Case Studies   Urban Regeneration in the City of Dublin: Partnership structures and integrated area planning

Overall city strategy

The overall strategy for the city is expressed in the Dublin City Development Board’s (CDB), strategic plan, Dublin: A City of Possibilities. This policy document adapts a theme based approach to the future development of Dublin. The spatial unit of analysis is the neighbourhood, so the document may be read as both a city strategy and a neighbourhood strategy.

The CDB is facilitated by Dublin City Council and is part of the Government’s moves to place more authority, control and resources into local authorities. The CDB is a partnership of the Dublin City Council, State agencies and social partners at a local level. Crucially, while the CDB is under the management of the local authority (Dublin City Council) it is also outside of that authority in terms of who it represents. It is the key mechanism for integrating local development agencies and organisations (such as the partnership companies¹) and local government. Currently, local community groups feed into the Area Partnerships through networks. For example, the South West Inner City Network is the relevant one for the Liberties-Coombe IAP area. It was the network’s own plan produced in 1999 which provides much of the socio-economic background information for this IAP. A key aspiration underlying the CDB’s strategic plan is a higher level of integration between the structures of local government on the one hand (Dublin City Council) and the local development structures (such as partnership companies, networks, and community for a) on the other.

The plan, entitled Dublin: A city of possibilities, reflects the consultation, including a Community forum, that went into it. At the heart of the strategy is the concept of creating and sustaining self sufficient neighbourhoods with bottom-up participative structures. There are four enabling themes , which seek to underpin all actions, and objectives to ensure sustainable development at neighbourhood and city levels. These are:

• An enterprising city

• A community friendly city

• An integrated city

• A democratic and participative city

More details on the CDB can be found at www.dublin.ie . The CDB will monitor the implementation of the Strategy through a number of Monitoring Commissions. The work of these Commissions will involve participation by key sectors under the unbrella of a new City Civic Forum.

The strategy, Dublin a city of possibilities is only yet a possibility. With the downturn in the economy and the beginnings cuts across their public service, it will in all likelihood be difficult to drawn down the necessary funding to underpin the strategy from the Government’s national development plan. Nevertheless, the plan is now in place and all policy initiatives emanating from either local government or local development agencies must ensure that those initiatives are congruent with the overall city strategy in terms of aims, objectives and targets.

Dublin City Council is committed to developing Dublin as a spatially coherent city, developing an overall plan for the city which integrates the economic, social and cultural dimensions. The City Council believes that each neighbourhood has a character or tradition that must be built upon to give legibility to the civic character of the city. In particular, the City Council is eager to identify potential economic engines and cultural clusters that underpin local areas. The challenge which the City Council faces is to realise the potential of the local economy and cultural production to animate the city, (Gleeson, 2002). The CDB policy, Dublin: a city of possibilities, makes a clear commitment to the concept of the neighbourhood as the crucial building block in the future development of the city.

Example of building on neighbourhood identity in the Liberties-Coombe

One of the main economic clusters in Liberties-Coombe is the Digital Hub area. Another on is the new Cork Street/Coombe Relief Route. The Liberties area has traditionally always been the historic core of old Dublin and walking tours of the area are being developed by the IAP team. The character of the area is renowned: if you want to meet a real “Dub” you should come to the Liberties. There is a strong tradition of street selling in the area, and in the past the Liberties was host to many industries e.g. weaving, tanning, brewing. Sadly most of these industries have died out or have re-located to the suburbs. Some major conservation type projects are planned for the area e.g.St.Luke’s Church, the Malt House etc. When these building projects are completed, it is expected that these buildings will form the basis for cultural projects for the area. The new joint Tourism Study/Strategy for Liberties-Coombe and Kilmainham-Inchicore will also identify new possibilities. This tourism study is also taking place in consultation with the local community.

The CDB is charged with developing a local anti-poverty strategy at city level. To this end it is establishing five Social Inclusion Task Forces covering the geographic area governed by Dublin City Council. These Task Forces will

• Consist of key agencies and groups
• Advise agencies on best practices and appropriate ways to address and promote social inclusion in these areas
• Support existing and new social inclusion initiatives
• Monitor and report on delivery of social inclusion measures, with special reference to National Development Plan funding.

The social inclusion task force is a planning and advisory body which will promote a holistic and customer-oriented approach to social inclusion. In essence, it adapts the national anti-poverty strategy (NAPS) and applies it to at area level. The anti-poverty initiative will identify the measures and resources being deployed to tackle social disadvantage, establish and monitor annual targets, network and link agency personnel ensuring a sharing of information and coordination of work practices, (CDB, Social Inclusion Task Force, Parameter paper, 2003).

Who Benefits?    Provision of neighbourhood services

¹ Area Partnership Plans
The Area Partnerships (seven in Dublin) were established to draw together the community, government and employers in addressing unemployment. Dublin inner City Partnership covers most of the Liberties-Coombe plan area, with a small section included in the Canals Partnership area, Kilmainham-Inchicore is within the Canal Communities partnership area, and the North-East Inner City IAP falls within the Dubin Inner-City Partnership.