High-rise housing to be part of €4bn plan for Dublin

Dublin city is to have more high-rise and high-density developments as part of a €4 billion plan to regenerate the city's housing over the next decade, the new city manager, John Tierney, has said.

All new council homes built in the next 10 years will be apartments, Mr Tierney said, and the council will take the lead in developing high-rise complexes and in identifying suitable areas for private sector high-rise development. He did not envisage a cap being put on the height of developments, he said.

Mr Tierney yesterday outlined his plans for the city for the first time since taking over as city manager from John Fitzgerald last July. In addition to housing developments, Mr Tierney said it would become more difficult for cars to operate in Dublin city and congestion charges would be considered.

Building high-rise blocks in a traditionally low-rise city presented challenges, he said, but strategically positioned higher-density developments would be greatly facilitated by the new public transport initiatives under the Transport 21 plans.

"There may be sites more suitable than others in relation to high-rise development and we need to lead more in terms of demonstrating where high-rise developments will be possible."

The council had to give more guidance and develop policies in relation to determining where high-rise developments are located to respect the city's current form and structure, he said.

"There will be be more high-rise buildings, but it's how we develop and control that that will be the challenge."

Mr Tierney said he was not in favour of putting a rigid cap on the height on buildings because it would restrict the way particular sites would develop.

Transport 21 projects, including new Luas lines and the metro from the city centre to Swords, would not only change the housing dynamics of the city but would create a "different set-up for the car", he said.

"Inevitably it's going to be more difficult for the car to operate around the city centre area when we have a proper public transport system, a viable public transport system, available."

Measures to discourage car- use in the city centre, including the introduction of congestion charges, would be considered once the public transport infrastructure was in place.

"The issue of demand management will be considered more closely when you do have a viable public transport alternative. You can see then what patterns there are in terms of people transferring to public transport and whether there is a need to encourage them to transfer in greater numbers to the public transport system," he said.