TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

9. Two of the key environmental protection challenges in Ireland are to improve
enforcement of environmental legislation, and to better integrate environmental
considerations into the policies, plans and actions of all sectors of government,
business and the rest of the economy. Responsible environmental behaviour should
be the norm across Irish society, and those who flout environmental laws will be
held to account.
10. The built environment has a huge impact on the health of the nation. At macro
level this includes spatial planning, land use mix and transportation infrastructure.
At local level, the design, maintenance and use of buildings, public spaces and
transport networks are all important. Design of street networks, the availability of
open spaces, and the perceived and actual safety of an area, as well as personal
resources, are important environmental and social influences.
11. The difficulties faced by a country almost completely dependent on imported
energy supplies have been highlighted by successive government reports. They
rightly describe the ‘three pillars’ of energy policy as security of supply,
environmental sustainability and energy market competitiveness. Too many of the
proposals, however, are based on unproven technologies and aspirational targets. It
was interesting to note, moreover, that participants in the Twice the Size exercise,
representing a broad cross-section of stakeholder groups, were far less resistant to
the exploration of nuclear fuel as a viable source of energy for Ireland towards
2030.
12. One of the most noticeable changes over future years urged for Irish planning during
the study was the disappearance of the plan as it is currently perceived – definitive,
specific, fixed and agreed -– and its replacement with a more open-ended land use
control system employing a ‘preferred option’ path nested within a series of
plausible contingency options that are continuously reviewed and updated.
13. Dramatic changes in Irish housing have caused many anxieties over the past decade
or so: the stability of the residential market; the degree of inequality in the
opportunities and difficulties experienced during the housing boom; and the
sustainability of the settlement patterns and neighbourhoods developed in recent
years. Estimates of future housing market demand suggest that a significant level
of additional output will be required over the next decade, and various policy
strategies and guidelines propose five clear principles upon which new development
should be provided: sustainable urban densities; consolidated urban areas; compact
urban satellites; rapid communication networks; and sustainable rural development.
Given the state of the market, and its future outlook, there is a need for social and
affordable housing through: an expanded and more flexible stock of accommodation
available at a social rent to ensure an adequate safety net for vulnerable
households; a wider range of graduated supports for ‘intermediate’ households; and
a more effective policy towards active land management and betterment-sharing.
14. Climate change researchers have detected the first signs of a slowdown in the Gulf
Stream that keeps Ireland and Europe from freezing. This could herald a series of
momentous repercussions over the decades ahead.
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