DUBLIN CITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 - 2017
BACKGROUND PAPER
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Progress to Date
3. Future Trends and Developments
4. Main Issues and Challenges
4.1 Creating the Sustainable Neighbourhood and Developing Community
4.2 The Timely Provision of Community Facilities
4.3 Disability and Accessibility
4.4 Integration
5. Summary of Key Issues
1. Introduction
The creation of sustainable neighbourhoods, the timely provision of sustainable community
infrastructure, the integration of new communities and accessibility issues have all been
afforded much greater attention in recent years, both nationally and locally. Improving the
quality of life is the underlying objective.
Recent Guidelines from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
(DoEHLG) stress the importance of integrating housing provision with the delivery of
community infrastructure. All good neighbourhoods require decent community facilities to
underpin them with such facilities ranging from schools, to libraries, community centres,
cultural spaces, health centres, facilities for the elderly and persons with disabilities, crèches
and other childcare facilities, places of worship etc. The timely provision of appropriate social
infrastructure can have hugely positive impacts in the promotion of social inclusion, greatly
enhance quality of life for all in the city and help in creating attractive neighbourhoods.
Creating a clean, green and safe city is a core objective of the City Council. With the
introduction of the 6 themes the City Council will give equal attention to the social inclusion
issue as to the more traditional economic and environment. polices needed for the
development of the city.
2. Progress to Date
Considerable progress has been made to date in implementing the Social and Community
objectives of the City Development Plan 2005-2011. Examples of progress are:
• Improved participation in decision-making and plan-making processes through the
creation and facilitation of consultation mechanisms such as Comhairle na nÓg,
significant local consultation on Framework and Local Area Plans through the 5 Area
Committees and the Area Office structures
• Provision of community development services through the introduction of new initiatives
by the Community Development Section of Dublin City Council such as Unsung Heroes
Awards, Communities First Summit and the restructuring of the Community
Development Section within the City Council
• Supporting the continued development of Dublin City Development Board and the
implementation of the 10 year strategy – A City of Neighbourhoods
• Reducing social exclusion and adhering to the Equal Status Act 2000 through the
establishment of an Intercultural Unit, production of an Integration Framework to
promote social inclusion of all communities in the city
• Provision and further development of community facilities throughout the city. New youth
and recreation facilities
• Provision of appropriate childcare through the implementation the Guidelines for
Childcare Facilities in assessing of planning applications and the adoption of the Dublin
City Council Childcare Policy in May 2006
• Continued provision of a range of accommodation for the travelling community across
the city
• Facilitating the regeneration of areas of the city which have a large number of local
authority dwellings, particularly flat complexes through the establishment of Project
Offices with dedicated staff, establishment of Regeneration Boards, Community Charters
etc.
• Provision of lifetime adaptable and fully accessible homes through the application of
Part M of the Building Regulations and the introduction of new standards for apartments
which require adaptable homes
• Where proposals for redevelopment of former institutional lands are identified, areas to
be set aside for accessible public open space and/or community facilities is set at a
minimum of 25%
• Promoting the provision of community facilities and public open spaces in all Local Area
Plans and Framework Plans, by identifying such facilities and locations for same, based
on the expressed needs of the community identified through consultation
However, despite this progress the overarching challenge of providing the physical context for
cohesive communities in Dublin remains relevant during and beyond the life of the current
Development Plan and significant challenges remain.
3. Future Trends and Development
This Social Partnership Agreement developed a new framework within which key social
challenges will be addressed. This will be achieved by assessing the risks and hazards which,
the individual person faces, and the supports available to them at each stage in the life cycle.
In this way, the life cycle approach adopts the perspective of the person as the centrepiece of
social policy development and should help policy to evolve in a manner, which encompasses
actions across relevant departments and agencies.
The City Council has adopted the lifecycle framework as the model within which the scope
and range of community policy development and actions can be defined. This approach offers
the potential of a more streamlined, outcomes-focused approach to monitoring and reporting
on progress within social partnership across key national strategies and for improved
availability and use of data. The approach is detailed in Table 1 below:
Providing for the different needs of citizens related to each stage of the lifecycle framework,
while also recognising particular community needs, will be a key challenge of the
Development Plan.
4. Main Issues and Challenges
4.1 Creating the Sustainable Neighbourhood and Developing Community
In creating a city that is attractive for those already living here i.e. by developing and
improving the social and community base for everyone in the city as an end in itself, Dublin
City Council must concentrate its efforts on a compact city with a network of sustainable
mixed neighbourhoods providing a range of facilities and a choice of tenure and housing
types and promote social inclusion and integration of all ethnic communities.
