Sir, – Streetscape and place-making has long been overlooked by architects, developers and builders. Over decades, the public authorities (elected and appointed) have not acted as a countervailing force to these vested interests, as Michael McDowell pointed out (“Dublin’s planners are failing to help our capital to flourish”, Opinion, October 26th).
Unfortunately, the regeneration of Ballymun is an excellent example of this failure. The main street is a now six-lane highway for through traffic. Such traffic is a major form of community severance. National and local politicians, policymakers and planners support this. Yet the same people are actively restricting such traffic from the city centre.
One part of that effort is MetroLink if it ever goes ahead. But this policy is not being applied to Ballymun. The latest proposal is to tunnel under Ballymun’s main street for MetroLink, instead of putting motor vehicles underground.
This is an example of physical planning being reduced to a very limited form of building control instead of being focused on the creation and maintenance of places which are pleasant to be in, for living or work or leisure.
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Not only to we have to re-learn what was known about place-making when Marino and Griffith Avenue were developed by our new State 100 years ago. We also have to reset our way of governing ourselves to apply those lessons consistently and with equal force in all parts of our capital city.
– Yours, etc,
DONAL O BROLCÁIN
Drumcondra, Dublin 9.