Some bright ideas about making the most of Cork city's charms were aired at a recent conference. A Canadian urban redevelopment planner, Mr Joe Berridge, said Cork city needed radically to overhaul its riverfront in order to take advantage of a host of hidden treasures.
The "designing cities" urban planning conference was told by Mr Berridge that the city was in need of a "big fix" to make it as visually appealing as Edinburgh or Bilbao in northern Spain.
"Cork is blessed with river frontage but there isn't a tree anywhere. I think that the North Mall is the only place in the city where I was able to sit on a bench under a tree."
The planner, who has worked on a number of high-profile projects including London's Canary Wharf, said he was captivated by the steps, slopes, steeples and bridges in Cork.
He couldn't understand why an adequate lighting system hadn't been put in place to illuminate the city, he said.
"Look at Edinburgh. You can do that magic here. You are your own advertisement. Barcelona has totally reinvented itself to move from the margins of European community to becoming an active player."
Mr Berridge said Cork should be careful not to focus solely on pedestrianisation to alleviate traffic problems in the city.
"Cars are your friend as much as your enemy. The best thing you could do in this city is to concentrate on making streets two-way rather than just zone in on the pedestrian issue."
He added that Cork would also benefit from a railway service upgrading which could cut the train journey from Dublin to Cork to under two hours, allowing the city to absorb some of the capital's energy.
Mr Berridge acted as planning consultant on urban developments such as the world financial centre in New York, the reconstruction of Manchester after it was devastated by an IRA bomb in 1996, and the design and development strategy for Speke-Garston in Liverpool.
Meanwhile, a Spanish architect, Ms Beth Gali, is set to head the proposed redevelopment of the main thoroughfare of Patrick Street.
In a £7 million project, she will transform this city centre location over the next two to three years and bring a clean, light and airy sense to the space. The project will make the streets far more spacious and pedestrian-friendly.
One of the more notable design details of the new-look streetscape will be the use of 20,000 square metres of natural stone paving which will form the street and pavements.
The Cork Docklands is also to be developed to include 6,000 new residential units, business and commercial parks, education and leisure facilities.
The head of regeneration and environment at Southwark Council, London, Mr Fred Manson, said Cork needed to focus on small-scale projects in order to give the city back to the people.
"Cork needs to create little spaces to give each person a bit of the city to look at. You don't have to do things in grand scale. Just take one small area and work to improve it."
Southwark Council put together a signage system which was a form of branding unique to the area.
Signage was placed on manhole covers directing visitors to buildings such as the Tate Modern Gallery and the Globe Theatre.
Mr Manson is credited with helping to establish Southwark as a leading light in kick-starting deprived areas.
The Designing Cities conference was presented by the National Sculpture Factory and the Cork Midsummer Festival.