The Octagon, Dunedin

Central Dunedin is the central suburb and business district of the New Zealand city of Dunedin.

Dunedin ( (listen) duh-NEE-din; Māori: Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Scottish, Chinese and Māori heritage. With an estimated population of 130,400 as of June 2022, Dunedin is both New Zealand's seventh-most populous metro and urban area. For historic, cultural and geographic reasons the city has long been considered one of New Zealand's four main centres. The urban area of Dunedin lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the head of Otago Harbour, and the harbour and hills around Dunedin are the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the surrounding valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour and the Pacific Ocean. Archaeological evidence points to lengthy occupation of the area by Māori prior to the arrival of Europeans. The province and region of Otago takes its name from the Ngāi Tahu village of Otakou at the mouth of the harbour, which became a whaling station in the 1830s. In 1848 a Scottish settlement was established by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland and between 1855 and 1900 many thousands of Scots emigrated to the incorporated city. Dunedin's population and wealth boomed during the 1860s Central Otago Gold Rush, and for a brief period of time it became New Zealand's largest urban area. The city saw substantial migration from mainland China at the same time, predominately from Guangdong and Guangxi. Dunedin is home to New Zealand’s oldest Chinese community.Today Dunedin has a diverse economy which includes manufacturing, publishing, arts, tourism and technology-based industries. The mainstay of the city's economy remains centered around tertiary education, with students from the University of Otago, New Zealand's oldest university, and the Otago Polytechnic, accounting for a large proportion of the population; 21.6 per cent of the city's population was aged between 15 and 24 at the 2006 census, compared to the New Zealand average of 14.2 per cent. Dunedin is also noted for its vibrant music scene, as the 1980s birthplace of the Dunedin sound (which heavily influenced grunge, indie and modern alternative rock). In 2014 the city was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature.

Radio 4XO was a local radio station in Dunedin, New Zealand which began on 20 November 1971 as one of the first privately owned commercial radio stations in the country. The callsign/station identity 4XO was assigned because 4 meant the area of Otago, the X meant private (not a government station) and O stood for the province Otago. The station was originally known as "Radio Otago 4XO" and was always involved in local events and was one of Dunedin's most well-known and popular stations. Music played was from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s & 2000s with all announcers and voice overs local.

Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute is an adult education institute based in a heritage building in Dunedin, New Zealand. The private organisation provided classes and a library for members. Presently it operates a subscription lending library, and includes a basement theatre that has been operated by the Dunedin Collaborative Theatre Trust since 2016. The Athenaeum building is one of the oldest athenaeums in New Zealand still used for its original purpose, and is classified as a "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'") historic place by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, previously known as the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as the Regent Theatre.

The Dunedin Town Hall, also known as the Dunedin Centre, is a municipal building in the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. It is located in the heart of the city extending from The Octagon, the central plaza, to Moray Place through a whole city block. It is the seat of the Dunedin City Council, providing its formal meeting chamber, as well as a large auditorium and a conference centre. The oldest part of the building has been called the only substantial Victorian town hall still in existence in New Zealand.

St Paul's Cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin in New Zealand and the seat of the Bishop of Dunedin.

Dunedin Public Libraries is a network of six libraries and two bookbuses in Dunedin, New Zealand, owned and operated by the Dunedin City Council. The Libraries' collection includes over 700,000 items, and around 30,000 books and audiovisual items plus 15,000 magazines are added each year. Members can borrow or return items from any library or bookbus in the network.

Stuart Street is one of the main streets of Dunedin, New Zealand. As with many of Dunedin's streets, it is named after a main street in Edinburgh, Scotland. Stuart Street runs orthogonally to the city's main business district of George and Princes Streets, meeting them at The Octagon, the city's centre, where it is briefly interrupted by the Octagon itself. This divides Stuart Street into two separate streets, Upper Stuart Street and Lower Stuart Street.

Moray Place is an octagonal street which surrounds the city centre of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. The street is intersected by Stuart Street (to the east and west), Princes Street (to the south) and George Street (to the north). Like many streets in Dunedin, it is named for a street in the Scottish capital Edinburgh (Dùn Èideann itself is the Gaelic name of its Scottish sister city).

4ZB was an adult contemporary radio station in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The Rialto Cinema is a multiplex cinema located in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It was opened in 1998. The Rialto's location is a historic building in Moray Place, some 200 metres southwest of the city centre. The building was designed by noted architect Edmund Anscombe, and was first opened in 1916 as the Empire (later Empire DeLuxe) Theatre. With a 2,000 seat capacity, it was for a while New Zealand's second-largest cinema (after Auckland's St. James Theatre. The building was taken over during the 1920s by Thomas O'Brien, and extensively redesigned in a faux Moorish style, with a twinkling starry interior ceiling and minarets. In the late 1930s, the foyer was remodelled in the then popular Art Deco style.The cinema was operated as part of the Kerridge-Odeon chain of cinemas from the end of World War II until 1993. It was renamed as the St. James Theatre in 1952, undergoing major renovations at the same time, though parts of the earlier Moorish and Art Deco stylings were retained. In 1993 the cinema was closed, and was briefly operated as a nightclub and restaurant whilst a major overhaul was undertaken. The complex reopened as a three-screen multiplex (expanded to five then six in the second half of 2004) under its current name in 1998, at which time it became part of the Rialto Cinemas group. The new renovations by Walker Cinema Architects saw the restoration of much of the original interior including the starry ceiling in the main theatre, as well as the uncovering of several of the Moorish styled interior arches and wrought iron work.The building is listed as a Category I historic place in the registry of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. In the trust's registry it is noted for its elaborate interior features, and as a rare example of a surviving "atmospheric theatre". Several technological features or historic note are also listed. In its notes on its status as an Atmospheric Theatre, the trust indicate its "use of exotic historic architectural design themes to create the illusion of a romantic courtyard or amphitheatre, and... use of special concealed lighting effects to further the illusion... by creating a night sky effect on the ceiling of the auditorium. The illusion of the courtyard/amphitheatre was cleverly done by creating in plaster the design features of a pergola, such as classical or eastern columns with entablatures or architraves, and blind arcades, again in either classical or exotic eastern architectural forms.... [The structure includes] a ceiling of smooth plaster painted electric blue, and curved from behind the side walls without interruption or blemish. Onto this ceiling the illusion of a night sky was projected."