And, if the initiative is well received, more of the miniature public spaces could be rolled out across the rest of the central city, Dunedin City Council staff say.
The initiative is part of the council's wider proposed $60million central city upgrade, but has been brought forward following changes to the city's bus service.
The opening of the new bus hub, and the rejigging of existing routes to service it, has freed up some old bus stops across the city for new uses.
Some of the redundant bus stops were being converted into a mixture of car parks, mobility and "authorised vehicles only" spaces, but others would provide space for new parklets, beginning on George St.
Council principal urban designer Kathryn Ward said five parklets were planned along George St to begin with.
The project was going through a procurement process at the moment, meaning costs could not yet be divulged, but the parklets were expected to be installed from July.
They would provide small public spaces next to footpaths to improve amenity values in the central city.
That could include new seating, tree or shrub plantings, public art or bicycle park spaces, with a "high-quality" finish, she said.
They would not occupy existing car parks in the central city, she stressed.
The parklets would be fabricated off site using a range of materials - including steel and wood - before being installed, and were designed to be relocated if needed.
Public consultation on the council's annual plan had already shown public support for such developments, she believed.
"It's something that people have said they want to see, so we've responded to that."
The concept of parklets emerged in San Francisco and had since developed into something of a "global phenomenon", she said.
In Dunedin, a slightly larger version - a pocket park developed outside the Captain Cook Hotel - had already proved popular, she said.
The $100,000 project was funded by the University of Otago and designed and project-managed by the council.
The new parklets now being planned would be smaller, but a welcome addition to the central city, she believed.
"These new pop-up green spaces are something I feel passionately that we should do more of in Dunedin - stop the world becoming a concrete jungle.
"It's something we want to start doing everywhere in the CBD."
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Comments
Why can't they say how much money they will be wasting on these parkletts . Why not give these spaces to the cars make a few extra parks even save some money Nah not the DCC way. Why would they care about the car driver who can't find a park anymore.
And just where in the 10 year plan is this idea? The funding is already in place is it or are they just going to divert more money from drainage budgets?
DCC just using any excuse to hinder traffic flow in their twisted view that people don't need cars. A truly myopic council who don't care how much council money is wasted on thought bubbles.
Finally I thought we were going to get back some of the many carparks that have been done away with in the central city. But now it seems that is not what we are getting at all - at least not to the extent we should. And where is the money coming from for this whimsy?
'She must have gone to San Francisco, she must have lost her way'.
~ Mark Lyndsay, "Arizona".
Take a walk down there it's actually pretty nice, people sit there and eat their lunch or have a coffee and a chat. Probably only a couple of car parks could go there anyway and access would be a problem I reckon.