However, the quantity of development need not be at the expense of quality. While the quality
of neighbourhoods has been improving over time, with a much greater emphasis now being
placed on the provision of larger and better quality homes, there is still room for major
improvements in this regard.
Dublin City Council has already begun this process of ensuring the creation of sustainable
neighbourhoods and communities in earnest with the devising and adoption of a variation to
the existing development plan, ‘Achieving Liveable Sustainable New Apartment Homes’.
Section 2.5 of these apartment guidelines makes specific reference to the neighbourhood
stating that ‘Delivering attractive mixed-income, mixed use neighbourhoods with all the
necessary social and other infrastructure and a high quality environment is key to achieving
successful neighbourhoods’. It further states that the qualities of a successful neighbourhood
include good parks and play areas; good shopping and other facilities; good schools; leisure
facilities, safe streets and efficient public transport. There is a strong emphasis on the fact
that there is an even greater need for public facilities in areas of high density. This policy
recognises that the provision of highest quality apartment housing is especially important
when striving to achieve more balanced, mixed-income communities while social and
community infrastructure are vital in ensuring successful housing areas where people choose
to live and remain. . Furthermore, Policies recently devised and adopted in December 2007
under Variation 21, are very positive in this regard.
As well as ensuring that new developments make a significant contribution to an area in terms
of community infrastructure / planning gain, all developments should also be safe places in
which to live while not undermining safety of those in the surrounding environs. Unfortunately
crime and anti-social behaviour continue to affect the stability and sustainability of many city
communities. While the problem of crime has to be tackled by a wide range of agencies and
bodies in the city, the development plan can be instrumental in ‘designing out’ crime in new
developments. The issue here is how can we ensure that developments are built that inhibit
anti-social behaviour and crime but still allow for residents of developments and surrounding
neighbourhood to interact and meet spontaneously in accessible and communal areas.
One of the key challenges now is to devise clear and robust policies, objectives and
standards for the new development plan setting out very clearly how the City Council
proposes to fulfil these strategic aims in a realistic fashion.
Furthermore the City Council should consider setting our clearly the key components of a
‘sustainable neighbourhood’ by way of e.g. a checklist / community proofing tool- kit to serve
as a guide to developers, planners and the public.
4.2 The Timely Provision of Community Facilities
In devising new policies and objectives for schools, the City Council should have regard to a
recent Code of Practice issued recently by the Department of Education and Science in
collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
specifically in relation to provision of schools, which set out best-practice approaches that
should be followed by planning authorities and the Department of Education and Science in
ensuring the timely and cost-effective provision of schools. In essence these guidelines set
out a number of agreed actions that the Planning Authority and / or The Department of
Education and Science will undertake.
Specifically in relation to Development Plans the Department of Education and Science has
agreed to:
• Identify future primary school demands
• Supply estimates of future accommodation requirements arising from new development
to planning authorities as part of the consultation processes for the preparation of the
development plans
• Develop a GIS for school planning
• Collaborate with planning authorities in finalising the appropriate policies and objectives
to be inserted into development plans
• Consider the use of multi-campus schooling arrangements e.g. 2 or 3 schools side by
side; a primary and post primary school sharing a site; schools anchoring wider social
and community facilities required in the same area
While planning authorities have agreed to:
• Make available in a timely fashion estimates of future development potential
• Anticipate the demand for new schools infrastructure and facilitate the identification of
suitable lands to meet the need for new schools or expansion
• Consult with the Department of Education and Science during the process of making the
development plan
• Ensure that schools are fit for purpose
• Seek to locate schools in areas that are easily accessed
• Reserve lands for educational purposes in location close to areas of greatest residential
expansion and adjacent to community developments
• Take due account of requirement set out in the Draft Planning Guidelines on
Sustainable Residential Development in Urban areas which requires all planning
applications for major housing proposals to be accompanied by assessments of the
capacity of local schools to accommodate the proposed development
Furthermore, ‘Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas’ (draft) issued by the
DOHELG states that no substantial residential development should be permitted without an
assessment of the capacity of the existing schools. It is further recommended that any
planning application for over 200 residential units should be accompanied by a report
identifying the demand for school places likely to be generated by the proposed development
and in any proposed scheme for over 800 units consideration should be given by the planning
authority to the phasing of completion of such a scheme with the provision of additional
school places.
Third Level and Fourth Level Institutions
Dublin City’s growth within the global creative / knowledge economy will have to be
underpinned by quality third and fourth level educational institutions The new development
plan should continue to be supportive of, and facilitate the expansion, of such institutes.
These facilities are a core component in any city operating in the knowledge economy. A key
issue for the next development plan is to reflect the high value that the City Council places on
third level educational facilities and to reflect the ambitions of the City Council to support and
encourage the expansion and development of third and fourth level educational institutions as
pillars of the growing knowledge economy.
