A visit to Dublin after the real estate and building bubble has come to a standstill is a powerful experience for town planners and urban sociologists. In April 2011 an interdisciplinary group of Dutch and Flemish professionals discovered in Dublin new insights and solutions for city planning and development during and after the crisis.
Who is leading the restructuring of the urban form before and after the crisis? Since the 60s and especially during the Celtic Tiger period of economic growth the investor-city was leading. Now, during the crisis, the developer-led city is not capable anymore as motor for urban development, the initiatives have come to a standstill, leaving behind a patchwork of half-finished projects.
This doesn't mean that nothing in Dublin is happening anymore. The ever-important role of strong citizens and neighbourhood initiatives are now rediscovered. And city government now tries to give guidelines and ideas for a sustainable city and society, willing to create real empowerment and social inclusion on the urban level and in the living quarters. Integral smart planning that monitors general interest is ever so important.
During the Dublin trip and in discussion with many Dublin professionals we discovered the back side of the crisis and the developer-led system and the hopeful side of the ‘lived' city, the city of initiatives by people and organizations who use the city, a more bottom up approach. And it made us think how the ever so important triangle of the role of government, the investor city and the empowerment of the inhabitants have to work together. The article "Dublin between crisis and new energy" tells about this. The article is based upon the feedback of 14 participants of the Dublin trip.
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