Associate Prof Ben Wooliscroft, of the University of Otago marketing department, said at a community panel discussion this week the city centre was car-dominated and hostile to pedestrians.
The need to encourage walking, including among children going to school, and concerns about threats posed by heavy trucks were also highlighted during the 90-minute meeting.
Prof Wooliscroft was one of four panellists who discussed "Creating a people-friendly city", and what the city should look like in 20 years, at the Dunedin City Library gathering.
"We haven't got time to wait 20 years," he told more than 80 people present.
The dominance of cars meant pedestrians trying to cross George St were "in a pool of sharks between islands of safety".
Except for people with mobility challenges, walking should be given priority over other forms of transport.
People had a "human right" to walk, and "to move under our own steam".
New Zealand also faced major health challenges through rising obesity and diabetes, and quicker action was needed.
"We need to be brave. We need leadership," he said.
Fellow panellist and Dunedin city councillor Jim O'Malley said George St could not be closed to cars immediately, and there was a range of constraints, including legal requirements.
Fellow panellist and Dunedin City Council principal urban designer Kathryn Ward said she had "worked all over the world" and Dunedin's strong sense of community engagement in discussing its future was highly positive.
Otago Surveying School urban design lecturer and panellist Crystal Filep said Dunedin should consider a range of perspectives on e-scooters, and could learn from some overseas communities where attitudes had changed after the initial "shock" of introduction.
The meeting was organised by the Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa (NZ), and Victa trustee Lynley Hood, and was chaired by former environment minister Marion Hobbs.
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Comments
More like a sea of flounders — one has to be pretty slow not to be able to cross George St easily and safely.
He's attacking the wrong target. The real enemies of pedestrians are cyclists, scooters and skateboarders, all of whom are hard to see, hard to hear, ride at vastly differing speeds, and think they have a god-given right to be on the footpath.
Two small points:
If lime scooters are piranha's unleashed on pedestrians why did council approve them? Ms Bidrose is the public excuse maker for them. What is the council making out of them? Mr Cull or Ms Bidrose need to fess up. I really don't believe either are stupid, so there simply must be more than they are willing to publicly say.
My 2nd point will probably be lost on a 20-30 something academic urban designer. Dunedin has a very high proportion of elderly residents. They don't need roads closed to encourage them to walk further. They need accessible parking close to where they want to shop. If central Dunedin doesn't offer that then other areas will. Does the DCC really want to make the centre of the city a zone only for trendy tossers, cafes and bars? Yeah they probably do.
Threats posed by heavy trucks down the one way do exist. Pedestrians, cyclists, people exiting cars, have been killed on this stretch.
The panel proposing ideas in a city resistant to change don't deserve to be insulted as 'trendy', in the Muldoonist manner.
Take busses and other large vehicles off the main street, lower the speed limit to 15 km h, repave the whole thing in bricks if need be, and have a nice little shared pedestrian and vehicle area.
Removing cars completely is a bad idea, except for maybe bits of the Octagon.
And the next stage could be moving the Farmers market to George St! Excellent idea.
Get rid of cars in George Street, great idea - and especially Lime scooters! I love pedestrian areas, I enjoy them in many European cities.