Housing density and the capital

Dublin compares favourably with several major cities often used as examples of appropriate urban population density

Sir, – In comparing Dublin and Cork to Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris and London, David McWilliams has erroneously conflated the most dense square kilometre of these cities with the overall density of the city (“Decades of recurring housing crises remains a reality – penalising the young, rewarding the old”, Weekend, Opinion, January 28th). The article uses work by Prof Alistair Rae of the University of Sheffield, who was unfortunately not credited. The population density of Dublin city is approximately 5,046 people per square kilometre, not 4,665. Cork City’s population density is 1,300 people per square kilometre, not 3,300. Berlin’s population density is 4,117 people per square kilometre, not 23,379. Amsterdam City’s population density is 4,439 people per square kilometre, not 28,880. Finally, the population density of the city of Paris is 20,623 people per square kilometre, not 52,218.

In fact, the most dense square kilometre in Ireland is the same as the density of Monaco at about 12,500 people.

As can be seen Dublin compares favourably with several major cities often used as examples of appropriate urban population density. In addition, most of these cities have achieved these densities without seeing the need for a proliferation of high-rise residential buildings. They have, however, developed plenty of six storey apartment buildings, a scale the Department of Housing itself has recommended as the optimum height for achieving building affordability and density. – Yours, etc,

Dr LORCAN SIRR,

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Senior Lecturer

in housing, planning

and development,

Technological

University Dublin,

Dublin 1.