TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

Development of major shopping centres across the city has put pressure on existing
infrastructure, having sparked the development of new roads. Traditional communities fragment
as the distinctiveness that gave them their identity is gradually erased and replaced by a
homogenised city culture, a place where crime and violence is on the rise, where civic pride is
relegated to history, a place where climate change is causing the unprecedented loss of
biodiversity. The north-West Atlantic as a source of income for local communities is a thing of
the past, fish abundance is no longer a given. Between pollution and multinational trawlers,
local fishermen have been displaced. The garden of Ireland has been lost. Survival of natural
heritage and biodiversity is paramount to those who have grown up in the North-West. The
challenge for the future is to anticipate how Sligo will be affected by environmental, economic
and social change, and to formulate plans to minimise the negative effects.
By 2015 Irish emissions are over 35% higher than just two decades previous. Having failed to
adopt measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt agriculture and economic
activity to flooding and temperature change, the country is left vulnerable to potential
catastrophic environmental disasters, particularly along the West coast of the island. North Sligo
in particular has suffered exponentially as a result of coastal flooding. But with the help of
regional allies it is not long before Sligo becomes a prime destination once again. Economic and
political cohesion between regions is extremely good and this has a strong influence on
workforce mobility within the region. New technology, new industries, new architecture, new
urbanism, new creative and cultural forms have mushroomed in the region. By 2017 Sligo has
been given city status, having successfully reinvented itself over the previous decade and a half.
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One of Sligo’s most valuable
assets is its multi-layered
accessibility. Few places
have such choice and
accessibility within such a
compact area. Expansion
outward has removed
protection from some of the
problems associated with
other major cities.