away. No one was given any credit for anything they did under the old system. That is a fair enough critique. Seems to be pretty common that after a transition like happened here, anyone who was seen as even tangentially benefiting from the old system (except for the people in just the right position at the right time) was viewed as suspect. So, upper middle level bureaucrats, like Racan, end up with successful political careers, but the young 20 somethings who were trying to make the system work at the end got nothing for their efforts.

Anyway, to the part of the conversation that struck me most, this guy says that he thinks "the center" (the square and the area around it) is losing it's pull on people. He thinks that fewer and fewer people are coming into the center because of the new, rather large, shopping malls that are being built around town. I have to admit, the one under Starcevic square (yes, it is actually under the square, it goes down about 4 floors underground and has a full sized bowling alley) is always packed. This guy's comment was "The malls have everything people want, they can buy anything and grab a bite to eat. Why come into the center?" Which raises the question in my mind, will these actually accomplish what the city planners couldn't do for 40 years? Since the early 60s the urban planners here were trying to create a city with multiple centers, one where people wouldn't feel pulled into the old center of town. Up until now they really haven't succeeded. Maybe the new mega-malls will keep people in their local areas though. I'm not sure, but we will see.