CHAPTER 17: THE DYNAMICS OF REGIONS (2) The National Spatial Strategy (NSS)
A policy to control the growth of Dublin The NSS aims to balance the growth and development of Dublin by tackling growth in the metropolitan area (i.e. the city and its suburbs) and the hinterland (i.e. surrounding area) in the following ways.
1. In the metropolitan area (a) Compiling a list of all derelict, vacant and underused land in the city to allow redevelopment for housing or other more efficient land use. This ensures that no land is wasted inside the city area.
(b) Ensuring the best use of existing housing. Shops often have unused apartment space above them. ‘Living over the Shop’ schemes were set up to encourage more people to live in the city rather than building on new ground in the suburbs.
(c) Some suburbs have large houses occupied by older people. Creating smaller houses for older people within these areas would make more family-size houses available.
(d) There are many old, inefficiently used warehouses in Dublin. These could be redeveloped and used more efficiently for newer businesses, e.g. the Docklands.
2. In the hinterland (a) Develop existing towns such as Naas, Kildare, Drogheda and Arklow to draw people into jobs outside the city.
(b) Develop an efficient public transport network to provide easy access between these towns and the city. This will reduce traffic congestion.
3. Nationally Improving the economic and social development of cities and towns around the country. Those cities and towns targeted are known as gateway towns and hub towns (see Chapter 16).
Fig. 30 This derelict factory could be a brownfield site for redevelopment.