Now, pedestrians – be they striding commuters, dawdling shoppers or promenading pram-pushers – are reclaiming the streets.

A $60 million upgrade to Sydney streets aims to improve life for walkers who have, for decades, been left behind in a city where car is king.

Approved by the City of Sydney council this week, the Walking Strategy and Action Plan sets out to boost the number of commuter trips by foot, reduce delay times to journeys, reduce traffic collisions with pedestrians by 50 per cent and widen footpaths, as well as improve amenities and walkable access to shops.

"I think it's incredibly important that the city is walkable," said lord mayor Clover Moore, who has overseen the plan's development.

"We have to wait so long at the lights here, pedestrians are treated as second-class citizens. The irony is that more than 90 per cent of journeys made in the city every day are by pedestrians and only 15 per cent of people who are coming into the city are coming by car. It's the wrong priority."

Getting around on two feet on a day-to-day basis puts pedestrians at the mercy of impatient left-turning drivers, short crossing times, long waits and roundabout routes – and that's before fumes, fast traffic and noise come into play.

Collisions with vehicles are on a downward trajectory, but the numbers remain stark: 131 pedestrians were killed or injured in road collisions within 400m from Central Station in past five years. The figure is 142 within a 300m radius of Town Hall and 102 within a 300m radius of Wynyard.

As overdue as some walkers may find the council strategy, Dr Megan Hicks, urban explorer and adjunct fellow at University of Western Sydney, said creating a walkable city is not as simple as urban design.

She remembers when George Street's pavements had a white line painted down their middles, directing foot passengers to walk on the left. It might have helped speedy commuters, but soon became unfashionable.

"The thing about city streets is that you always have this conflict between wanderers and purposeful walkers," she said.

Luise Vestergaard, an art director from Denmark who lives in Surry Hills and walks to work on the edge of the city, admits to being both.

"I love it, you see things, you can have a coffee on the way, but I feel I'm waiting a very long time to get across the road, even when there are no cars in the way," said the 32-year-old, who welcomes the emphasis on non-car traffic.

She said that in her home city of Copenhagen, countdowns inform walkers when the red and green lights will turn – a plan that the RMS is currently trialling on Elizabeth Street.

Encouraging architects to include awnings in their designs would be a major step towards reclaiming pedestrian space, Dr Hicks said. George Street's Apple store, for example, has no awning, giving walkers no shelter from rain or sun.

And while Sydney is not known to be a convenient walking city, it is at risk of losing some of its dawdling charm to urban renewal, she said.

"A city is walkable when there are still surprises to be found," she said, adding that one of the pleasures of walking is that it gives people the "the opportunity to look at details and to pick up things that you would otherwise miss."