TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

of the time, leaving Ireland without a spatial policy for the country until 2002. This led to
the dispersal of new investment into rural areas.
As pressures on the natural environment increased significantly during the era of rapid
economic growth during the 1990s, planning professionals started to adopt the principles of
sustainable development in order to reduce the impact on the environment.
The publication of the National Spatial Strategy in 2002 provided a spatial development
framework for Ireland. One of the most important provisions was the designation of
Gateways and Hubs, into which new investment is to be directed. This was aimed at
achieving balanced regional development.
The current urban structure in Ireland is dominated by the Greater Dublin Area, where 40%
of Irish population resides. The urban hierarchy of the rest of the country is relatively weak,
particularly in the West and North-West.
Significant growth of Dublin’s population in recent years and an under-supply of affordable
housing led to the creation of an extensive commuter belt. This resulted in greater pressure
on existing transport infrastructure caused by a massive increase in private car use, which
was the result of a mismatch between the location of new housing, places of employment
and public transportation infrastructure.
The peace process in Northern Ireland in the 1990s that has led to a significant growth in
trade across the border, and the improved transport infrastructure on both sides of the
border has facilitated the growth in linkages between Dublin and Belfast and the
development of an economic corridor on the East coast.
As a response to the economic dominance of the East coast, policy makers have designated
an ‘Atlantic Corridor’, linking the cities of the South and West, to provide a counterbalance
to the Greater Dublin Area. However, whether this corridor generates the necessary amount
of linkages between these cities remains to be seen.
People
For the population to double by 2030, the country’s population would have to grow by 3 per
cent per annum. However, the most rapid annual growth that has been achieved to date has
been 1.6 per cent per annum. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to expect that the
population of Ireland could double by 2030.
It is expected that growth of the Irish population will continue into long-term future. Given
the nine billion predicted for the world population by 2050, it is evitable that countries like
Ireland will be subjected to ever-increasing in-migration pressures.
Doubling of the population is possible at the gateway level. However, it will be rather
difficult considering the modest population growth of the gateways in the period between
2002 and 2006. Only two gateways, Galway and Letterkenny, which are not in Dublin’s
sphere of influence, achieved a growth rate higher than the State’s average.
Projection of the existing trends into the future shows that population concentration in the
East coast will continue, unless the implementation of government policy will change the
current trends. However, in the case of lack of such implementation and an economic
slowdown, it can be assumed that concentration of population in the GDA will continue at
an even higher rate.
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