TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

SCENARIO 2: The ‘Super-Rural’ Rule(National scenario: WILD CATS OF EQUALITY)
Stable economic conditions prevail in the South East Region enabling the people of Waterford to
enjoy good standards of living. Heritage, culture and tradition are the key hallmarks of appeal in
the South East region. Climate change and high oil prices have forced environmental concerns to
the top of political and corporate agendas. Business leaders have begun to take advantage of
their position in regional and local affairs by adopting more responsible behaviour. Major
investment in high tech industries since the turn of the century has been driven by the need to
sustain competitiveness as traditional manufacturing industries abscond. Centres of excellence
in several fields of technology have located in the new Technology District, bringing together
top scientists from academia, government, and private organisations. Extensive developments in
Climate Technology have given Waterford the leading edge over competing gateways and
bringing Ireland one step closer to delivering sustainable, secure and competitive energy.
The speed of change in daily life is high as old traditions are replaced by new concepts of
lifestyle. The arrival of Ireland’s first high-speed rail network and the Luas like tram system
along the 453 km coastline has greatly enhanced Waterford’s connectivity, reduced the need for
car usage, and attracted investors from across the country. Following plant closures of several
manufacturing companies in Waterford between 2006 and 2008 - Waterford Crystal, Bausch and
Lomb, Hasbro to name but a few – investment in the region’s intellectual and social capital
became crucial. The upgrading of WIT to university status in 2009 meant that Waterford could
now ensure that the right people, skills and capabilities were developed to build a competitive
advantage in the region as a whole and to enable Waterford to compete at a national and global
level. Developing a critical mass of knowledge workers, mainly in the IT service industry, was
seen as the only way to offset the decline in other more traditional sectors. By 2020 the looming
grey dawn was calling for an injection of dynamic new workers into the region’s rapidly ageing
economy, but Ireland’s new ‘closed door policy’ to immigration gave rise to considerable labour
shortages.
Demographic patterns in Waterford City had begun to change, as the desire for people to put
more time into family and leisure activities increased during the 2020’s. The growing magnetism
of the West’s superior quality of life gained the attention of increasing numbers of families
wishing to escape the chaotic city life. Fear of mass migration to the West forced city planners
to devise an Eastern alternative. To counter rising suburbanisation, a new model of
development was explored and tested to cater for those wishing to move out of the increasingly
congested city centre. The ‘Super-Rural’ concept coined by FKL Architects back in 2007 took
flight in 2015 as city planners, architects and builders joined forces to come up with a new
vision for the south East.
Rather than replicating Dublin’s suburban sprawl model, clusters of compact mini cities, with
adequate economic and social infrastructure to sustain local communities, were designed.
Extending from the old St. John’s College Woodland, to South Kilkenny, the sustainable,
compact urban-to-rural centre had, by 2018, become a thriving, progressive municipality,
providing attractions for inhabitants and tourists, locally and across the entire South East
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