Crèches and Other Childcare Facilities
There are 97,769 children living within the City Council area, approximately 20% of the city’s
population. The Lifecycle approach, encapsulated in the Social Partnership Agreement 2006
– 2016 and endorsed by Dublin City Council, has identified 6 main issues to be addressed in
relation to children:
1. Sufficient resources and opportunity for equal participation
2. Access to childcare services and facilities
3. Primary cycle – literacy & numeracy standards
4. Complete senior cycle- supporting their capacity & interests
5. Access to quality play, sport, recreation & culture
6. Access to appropriate participation in decision making
Childcare Facilities
One of the key objectives in the National Development Plan is to address the shortage of
childcare spaces nationally. The City Council’s has a key responsibility in this regard. While
not involved in the direct provision of crèche spaces, the main responsibility of the City
Council is the formulation of appropriate policies, objectives and standards to be contained in
the Development Plan, delivery of spaces through the Framework Plans and Local Area
Plans and implementation through the Development Management (DM) process.
The City Council incorporated policy in the 2005 development plan to have regard to the
government Guidelines for Childcare Facilities which, amongst other recommendations
contained within, stipulate that one childcare facility be provided in all new developments for
every 75 residential units. While the guidelines continue to act as a useful guide, the benefit of
experience indicates that their implementation should be on a more considered basis. Dublin
City Council should encourage the establishment of appropriate models of childcare facilities
taking into consideration location, demographics, socio economic factors and sustainability
etc.
Play
The provision of child friendly play spaces has become increasingly recognised as a basic
necessity in a successful city, and in creating sustainable places to live. A commitment is
made in the apartment guidelines that the Planning Authority will immediately carry out a
study of how to most effectively provide for children’s play in apartment schemes and the
neighbourhood. This study is currently a work in progress. In the absence of such a study the
guidelines stipulate that regard shall be had to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority
Play Space Guidelines which set minimum standards for the provision of play spaces for a
range of differing ages to play.
For the new City Development Plan the City Council may adopt Play Guidelines which set out
a checklist for developers with developers required to cater for all ages for play, plan for
universal ability, identification of need in the area, provide storage for play equipment etc.
Elderly Care Facilities
In a sustainable neighbourhood persons at all stages of the life cycle should be well catered
for i.e. from childhood to old age. Attention has been given to the infrastructural needs of the
elderly in the current development plan with policy stating “it is the policy of Dublin City
Council to encourage the provision of community facilities across the city, which caters for all
age groups and various community facilities”, and an objective “to give consideration to the
provision of day facilities / centres for elderly in residential estates’. These can be further
developed in the next development plan to reflect the ageing population base of the city and
City Council’s expanding role in supporting older people.
Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities
The provision of adequate healthcare facilities, including those care services for the elderly
and facilities for the disabled, is a necessity in a healthy city. The current Plan contains a
policy “to support the Health Board in their development of primary care teams in prime urban
centres, village and neighbourhood.” The new development plan should continue to include
policies, and if necessary objectives, encouraging and facilitating the development and / or
expansion of healthcare facilities and hospitals in the city. However, such policies should
avoid allowing a proliferation of social support facilities, such as drug clinics, in areas in the
city. A peppering of such facilities across the city is a more appropriate approach. Currently
there are certain more vulnerable areas in the city where there are concentrations of social
support facilities.
Places of Public Worship
Given the increasingly diverse population profile in the City and the differing religious needs
there has been a growing demand for new places of worship throughout the city. The issue
for the next plan is how do we facilitate and support such facilities in the city to ensure that
they suit the needs of the users, are more permanent in nature and are located in the most
appropriate locations in the city.
4.3 Disability & Accessibility
Dublin City Council has prepared an Access Plan to meet the requirements of the Disability
Act . Public consultations with people with disabilities and their representative groups were
held during the preparation of this plan. This has led to a heightened awareness among
stakeholders of their rights and of the duties of Local Authorities.
The issues of disability and accessibility have been given increased prominence in recent
years at national level with the introduction of the 2005 Disability Act. Section 36 of the said
Act required a Sectoral Plan to be devised. The Sectoral Plan of the DoEHLG is the major
policy document relating to disability. The Planning code is addressed as follows: “The aim of
ensuring effective access for all must also be addressed by local authorities when dealing
with planning applications for housing and commercial development. The primary issue is to
ensure access of approach to buildings. Local authorities must ensure that developers
address the design implications of accessibility, the location of disabled car parking and other
related issues at an early stage in the development process for both housing and commercial
developments”.
The new development plan will ensure that Dublin City continues to develop as a Universally
Accessible City and that, where possible, equality of access will be afforded to all citizens.
