Urban Governance and the ‘European City’: Ideals and Realities in Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

Throughout the last number of decades, a significant amount of attention has been given to the notion of the 'European city' within policy formation and academic enquiry. From one perspective, the ideal of the 'European city' is presented as a densely developed urban area with a focus on quality public transport and a more balanced social structure. More recently, however, the particular elements of the 'European city' associated with pedestrianized public space, urban design and image-making strategies have become central features of entrepreneurial urban policies throughout Europe. This article seeks to undertake an examination of the notion of the 'European city' in urban change in Dublin since the 1990s. Specifically, the article illustrates the degree to which a wholly positive spin on the urban design and image-making elements of the 'European city' in Dublin has served as a thin veil for the desired transformation of Dublin according to neoliberal principles.

Living labs and vacancy in the neoliberal city

“…This is particularly the case in urban regeneration-linked LL, where the initiatives are largely tokenistic and the ambition is to transform the area into a vibrant digital economy. As noted above, LL can contribute to the creation of "smart enclaves" (Clark & Shelton, 2016), "cultural quarters" (Lawton & Punch, 2014), and to direct, exclusionary, and cultural forms of displacement Marcuse, 1985) by attracting pools of users and initiators who are themselves active buyers in the inflationary property market of neoliberal cities. Whereas the SC discourse is fairly recent, over forty years of gentrification research have laid the ground for understanding the dynamics of capitalist urban development, and for unpacking different forms of displacement.…”

“…Rather than local communities fully benefiting from economic revitalisation, the creative class are being drawn into these new digital hubs displacing existing residents through soaring rental and property prices. As such, these areas are key active sites of gentrification where local authorities purposively seek gentrification as an ideal policy solution for urban change (Lawton & Punch, 2014).…”

Encountering austerity in deprived urban neighbourhoods: Local geographies and the emergence of austerity in the lifeworld of urban youth

“…Facilitated by ongoing financialization and entrepreneurial urban management (Lawton and Punch, 2014;MacLaran and Kelly, 2014), a crisis in private housing provision developed in Dublin (Hedderman and Farrell, 2016). In 2015, rents were up 43% in Dublin (compared to 2010) and 37% in Cork (Lyons, 2015), being significantly higher in Dublin compared to the rest of Ireland (PRTB, 2015).…”

Uneven development, suburban futures and the urban region: The case of an Irish ‘sustainable new town’

“…This work has been particularly focused upon the connection between the state, urban renewal and the property sector (MacLaran and Kelly, 2014). Here, a significant amount of attention has been paid to high-profile tax-incentivized forms of development projects, such as the Dublin Docklands (MacLaran and Kelly, 2014), state-led urban regeneration projects, such as Temple Bar (Lawton and Punch, 2014), and the gentrification of working class parts of the city (Kelly, 2014). Predominantly, this work has demonstrated the highly imbalanced and unequal nature of such approaches to urban transformation, with a particular focus upon city centre locations.…”

“…In the context of the period of sustained economic growth in the late 1990s to c.2007, official discourses of planning became increasingly focused on promoting a form of sustainability fix to the challenges of urban sprawl and a largely unfettered approach to both urban and rural transformation (Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG), 2007, 2008; DoE, 1997; NESC, 2004). The desire to promote sustainable approaches to urban development emerged through a belief that investment in the built environment could be channelled in a manner that was perceived as being more acceptable from the perspective of sustainable planning goals (see Lawton and Punch, 2014). As such, through the publication of a number of key documents, the then government sought to promote the development of ‘sustainable communities’.…”