Realising Compact Growth in Dublin; Reviewing measures adopted by Local Authorities to concentrate development along the proposed Metrolink Luas Greenline Transport Corridor.

Since 1999, there have been a noticeable evolution in the Irish national and regional planning policy towards concentrating new development within the footprint of existing towns and cities. The approach of ‘realising compact growth’ has numerous benefits including reducing carbon emissions, making more effective and economic use of existing infrastructure, avoiding urban sprawl and helping to achieve more balanced regional development. To enable its achievement, the National Planning Framework (NPF) and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) have set ambitious targets for compact urban growth and they include measures that are designed to promote the development of vacant and underutilised infill and brownfield sites along public transport corridors. This paper reviews the extent to which these measures have been adopted by Local Authorities along the proposed Metrolink Greenline Luas transport corridor in Dublin and while it reveals that progress is being made, more urgent actions will need to be taken if these targets are to be achieved.