Ireland needs a pro-city planning strategy not more regional planning

There were some interesting presentations at this years Irish Planning Institute Conference in Kilkenny at the end of April. Hendrik W van der Kamp from the School of Spatial Planning, DIT gave an interesting paper on The City State as an Urban Model – a case study of supply based planning. He highlights some really important analysis on urban trends in Ireland. Firstly, he finds that the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) has been ineffective with regard to designated Gateway towns. In 2011 he finds that “Of 10 counties with gateway towns only 5 row above national average. Of 16 counties without gateway towns only 5 grow below national average”. He also notes an ambiguous trend in urbanisation. The Irish Urban Population in 2011 is 62% (60.7 % in 2006, 59.6% in 2002 and 58.1% in 1996). However, he also quotes Eurostat (March 2012) “In nearly all Member States, it was in urban regions that the population grew most rapidly. Ireland was an exception with growth in its rural population, while the urban population declined.” This reflects, that outside Dublin inner city wards, all other major towns and cities have experienced decline in their cores. The trend of urbanisation growth reflects massive suburbanisation on Greenfield sites. Van der Kamp cites the statistic that thepProportion of people living in cities > 100,000 pop decreased from 31.2% in 1996 to 29.2% in 2006. His conclusions are that we are not achieving compact cities and we are not achieving cities of scale (proportion of population in cities over 100,000 is decreasing). Also see recent Life After Roundabouts post ‘Are Lending Institutions getting it wrong?’ This analysis is hugely important for the Irish economy, and strategic planning policy. This really should be setting the alarm bells ringing in the Customs House. There is a strong body of research from the likes of Geoffrey West, Richard Florida and Edward Glaeser that says city scale and size really matter! The bigger a city is, the richer it is, the more money people make, it attracts better people and companies and the more influential that place is. So where we have a strategic policy framework that positively supports anti-urban development (Rural Housing Guidelines), and we pursue a path of anti-urban economic investment (IDA) , the result is declining cities, declining wealth and an increasingly uncompetitive country. Strong urban places are synonymous with strong economies. While many policy documents including the NSS contain pro-urban statements, its simply not working when applied to County Council administrations. There is an urgent need to go back to the drawing board. This must involve linking a very different Rural Housing Policy with a simplified National Spatial Strategy. Its time to have a big re-think about urban regeneration strategies pursued over the last 15 years, and the tools we use. Even before the recession hit, PPP was an abject failure. Local Area Plans often only add bureaucracy, costs and delays. The national rural agenda pursued by all governments is damaging cities, and damaging Ireland’s economy. I’m not sure about Van der Kamps conclusions that Ireland should essentially adopt a single City State approach to Strategic Planning. There is undoubtedly potential outside the capital. In either case, the Irish economy needs stronger cities. Stronger cities need stronger City Governance and better leadership, focussed on city economies and their citizens. Regional authorities simply don’t do this; its not their mandate. Rather, the mayoral governance model presents a tried and tested approach to city focussed planning.