TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology
TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology
TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology
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functional urban regions include the Randstad in the Netherlands and the Rhine-Ruhr region in<br />
Germany (GEMACA II, 2002). In other instances, the capital city <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> countries has<br />
dominated the country in all aspects and functions as a primate city: Paris and London are<br />
prominent examples <strong>of</strong> urban primacy.<br />
Another spatial trend in Europe has been the emergence <strong>of</strong> ‘World Cities’ such as London and<br />
Paris, which increasingly operate within an interdependent network <strong>of</strong> other global centres <strong>of</strong><br />
commerce (Hall, 1998). Major cities have been gradually decoupling their own economies from<br />
their host countries, functioning as ‘city states’.<br />
The European Union currently has no direct competency in relation to spatial planning which is a<br />
function <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> its member states. However, in 1999 the European Spatial Development<br />
Perspective (ESDP) was launched, and is a key policy document outlining the objectives <strong>of</strong> a<br />
sustainable and integrated system <strong>of</strong> land-use planning within the European Union. A prime<br />
objective <strong>of</strong> the ESDP is for adjacent member states to work more closely to ensure that their<br />
respective spatial policies and goals are complementary to each other and more closely aligned<br />
(ESDP, 1999).<br />
Ireland<br />
In Ireland, as with Europe, there has been a longstanding tradition <strong>of</strong> a core area versus a<br />
periphery. The core region comprises <strong>Dublin</strong> city and its hinterland, currently designated the<br />
Greater <strong>Dublin</strong> Area. The population <strong>of</strong> the Greater <strong>Dublin</strong> Area was 1.66 million in 2006, which<br />
accounts for 40 % <strong>of</strong> the population <strong>of</strong> the Republic <strong>of</strong> Ireland as a whole. Outside <strong>of</strong> the Greater<br />
<strong>Dublin</strong> area, the urban hierarchy is relatively weak, particularly in the West and Northwest <strong>of</strong><br />
the country.<br />
The dominance <strong>of</strong> <strong>Dublin</strong>, which functions as a primate city for Ireland, has been long<br />
recognised by policy makers, and successive solutions have been sought to attempt to<br />
counterbalance the city by channelling growth elsewhere. However, given the degree <strong>of</strong> the<br />
primate nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>Dublin</strong>, these policies have met with limited success.<br />
Emerging spatial relationships in Ireland are currently under scrutiny and include the following:<br />
• the expanded <strong>Dublin</strong> Commuter Belt;<br />
• the emerging <strong>Dublin</strong>-Belfast Economic Corridor; and<br />
• the Atlantic Corridor.<br />
The <strong>Dublin</strong> commuter belt, which includes those settlements that act as dormitory towns for<br />
<strong>Dublin</strong> city, has grown significantly in extent and population over recent years, particularly<br />
since the mid-1990s. A key driver <strong>of</strong> this growth has been the relative under-supply <strong>of</strong> affordable<br />
housing in <strong>Dublin</strong> which has not matched demand. This demand for housing, in turn, was<br />
deflected into the commuter belt which <strong>of</strong>fered more affordable accommodation (Williams and<br />
Shiels, 2002). The growth <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Dublin</strong> Commuter belt has been considered to be problematic<br />
because <strong>of</strong> the pressure on existing transport infrastructure caused by sprawling development in<br />
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