Irish towns can do much better
How can Ireland’s growing towns and cities match the best of their European counterparts?
This article was co-authored by David Browne and Tony Reddy AoU, both of the Irish Cities 2070 Group, and Kevin Murray AoU.
How can Ireland’s growing towns and cities match the best of their European counterparts?
The first step is to talk with, and learn from, those who have already done this creatively elsewhere. Let’s look beyond Dublin, Cork and Galway’s short term issues, and consider the achievements of successful cities like Barcelona, Freiburg and Helsinki, to see how we can raise the quality of our urbanism game.
Come to this landmark compact, sustainable and resilient development delivery conference in Dubin over 25-26 March, and be part of the change Ireland needs. Future homes, jobs, and local wellbeing will depend on it.
Ireland 2050: Balanced by Design
Delivering liveable and successful towns and cities
Tuesday 25 - Wednesday 26 March, Dublin Castle
+ pre-conference programme in Dún Laoghaire Monday 24
On a recent research visit to meet city planners and architects in Helsinki and Copenhagen we saw long term, Integrated City Development Plans which addressed a wide range of issues from zoning, infrastructure, transportation, energy, water and waste to placemaking, street widths, building heights and climate change. These development plans were also focused on implementation and viability. In addition, these cities each have significant financial autonomy that gives them agency to finance and implement development.
Unlike the British and Irish planning systems the plans for both cities, which result from properly resourced, proactive Council urbanists, both executive staff and councillors, using modern methods of media communication including CGI 3D models, are widely supported by citizens and politicians.
The overall outcome is that both cities achieve their targets for housing, cultural and mixed uses resulting in the creation of new sustainable neighbourhoods and the regeneration of the existing city fabric, and are excellent exemplars of good urbanism.
Day 2’s morning session, Helsinki: Masterplanning and Vision, will further explore what urbanists in Ireland can learn from Helsinki’s approach, with speakers:
- Pasi Rajala, Head of Masterplanning, City of Helsinki
- Dr Matti Kuronen, Professor of Practice, University of Helsinki
- Dr Anke Jurleit, Senior Project Director, Union Investment
Elsewhere in the conference programme we will hear from Xavi Matilla, former City Architect of Barcelona, on neighbourhood exemplars, and from Wulf Daseking, former Head of Urban Planning in Freiburg, on the leadership challenge.
The full programme and tickets for this conference can be found at theaou.org/dublin
