George Street, Dunedin Retail Quarter

George Street

Regenerating Dunedin’s Retail Quarter

A people-friendly destination

Ōtepoti Dunedin’s historic retail precinct, George Street, is undergoing its first makeover in over a generation — a 50,000sqm public realm upgrade designed to create a more people-friendly space, improving accessibility and transforming the experience of the inner city for visitors. Prompted by the need to replace aging infrastructure below the street, above-ground, the makeover is designed to regenerate the main street through reintroduction of nature, creating a distinctive and welcoming retail destination.

Accompanied by rearrangement of traffic to a one-way system, the safety, accessibility, cycling and pedestrian amenity of George Street is in the process of being transformed to improve the area’s appeal as a destination for shopping and leisure. The design celebrates Dunedin’s bicultural heritage, with a particular focus on revealing mana whenua history and cultural values and stories of the area’s early occupation through public art, new planting, pavements and furniture.

Greening the streetscape

George Street aims to create a green network of trees and plants within the central city to reduce carbon emissions and restore habitats for birds and insects. New street trees will provide a balance of sunlight and shade over permanent seating interspersed along the footpaths. New rainwater gardens will contribute to stormwater improvements, with biodiverse planting species adding seasonal variation. The project will restore a quality and character reflective of Dunedin’s identity as “one of the world’s great small cities.”