The transformation of inner Dublin: exploring new residential populations within the inner city

Abstract

The recent policy emphasis towards promoting inner urban living has been successful in attracting large numbers of new residents back into Dublin's inner city. Utilising data from a household survey, focus groups and census data, this paper provides key insights into the changes that are occurring in the central area of Dublin city. In particular, this paper highlights how the recent population influx has not only led to a rapid physical redevelopment of the inner city but also helped to create a new social population, one that is much younger, affluent and ethnically diverse than members of older more established communities. In addition, this paper identifies possible problems relating to the long-term sustainability of these newly regenerated residential environments within the inner city.

Keywords:

• sustainable development
• urban renewal
• housing policy

Notes

1. Our thanks to Andrew MacLaran and Sinead Kelly from the Centre of Urban and Regional Studies, Trinity College Dublin, in kindly providing a list of new apartment developments built within Dublin's inner city between 1996 and 2006, which provided the basis for the sampling frame in this study. This was obtained by examination of all the planning files for 1988–2006 where inner city residential development had been granted (notably, MacLaran et al. 1994, 1995, MacLaran and Floyd 1996, Kelly and MacLaran 2004). Fieldwork was subsequently undertaken to establish whether development had taken place.

2. Our thanks also to Mark Scott and Declan Redmond from the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, UCD for assistance in designing the focus groups.

3. Digital base map for figures 1–6 supplied under Licence No. 6155 from the Ordnance Survey Ireland.