The National Spatial Strategy, launched yesterday, is a 20-year planning framework designed to achieve a better balance of social, economic, physical development and population growth between regions.
It says Ireland's growing population "provides a foundation on which a thriving economy can continue to be built in the future" and this population increase can be accommodated within existing cities, towns and villages. "Completely new cities or towns are not required".
The strategy, which was prepared by a team of planners in the Department of the Environment, was adopted by the Government at a Cabinet meeting last Saturday.
According to its authors, the population of the State is likely to increase by more than half a million to 4.4 million over the next 20 years, with a possibility that it could rise significantly higher - to an "upper limit" of 5 million - if there is stronger economic growth.
Addressing the economic disparities between different parts of the State is a "key concern" of the strategy, though this would entail a "quantum shift in the capabilities of regional locations to become engines of growth at the national scale.
Referring to the disproportionate growth of Dublin and its hinterland (the Greater Dublin Area, or GDA) over the past 30 years, it says the scale of the task in trying to change current trends should not be underestimated.
"Economic opportunities outside the GDA would have to flourish at unprecedented levels to allow regional locations to grow faster than the GDA."
The strategy aims to:
- Support a better balance of activity and development between areas experiencing rapid development and congestion and areas that are economically under-utilised.
- Guide Government departments and agencies in formulating and implementing policies and public investment decisions.
- Set a national context for spatial planning to inform regional planning guidelines and city or county development plans.
- Provide a framework, in conjunction with the regional development strategy for Northern Ireland, for the development of an all-island economy.
- Inform strategic investment, transport and other infrastructure policy decisions for both the public and private sector, including future national development plans.
In terms of funding, the NSS is to be implemented within an integrated and sustainable macro-economic framework.
Investment funded by the Exchequer "will need a sufficient level of economic growth to generate the required resources".
Though no cost estimate has been put on implementing the NSS over a 20-year period, the document says the level of investment in infrastructure will be governed "in particular" by the overall budgetary situation and the priorities arising from the strategy.
According to its authors, the NSS incorporates the principles of sustainable development. This will mean:
- Maximising access to, and encouraging use of, public transport, cycling and walking.
- Developing sustainable urban and rural settlement patterns and communities to reduce distance from employment, services and leisure facilities.
- Promoting cost-effective provision of public services, including roads, drainage, waste management facilities, and schools.
- Minimising the consumption of non-renewable resources.
- Avoiding adverse impacts on environmental features.
