Dublin pedestrians top priority under new public realm strategy
Planners outline vision for a more playful and walking-friendly city core
Dublin's new Public Realm Strategy will dramatically improve permeability through the city for both pedestrians and cyclists.
Under the scheme, the city will show its pedestrians a lot more love, with the creation of new rest points "for relaxation and respite" dotted around the centre.
Pedestrians are moving to the top of the city's pecking order under the new strategy.
Owen Keegan, chief executive of Dublin City Council, will today host a symposium on the city's future in the Gresham Hotel, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1.
The symposium will provide detail on what the City Council intends to do in key areas of Dublin City over the next two decades.
The aim is to air and discuss best international practice in how to make the city a more pleasant and liveable place.
One of the key moves is an increase in public seating. This comes following wide public consultation.
Officials want a city centre that is more responsive to the needs of both the young and the elderly.
"We have failed in the past to advocate for the needs of pedestrians. The elderly and the very young are missing, as a proportion of our city's users."
That's according to public realm strategy project manager Siobhan Maher, who points out that all city users become pedestrians at some point in their journey.
Under the new plan Dublin will become a "pedestrian-friendly" city as distinct from a "pedestrianised" one.
"We are now affirming the place of pedestrians at the top of the movement pinnacle in the traffic network," says Maher.
"We have had very little public seating in the past. Under the new plan, there will be more stopping points for pedestrians and small spaces for lingering, such as at the newly-installed seating area at the George's Street-Dame Street junction."
The draft plan also identifies "super-blocks" in the city which currently impede the flow of pedestrians and cyclists.
New pedestrian and cycling routes will be developed through historic "urban blocks" such as Trinity College, Dublin Castle and the Department of Education.
The ultimate aim is to investigate how to open up routes that will create new "cut-throughs" with improved lighting and paving of key laneways.
"The cycling environment has improved immensely," says Maher, "but there are still blocks whereby cyclists are pushed around high-traffic gyratory routes. We need to work on those."
The plan has developed a pavement use calculator to inform its decisions, modelled on one used by Transport for London.
Dame Street is the city's busiest thoroughfare, with a footfall of 5,000 per hour despite its somewhat narrow pavements.
It is believed thatevery single tourist in Dublin passes through College Green at some stage on their visit to the city.
The Failte Ireland DubLin Dublin Discovery Trail specifically channels tourist traffic through the "civic spine" from Parnell Street to O'Connell Street, on to College Green and up to Kilmainham.
In the plan, calculation metrics are used to determine on-street space allocation, allowing for the varying demands of casual and tourist footfall, commuters, stacking space for bus stops and the room allocated to licensed street furniture belonging to cafes and restaurants.
Wolfe Tone Square in Dublin 1 is earmarked for a design upgrade, with improved shelter and seating to tackle its current over-windy environment.
The new Luas link route, which is scheduled to open in 2017, will run up O'Connell Street and down Marlborough Street.
Adjacent Cathal Brugha Street, Cathedral Street, North Earl Street and Sackville Place are all earmarked for precinct improvement.
"The Public Realm plan advocates the use of high-quality design and materials that will reflect and enhance the status of Dublin as a capital city.
"We will introduce design features that are distinctive to each district but there will be a uniformity of tone that identifies as distinctively Dublin," says Maher.
A key plank of the draft plan is to upgrade secondary roads used for traffic dispersal.
"We need to create ease of movement for traffic dispersal, to allow space for social and cultural activity at central points."
The authors have also identified a lack of trees in the north inner city.
"Planting more trees has numerous benefits," says Leslie Moore, chairman of the City Council public realm co-ordination group.
"We are having hotter summers and city-dwellers increasingly use trees to seek shade. Trees add aesthetic improvement, as well as improving the quality of the air. The also aid in the run-off of excess rain water."
"We also want the city to become more playful," says Moore.
"There are more families now living in the city centre and we want to offer them space for respite and relaxation through the use of artistic interventions and clever urban design.
"It's all part of the plan for a 'greening' of the city."
The masterplan
Dublin City Council brought forward its first Public Realm Strategy in 2012 on foot of national and international research.
Owen Keegan said “Public space plays a vital role in how Dublin city functions, its liveability and connectivity, and above all the quality of life it offers to those who live, work and visit the city.”
Dublin City Council will launch itsHeart of Dublin; City Centre Public Realm Masterplan and the Public Realm Masterplan for the North Lotts and Grand Canal Dock SDZ Planning Scheme 2014 documents as part of today’s programme at the Gresham Hotel.
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