Real challenge is to turn a district into a community

ANALYSIS:THE CELTIC tiger, it could be argued, was born in the International Financial Services Centre on Dublin's docklands. Today, the question is whether the docklands can continue to prosper now that the tiger has bolted.

The signs are mixed. The cranes still hover over the north quays, where a new convention centre and the revamped Point theatre are in construction. Leading law firms have moved into the glassy blocks on the south quays and plans are advanced to create a new quarter on the Poolbeg peninsula.

Yet inside the shops business is quiet. "To Let" signs still hang off some of the newly completed office blocks. All is quiet by night and, notwithstanding the fine architecture, much of the docklands has yet to develop as an area with its own identity. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority's new five-year plan grapples with some of these challenges. However, it is based on a view of the economy that looks decidedly rosier by the day.

DDDA chief executive Paul Maloney says he has "every confidence" growth rates will return to the heights seen in recent years and that Government spending on the infrastructural elements of the plan will not be cut. Many of the projects are already under construction and so should be safe from any cuts. But other longer-term projects may be viewed as too costly unless the private sector is prepared to contribute to the bill.

Here, the DDDA has a few aces up its sleeve. In planning terms, it can deliver. While many of the city council's public-private partnerships with developers have ended in disaster, the authority is pressing forward with the partnership model. This produces results because the authority can fast-track development by granting section 25 exemptions from the planning process.

Whether this is democratic is another matter. Maloney yesterday stressed the amount of consultation undertaken with local communities, but what they are to make of the master plan and its jargon about building "legibility" and "sustainability toolkits" is hard to know.

The other advantage enjoyed by the docklands is its location. The area has the potential to be one of the great living environments of Europe.

The docklands could be an antidote to urban sprawl yet so far it has failed to attract families.

Having created a district, the real challenge for the authority now is to build a community.