TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

14. This study by The Futures Academy and participating parties is based on a
projection of national population of 6million by 2030 and estimates that each
Gateway in the National Spatial Strategy needs to double its population in order to
hold Dublin to 40% of the total 6 million. Even then, Dublin would witness a
population growth of 700,000.
15. Projected population growth needs urgent regional planning, and planning horizons
require to be placed at least fifty years ahead, extended perhaps to 100 years in
respect of such resource provision as water, energy and major transportation
facilities.
16. Notwithstanding the declared policy for balanced regional development, serious
consideration has to be given to the urban agglomeration effect demonstrated
worldwide that would allow, and facilitate, the growth and development of the
Greater Dublin Area as a sustainable competitive city in European and global terms.
17. Another consequence of the country’s suburbanisation is the growing car and oil
dependency, with the average car in Ireland travelling, on an annual basis,
24,400km per year – 70% more than France or Germany, 50% more than Britain, and
even 30% more than in the US. Ireland has also become the fifth most oil-dependent
country in the EU, and ninth in the world, at a time when oil is becoming an ever
scarcer and more expensive resource.
18. There is an imbalance in transport investment, with the government proposing to
spend almost five times more on road than on rail, despite the fact that Ireland has
only 3,300km of railway compared to over 95,000km of roads.
19. It is argued that the present sprawling settlement pattern causes serious health
problems for many people in the form of increasing obesity levels and rising rates of
social isolation. Ireland could be facing epidemics of chronic illnesses such as
diabetes, depression, osteoporosis and cancer, partly caused by demographic
distribution.
20. Knowledge creation and diffusion are at the core of all modern economic activity.
An ever more educated population is, therefore, a continuing imperative for
Ireland. While education has always been an integral and successful part of the
country’s cultural, social and economic identity since the foundation of the State,
increasing challenges are faced in the global knowledge economy. The participation
rates for the 5-15 years age group is one of the highest in the OECD, and Ireland is
ranked 5 th in terms of literacy skills of fifteen year olds, with more than 50% of
school leavers going on to higher education. But for mathematical and scientific
literacy, both of which will be crucial to the future growth and prosperity of Ireland,
it is ranked 9 th and 16 th respectively in the OECD, and participation in adult
education is poor.
74