The Altered Edge: the Impact of the Construction Boom on the Landscape of the Urban Periphery

Abstract

Until 2008 the Republic of Ireland had experienced for over ten years an unprecedented economic boom. The residual ‘spiritual value’ of land and landscape as representing the culture and amenity of our state was replaced by an ever more one-dimensional economic assessment where land as a ‘commodity’ was emphasized presenting increased opportunities for profit to amateur and professional developers alike. Numbers, quantity, amount became the overarching requirement. The potential of any piece of unserviced ground for more houses, apartments, holiday homes was rarely dismissed. Planning policy — informed by political and local pressures and unchallenged spatial strategies — frequently resulted in the zoning of land for development when often such zoning was undesirable. Financial policies giving tax breaks to incentivize questionable growth added to the often headlong rush towards environmental mediocrity. The ensuing growth in construction created sprawl around our cities and the towns of the ‘commuter belt’ — often more than 150km from employment. The inevitable result of building in the wrong place was starkly illustrated when the new homes of many on flood plains were destroyed by the rising waters. This was true in such towns as Carrick on Shannon — 150km north west of Dublin — where the collective knowledge of generations about the appropriateness of ‘place’ was overwhelmed by the desire to realize the development potential of what previously was agricultural land.