TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

egion. The roll out of broadband was been crucial to the smooth transition from urban to rural,
while also encouraging local business and enterprises that had a strong reliance on the internet
to relocate. Businesses have responded to employee pressure for more workplace flexibility as
people seek more control over balancing work, family and personal life. Visionary companies
Expenditure on the upkeep and improvement of the National Road network, funded from
national grants, included the N25 Waterford City Bypass, maintenance to Rice Bridge, as well as
the upgrading of non-national roads. Both served to effectively link the city to its hinterland. A
series of traffic calming initiatives were implemented to transform the urban and rural centres
into low speed areas. By 2030 suburban sprawl in the South East had been reversed as the region
witnessed an end to the ‘erosion of rural space’. Because of its compact and efficient design,
the development accommodated large numbers of people in very small areas. Pressures on
Waterford City’s housing stock were immediately relieved as the over-spill student population
began to relocate to the rural hubs, which were catering for up to 5,000 inhabitants.
While focus had turned to the hinterlands, Waterford city centre had witnessed a sharp decline
in activity, following a noticeable exodus of businesses from the city centre to radial and ribbon
business parks. As a result a large number of former retails units lay vacant, giving a poor
impression of the city to visitors, damaging the local tourist industry and serving as a
disincentive for locals to come into the city centre. By 2025 the intrinsic dynamism of
Waterford’s business district had all but disappeared. Without high levels of connectivity
between Waterford and surrounding towns and cities – access to greater regional, national and
international expertise was cut off, making it impossible for Waterford to remain the financial
capital of the South East.
Building a vibrant urban core became the central tenet of city planning and development over
the next 5 years. The riverside development, followed by the north quay commercial and
residential regeneration project helped to inject new life into the region, but tackling the
problem of some of the city’s housing estates was proving difficult. Anti social behavior,
ghettoized estates, drug trafficking and a general rise in crime and lawlessness called for new
leadership to rethink Waterford’s future.
219
embrace this and support employees by
providing the corresponding
environment to allow remote working,
including flexi-time, pushing up reliance
on broadband and mobile services.
Designed as mixed use, condensed and
connected communities, with its rural
character maintained, what emerged
was hailed as nothing short of a spatial
planning miracle - a blue print for
further countryside development to
alleviate inner city pressures.