The Town Belt is a green belt

Green belt

A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...

 which surrounds the centre of the New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 city of Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

. Covering a total of over 200 hectares (494.2 acre), it extends around three sides of the city's centre at a distance from it of some 1-3 km (0.6-1.8 mi) in a broad 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) crescent from the Oval at Kensington in the south through the suburbs of Mornington

Mornington, Otago

Mornington is a suburb of the city of Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated on hilly slopes to the west of the city centre, the slopes forming part of a ridge which surrounds the heart of the city....

, City Rise

City Rise

City Rise is an inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. One of the city's older suburbs, it is, as its name suggests, centred on the slopes which lie close to the city centre, particularly those closest to the city's original heart of The Exchange...

, Belleknowes, Roslyn

Roslyn, Otago

Roslyn is a major residential and retail suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located above the city centre on the ridge which runs in a crescent around the central city's western edge. It is to the northwest of the city centre, immediately above the Town Belt. Roslyn's 2001...

, Maori Hill

Maori Hill

Maori Hill is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located at the northern end of the ridge which runs in a crescent around the central city's western edge, to the northwest of the city centre, immediately above and within the Town Belt...

, Prospect Park, Glenleith, Woodhaugh, The Gardens and Dunedin North

Dunedin North

Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, located to the northeast of the city centre. It contains many of the city's major institutions, including the city's university, polytechnic, main hospital, and largest museum...

 and the slopes of Signal Hill

Signal Hill, New Zealand

Signal Hill is a prominent landform in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located close to, and due north of, the head of the Otago Harbour and reaches an elevation of 393 m . The suburbs Ravensbourne, St. Leonards, and Opoho lie on its southern, eastern, and northwestern flanks, respectively...

. The fourth side of the central city is bounded by the Otago Harbour

Otago Harbour

Otago Harbour is the natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, from the harbour mouth...

.

One of the world's oldest green belts, the Town Belt was planned in Scotland at the time of the advent of the Otago

Otago

Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...

 settlement in 1848. Residential areas outside the belt became separate boroughs, and were not amalgamated with Dunedin until much later. The town belt now forms a break between the city's inner and outer suburbs. The belt was originally a combination of native bush

The Bush

"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...

 and scrubland, but is now largely replanted forest and open parkland. Many species of plant can be found in the belt, including tree fuchsia, lemonwood

Lemonwood

Lemonwood is the African highlynd tree Xymalos monospora. It can also refer to:* Calycophyllum candidissimum , a South and Central American tree* Pittosporum eugenioides , a New Zealand tree...

, lancewood

Lancewood

Lancewood may refer to the following:*Lancewood , a tough, elastic and heavy wood obtained from the West Indies and Guiana.Lancewood can also refer to several trees whose wood was traditionally used for lance making:...

, manuka

Manuka

Manuka can refer to:*The flowering plant Leptospermum scoparium *Manuka, Canberra, an area in the Australian Capital Territory, named after the plant*Manuka Oval, a stadium in the above territory...

, and broadleaf, and the forested area is home to many species of birds, including some uncommon and endangered species such as the kereru

Kereru

The New Zealand Pigeon or kererū is a bird endemic to New Zealand. Māori call it Kererū in most of the country but kūkupa and kūkū in some parts of the North Island, particularly in Northland...

, eastern rosella

Eastern Rosella

The Eastern Rosella is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania. It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.-Taxonomy:The Eastern Rosella was named by...

, bellbird

Bellbird

Bellbird is a name given to several kinds of bird, noted for their far-carrying bell-like call:* Neotropical bellbirds * Crested Bellbird * New Zealand Bellbird...

, tomtit

Tomtit

The Tomtit, Petroica macrocephala, is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australian robins. It is endemic to the islands of New Zealand, ranging across the main islands as well as several of the outlying islands. It has several other English names as well. There are several...

, tui

Tui (bird)

The tui is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand. It is one of the largest members of the diverse honeyeater family....

, rifleman

Rifleman (bird)

The Rifleman is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the Acanthisittidae family, also known as the New Zealand wrens, of which it is one of only two surviving species...

, morepork, and shining cuckoo, and kotare.

A long, narrow road, Queens Drive, winds along much of the length of the belt and provides easy access to it for Dunedinites. Queens Drive is linked to many of the city's main streets, including Stuart Street

Stuart Street, Dunedin

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....

 and High Street. Numerous walkways lead through the bush and parks, and the belt is a popular recreation area for Dunedinites.

The Town Belt includes many open areas and parks, including the Kensington Oval, Dunedin Southern Cemetery

Dunedin Southern Cemetery

The Southern Cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin was the first major cemetery to be opened in the city. The cemetery was opened in 1858, ten years after the founding of the city in an area known as "Little Paisley"...

, Montecillo Ground, Unity Park, Mornington Ground, Jubilee Park, Belleknowes Golf Course, Robin Hood Park, Littlebourne Ground, Prospect Park, Woodhaugh Gardens, the North Ground, Dunedin Botanic Gardens

Dunedin Botanic Gardens

The Dunedin Botanical Gardens are located at the northern end of central Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. They are located close to the University of Otago and one of the city's most historic cemeteries, the Northern Cemetery, on a spur of Signal Hill and on the river plain immediately...

, Dunedin Northern Cemetery

Dunedin Northern Cemetery

The Dunedin Northern Cemetery is a major historic cemetery in the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located close to Lovelock Avenue on a spur of Signal Hill close to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens and the suburb of Opoho, overlooking Dunedin North and Logan Park. The site was set aside in...

, Logan Park

Logan Park, Dunedin

Logan Park is a sporting venue in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It lies on land reclaimed from the former Lake Logan.- History :Lake Logan was reclaimed in the early 20th century...

, and the University Oval.

Notable buildings and structures in the belt include Moana Pool

Moana Pool

Moana Pool is the largest swimming pool in the southern half of New Zealand's South Island. It is located at the corner of Littlebourne Road and Upper Stuart Street close to Otago Boys' High School, on the slopes of Roslyn, overlooking the centre of the city of Dunedin.The largest of Dunedin's four...

, Olveston

Olveston (house)

Olveston is a substantial house in an inner suburb of Dunedin, New Zealand. It was built between 1904 and 1907 for a wealthy merchant David Theomin, . He had originally emigrated to New Zealand from the village of Olveston, South Gloucestershire, England...

, Otago Boys' High School

Otago Boys' High School

Otago Boys' High School is one of New Zealand's oldest boys' secondary schools, located in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. It was founded on 3 August 1863 and moved to its present site in 1885. The main building was designed by Robert Lawson and is regarded as one of the finest Gothic revival...

, and the Beverly-Begg Observatory

Beverly-Begg Observatory

The Beverly-Begg Observatory a New Zealand astronomical observatory, situated on Robin Hood Park in the Belleknowes part of Dunedin's town belt. It was established in 1922 by the Dunedin Astronomical Society and is the home of the group...

.