TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

SCENARIO 2: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise (National scenario: WILD CATS OF EQUALITY)
2015 marked the formation of the Western Political Alliance, with its overarching aim to
cultivate a ‘Western Way of Living’, to equal that of its counterpart on the East. Over the
following five years, Ireland underwent a gradual dispersion of its population Westward, as the
pulling power of the West coast gateways began to attract growing numbers of people, in search
for a better quality of life.
Sligo by 2030 has been transformed into a thriving tourist gateway capital for the north-West,
and a prime residential location. Governance has been broadened to regional as well as local
level and public participation in decision-making is at an all time high. Local employment and
economic development is encouraged, and access to facilities and services has become more
equitable.
With a 120 percent increase in population over the last 20 years, the total number now living in
the city and surrounding hinterlands has reached 80,000. Increasing demand for resources, space
and transport, put severe pressure on existing infrastructure presenting enormous challenges for
city planners, designers and builders. Up to 2012 residential development in Sligo had been
largely unsustainable, with emphasis on suburban sprawl and one off housing. With a
disturbingly high reliance on car usage, long commute times had become a regular feature of
life in Sligo, and as the city coughed its way to 2015, Sligo City Council had two choices: to
either continue down the path of poor planning or come up with a new spatial vision.
In partnership with Sisk Construction an ambitious regeneration project to make more efficient
use of land and infrastructure got underway in 2016. Rather than focusing on the urban centre
as the hub of activity, outward expansion - as far as Roscommon to the South and Leitrim to the
East - indicated the rising importance of a rural way of life to complement that of the towns and
cities. Regional government funds, no longer limited to building up the urban core, were
reallocated to build the necessary infrastructure to link the city with surrounding areas.
By 2020 two distinct
societies were emerging in
the region, highlighting the
interconnectedness of urban
and rural. Sligo’s city centre
housed the modern
‘knowledge’ society while
the rural hinterlands
became home to the more
traditional ‘wisdom’ society.
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