The report flags a major overhaul of Central Station and Post Office Square, which it calls one of the "great arrival points into the city". "It is time the area be elevated into the dignified urban experience that we expect from other great world cities," the report says. It proposes redesigning key intersections around Central Station to make it more bike and pedestrian friendly and Ann Street could have the footpaths widened into the road, so the street could be established as a fig tree-lined boulevard. The report said the pedestrian focus of Queen Street Mall should be extended right across the river and the current situation meant pedestrians were continuously disrupted by the George and Queen street intersection. The Gallery of Modern Art, the Cultural Centre and West End are named as key destinations from the city and the primary driver of the extended foot access is "a comfortable journey between the mall and South Bank".

There is a heavy emphasis on using fig trees to "inform the character of a subtropical city centre" and Ann and Turbot streets are among those suggested to be turned into "tree lined boulevards" by planting fig trees at regular intervals along the street. It also advocates the establishment of a "River Plaza" at the end of Alice Street, which would act as a launching point for a pedestrian bridge to Kangaroo Point with "destination points" along its length, such as food stalls. The report promotes the "activation" of Centenary Place between the CBD and Fortitude Valley and wants pedestrians and cyclists to be given priority with dedicated cycle routes between the locales. It says Centenary Park is an important commemorative and historical landmark but "functions as a traffic island rather than a vital park". London, New York and Melbourne are cited in the report as cities that have successfully enacted various parts of the report's strategies, such as reinvigorating public places (Melbourne), becoming more pedestrian friendly (New York) and installing directional and public transport signage which is clear for locals and visitors.

The report also references San Francisco's success in having "car free weekends", where the street is given over to the people. The draft report has been put together by PSA Consulting, which says it has collaborated with key stake holders and held three workshops in the lead up to handing over the draft to the council in June. Neighbourhood planning chairman Amanda Cooper said the review of the City Centre Master Plan was the right time to be considering if and when these proposed "big ideas" were achievable or appropriate in the long-term. She said the document was still in draft form and any proposals would have to be rigorously tested and consulted-on before council made any decisions. "This is about forward thinking and leadership, we need to be looking creatively at the big picture to ensure Brisbane's CBD continues its growth as a buzzing economic hub in the Asia-Pacific Region," Cr Cooper said in a written statement.

"However, it's still only early days in our review of the City Centre Master Plan and some proposals may not make it past these early draft stages depending on feedback." Council opposition leader Milton Dick said a review of pedestrian crossings in the CBD was "long overdue" and the dangerous intersections should be fixed immediately. “Like at the river end of Queen Street, it's no secret that it's a dangerous intersection and these sorts of safety issues need to be addressed. I call on the council to get on with it," he said. “I have serious concerns about the cost and feasibility of these plans. “The Lord Mayor needs to release all details of costings and feasibility reports for these plans.”

Cr Dick estimated some of the projects in the report could cost more than $100 million and said the current council debt was $2.1 billion. “I'm worried that as a result of council's sky rocketing debt, these plans will just sit on the shelf gathering dust and never become a reality," he said. Cr Dick said he would like to see an impact statement on resuming traffic lanes to make wider footpaths and had concerns the move could add to existing congestion issues. “We don't need a glossy report to tell us we need more trees in the city," he said. “Council should have already been planting more trees and greening our CBD streets.”