Re: Re: Irish Towns – future planning

Some of the most picturesque and admired of Irish towns and cities were planned so I don’t really buy the idea that the (effectively) unplanned expansion is what gives Irish towns and cities their “charm”. The complete opposite is the case in my opinion. I find that the unplanned outer ring of most Irish towns and cities is generally unattractive and that the small urban cores are the attractive and interesting bits. The latter in most cases were planned to some degree or other.

As a matter of interest, have we built any townscapes/city scapes in the last 100 years at all? All development in the country seems to have been once-off rural, suburban or infill in existing urban centres. This is simply unsustainable. We need to relearn how to build towns and cities like the continentals do.