4.4 Integration
The most significant change in terms of city population profile has been the increase in ethnic
population characterised in early stages by asylum/refugees flows and subsequently primarily
driven by the labour market to support and sustain the strong economic performance and
growth of the past 10 years.
While census figures indicate 15% city population is of migrant origin or 75,000 people the
figures are more likely closer to 20% or 100,000 people. While the spread of migration is
citywide there is significant concentration in centre city areas where a number of city centre
wards now have a population the majority of which are form ethnic backgrounds.
While the current economic downturn will create migration outflows immigration is here to
stay. Within European and world context mobility of population is a significant factor.
Approximately 40 million foreign-born individuals now live in the EU27 and constitute 8.3% of
its total population
Economic changes could generate divisions on immigration, with growing discrimination and
racism. Political and organisational response needs to be well informed and tuned for
response. The City Council has responded in 2008 with policy statement "Towards Integration
A City Framework" which sets the context and approach at city level with City Council taking a
leadership role.
Integration takes place at the local level and the responsibilities of the City Council extend
through its strategic policy and organisational response, in partnership with the network of city
agencies, both public and private.
There is a need to consider issues around clustering of immigrant communities in spatial
terms with concentration in certain areas, which can be negative (ghettoisation) or positive
with a dynamic for change in the development of new ethnic businesses, adding new diversity
to areas in decline.
In relation to the creation and usage of urban spaces, regard should be had to the
intercultural perspective. Different cultures interpret space differently and this can create
tension between different users. City spaces and public parks are spaces for ethnic minorities
to congregate in a way, which is socially different from native population.
Different immigrant communities may have different retail, religious, housing, recreational,
cultural needs etc. that are from the needs of native population. If so, how role can planning
play in catering for the differing needs of our immigrants?
The planning process should be responsive to the planning issues arising from cultural
diversity and should seek to actively reaffirm and support the local communities that are
emerging as the areas where immigrants settle and have the potential to develop a new local
diversity which can revitalise and support urban regeneration. New approaches to work
practices, new types of entrepreneurship, links with home countries and other innovative
approaches which immigrants can bring can become a basis for stimulating new local
economies. The development plans needs to specifically recognise these changes and create
the conditions, which enable the potential for local initiaves to be realised.
In recent times there has been a call from some bodies in the city for the creation of a
Chinatown, complete with an arch, on Parnell Street. Would such an addition be a beneficial
addition to the city’s landscape, economy and cultural vibrancy?
Sections above focus on the key issues involved in the creation of an attractive city in which
to work, live and remain for long periods of time, both for existing citizens and the ‘new Irish’.
How to measure the success of policies and objectives implemented is a key consideration
for the next plan. One possible way in which this could be done is quantitatively is a
measurement of the number of crèche facilities granted and occupied, numbers of schools
permitted and built, numbers of community centres built and actively used, number of health
facilities permitted and built etc. However, this measurement is a crude measure of success.
Perhaps another method that could be utilised is the assessment of the city’s success having
regard to the defined key characteristics for a sustainable neighbourhood, which the Planning
Authority could set out in the next development plan.
5. Summary of Key Issues
Creating Sustainable Communities
1. How can the development plan support the creation of a network of sustainable
neighbourhoods that are underpinned by an adequate range of supporting community
infrastructure and are safe, green, clean and attractive places for people to live and
remain for long periods of their lifecycle?
2. What are the key attributes of a successful ‘ sustainable neighbourhood’?
3. How can the ‘designing out crime’ be encouraged in new developments?
4. How can the planning authority measure successes in the area of community
development? Should a methodology be devised?
Provision of Community Facilities
5. How can the development plan facilitate the provision of adequate, affordable and
appropriate childcare facilities in the city?
6. How can we ensure that new developments make good provision for children’s play for
all age groups of childhood?
7. How can the development plan facilitate the timely provision of schools?
8. How can the development plan facilitate and encourage the development and growth of
3rd and 4th level educational facilities?
9. How best can facilities for the care of the elderly be delivered in new developments?
10. How can we ensure the provision and/or facilitation of hospitals and healthcare
facilities?
11. How can a proliferation of some social support facilities, e.g. drug clinics, be managed in
more vulnerable areas of the city?
12. How can Dublin City Council encourage and facilitate community facilities, which are
properly resourced, managed and in sustainable locations.
Disability and Accessibility
13. How can we encourage and facilitate the development of Dublin City as a universally
accessible city?
14. How can DCC encourage and facilitate the needs of the disabled in development
proposals?
Integration
15. Should the development of distinctive ethnic economic enclaves be encouraged in the
city e.g. Chinatown?
16. How can the creation of parallel communities and urban ghettos be avoided in the city?
