TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

the provisions of the DTS were not realised, but parts of the inner-city did suffer destruction for
the partial implementation of the Inner Tangent Route.
A land use and transportation strategy was subsequently developed for Cork city and its
hinterland in 1978, which was largely implemented by the mid-1990s.
During the 1970s and 1980s, few new land-use planning strategies were put in place, largely due
to the unfavourable economic environment that prevailed at the time. The ERDO (Eastern
Region Development Organisation) Settlement Strategy was published in 1985 and predicted
significant population growth in the Dublin Region and the three surrounding counties of Meath,
Kildare and Wicklow to the year 2011 (ERDO, 1985). The strategy proposed a major expansion of
the hinterland towns of Swords, Leixlip, Maynooth, Bray and Greystones, but did not envisage
the potential for a population increase in Dublin inner city. Coming at a time of mass emigration
and economic stagnation, the ERDO Strategy was rejected by the Government, and a revised
report was published in 1988 which projected a significantly more modest amount of population
growth for the Dublin region.
The most significant development in Irish urban policy during the 1980s was the introduction of
the Urban Renewal Act in 1986. This legislation recognised the need to address the longstanding
social and physical decay of inner urban areas. The 1986 Act provided a suite of
taxation incentives and other benefits to new development in areas designated under the Act in
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford (Williams, 1999). The formulation of urban
renewal policy in Ireland mirrored the emergence of urban regeneration strategies in other
developed countries, including the ambitious London Docklands renewal project.
Since its introduction, urban renewal policy has been modified and extended to most large
towns throughout the country. It is widely considered to be a success, with the investment of
several billion Euro in the areas designated for redevelopment between 1986 and 2006.
However, there has been criticism about the type of development that has proceeded – mainly
in the form of poorly designed small apartments with few or no amenities, employment
opportunities or shopping facilities – and the lack of input by existing local communities.
A new paradigm of the 1990s
During the 1990s, a new paradigm emerged. This decade was marked by a gradual economic
recovery during the first half of the decade and, after 1994, by a period of unprecedented
economic growth, known in popular parlance as the “Celtic Tiger”. This period of rapid
economic growth was accompanied by population increase, falling unemployment, rising living
standards and greater disposable wealth. These factors acted in concert to place tremendous
pressure on the Irish housing market, leading to historically high house price inflation between
1996 and 2006. During this period, house prices increased in the order of 300 per cent.
Land-use planning policy developed since the mid-1990s has represented a significant shift away
from earlier policies. There was widespread recognition during the 1990s of the pressures on the
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