On the edge: Regenerating a Dublin suburb

David Prichard

City, 2000, vol. 4, issue 1, 65-80

Abstract: Ballymun is a run-down 1960s high-rise Dublin suburb, the only one of its kind in Ireland. Its towers are conspicuous on the skyline and are one of the first views seen from the airport. Its deprivation has been chronicled by commentators such as Anne Power and it is one of five symbolic estates in her book Estates on the Edge . It has become known for its roaming horses and is the setting for Roddy Doyle novels. In 1997 Ballymun Regeneration Limited (BRL) was set up to manage its design and renewal, and it was with a team led by MacCormac Jamieson Prichard that the Masterplan was prepared. This article is about the ideas and intention of that Masterplan. For there to be real and lasting change, the project has to be much more than just a housing renewal exercise, it must tackle what the team called the four Es-employment, education, environment and empowerment. For Ballymun to grow into a more stable community, it needs to become more than a satellite dormitory, to be in fact a true town with a choice of places to work, learn, relax and shop, with significantly improved transport facilities. These are the ambitions behind, and the opportunities offered by, the Masterplan. This article by the Leader of the Design Team, explains some of the design ideas which aim to improve the environment, along with implementation strategies and reports on progress in the first year of the project. We publish it as a contribution from a practitioner towards understanding the detailed implications of the notion of regeneration.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1080/713656992

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