Sir, – Dublin City Council councillors have approved a list of areas of expertise to be represented on an advisory board that will steer the so-called “rejuvenation” of the city centre under the Dublin City Centre Rejuvenation Roadmap.
One might reasonably ask whether Dublin needs yet another committee or advisory board, likely followed by another glossy report destined to gather dust or serve as little more than a doorstopper.
More troubling, however, is the composition of the proposed board. The approved list includes finance, real estate, banking, retail, institutional investors, legal and political representation. Conspicuously absent are voices from public health, urban planning, environmental sustainability, climate mitigation and adaptation, community development and social inclusion.
If the goal is genuinely to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, we must first ask: rejuvenate it for whom? A city is not simply a balance sheet or a property portfolio.
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If we are serious about creating a fairer, healthier and greener Dublin for all, then those guiding its future should reflect that ambition. We need expertise rooted in public health, sustainable urban design, active transport, and inclusion and community development not another board of individuals whose main concern is profit rather than people.
A rejuvenated Dublin must mean an improved quality of life. For all. As it stands, however, the proposed advisory board risks repeating the mistakes of the past. – Yours, etc,
OLA LOKKEN NORDRUM,
Beggars Bush,
Dublin 4.
