Changing Approaches to Urban Planning in an 'Entrepreneurial City': The Case of Dublin

Abstract

The paper reviews the manner in which urban planning in Dublin has changed in response to central government urban renewal initiatives and an increasing ethos of entrepreneurialism within the local authority of Dublin Corporation. The paper outlines the marginalization of local planning functions and the undermining of planning powers through the establishment of special purpose renewal agencies. Dublin Corporation planners have consequently sought refuge in integrated micro-area planning, marking a shift in philosophy regarding the appropriate role for planning in the context of entrepreneurial governance. The paper provides an empirical account of the relationship between changing approaches to urban renewal and the evolution of local planning practice, noting the challenges and opportunities for urban planning created by altered governance structures and approaches.

Placing Housing in Rural Development: Exogenous, Endogenous and Neo‐Endogenous Approaches

“…(), for example, have illustrated the gradual ‘entrepreneurial shift’ in the legislative framework for Irish planning, leading to an increasingly overt facilitation of development interests. Furthermore, at the local scale, a number of authors have also traced the emergence and entrenchment of an entrepreneurial approach to local planning in Ireland since the mid‐1980s, especially as it relates to residential development processes (McGuirk , , ; McGuirk and MacLaran ; MacLaran and Williams ). Consequently, local development plans have become more flexible and pro‐development.…”

Entrepreneurship and enterprise skills: A missing element of planning education?

“…In addition, a philosophical shift is noticeable as public sector planning gradually turns away from controlling the market towards a promarket, enterprise orientation, especially in Western industrialized democracies. For example, McGuirk and MacLaran (2001) observe that 'entrepreneurially-minded' city governments employ competitive business strategies in conjunction with public-private partnerships to facilitate urban renewal and regeneration. And, local authorities having to cope with delivering more complex planning tasks are resorting to increasingly subcontracting related tasks such as masterplan development, land use monitoring and GIS support as a means to cope.…”

Physical Planning in Entrepreneurial Urban Governance—Experiences from the Bo01 and Brunnshög Projects, Sweden

“…There are also limitations posed by the persistence of hierarchical relations that hinder the emergence of plural forms of leadership, coordinated action and quick responses. Simultaneously, area-based agencies are set up to oversee the projects, replacing or shadowing traditional tasks of the planning department (Tasan-Kok, 2010;McGuirk & MacLaran, 2001).…”

“…In the case of the two LSUDPs this phenomenon is not observable since the municipalities have had a planning monopoly since 1907 (Blucher, 2006). However, in the process of delegating responsibilities to the local level and of extending public-private partnerships, some authors note the emergence of area-based agencies replacing or overshadowing physical planning (McGuirk & MacLaran, 2001). This is observable in the case of Bo01 with the creation of the Bo01AB, which allowed informal procedures and networks to be developed parallel to the action of the planning department.…”

“…However, the strong emphasis of these strategies on interventions over the physical landscape of a city or neighborhood implies greater attention to what is being done by public sector urban planning, as the field that formally takes charge over urban planning in the city. There are fewer studies focusing on this issue (although see McGuirk & MacLaran, 2001;Gualini & Major, 2007;Tasan-Kok, 2010;Therkildsen, Hansen & Lorentzen, 2009). Existing studies tend to approach this turn by emphasizing that it signifies a decrease in the scope of influence for public sector, and by extension for urban planning (McGuirk & MacLaran, 2001, Elander & Strömberg, 2001).…”