Meeting hears call for end to National Spatial Strategy

The Government should abandon the National Spatial Strategy and stop trying to divert economic growth from Dublin, a conference organised by DIT and Dublin City Council has heard.

DIT academic Prof John Ratcliffe said the spatial strategy was fundamentally flawed in that it was artificially trying to move the economic engine out of Dublin and into certain regional hubs.

The Government must rethink its "anywhere but Dublin" stance, Prof Ratcliffe told the Cities of Knowledge conference in Dublin yesterday.

"Dublin is the engine of national growth and the attempt to build other gateways at the expense of Dublin goes against the tide of external global factors that drive economic growth. It will be a disaster for the Irish economy if we don't make the Dublin region our priority for growth and development."

Peter J Finnegan, director of international relations and research at Dublin City Council, said the prosperity of the capital was essential to the national economy. "To secure future prosperity our key concern must be to sustain competitiveness and develop the quality of life in the city."

The aim of the conference was to learn from international best practice how Dublin could prosper at the forefront of the knowledge economy and to identify how the city might best connect with business and citizens, Mr Finnegan said.

"We need to develop as a knowledge city, an innovative city that utilises the power of technology to foster the creative industries and to make life better for all our citizens as they go about the business of daily living," he said.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Paddy Bourke said the city was ideally placed to be a hub for technological innovation.