It differs per area but the Urban Village strategy is popular. You take commerical areas with high usage and you zone them to allow higher FAR (Floor-Area Ratio) and to go taller for mixed use purposes. This adds a residential base in walking distance to the commercial center. Separately you add pedestrian and cyclist treatments to these centers and try to plug the village into a greater bus or light rail network. You also need to waive or significantly relax any minimum parking requirements, grandfathering in existing parking but allowing pedestrian and cyclist treatments to take precedence.

Take a look at Arizona's Cul-de-sac for a residential version of this approach.