Dublin: The shaping of a capital (World cities series) - Hardcover

MacLaren, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852931663 ISBN 13: 9781852931667

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

Dublin, the Georgian architectural gem, and Dubliners, the people immortalised by Joyce and Behan, share a highly romantic and idealised international image. The aim of this book is to examine through a comprehensive urban geography of the city how far the stereotypical picture of Dublin life and landscape mesh with the real facts of a modern industrial and political capital, absolutely dominating in size and influence a small country on the edge of the European Community. Andrew MacLaran begins his study by sketching Dublin's historical roots from Norse foundations through Irish and English influences to the emergent capital of an independent Ireland. He then examines the evolution of the urban economy since 1945 and political and land development issues. Planning within a city and national context is then studied, specifically transport and land use problems. Population, housing, environmental problems and management, and the built environment (including a detailed consideration of Dublin's incomparable architecture) are dealt with in successive chapters. The final three chapters consider the city's cultural life and the complex attitudes, experiences and contradictions that characterise the Dubliner, the relationship between ideology and the urban environment and Dublin's future as a European and world city.

About this title

From the Publisher

The immortalization of Dublin and Dubliners share a highly romantic and idealized international image compliments of James Joyce and Brendan Behan. A comprehensive urban geography of the city is examined as to how far the stereotypical picture of Dublin life and landscape engage with the real facts of a modern industrial and political capital.

From the Inside Flap

World Cities Series edited by R. J. Johnston, University of Essex and P.L. Knox, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Dublin, the Georgian architectural gem, and Dubliners, the people immortalised by Joyce and Behan, share a highly romantic and idealised international image. The aim of this book is to examine through a comprehensive urban geography of the city how far the stereo-typical picture of Dublin life and landscape mesh with the real facts of a modern industrial and political capital, dominating in size and influence a small country on the edge of the European Community. Andrew MacLaran begins his study by sketching Dublin’s historical roots from Norse foundations through Irish and English influences to the emergent capital of an independent Ireland. He then examines the evolution of the urban economy since 1945 and analyses the Political and Planning contexts within which recent developments have taken place. Attention then focuses on the city’s Population, its youthful age-structure and its social composition and then deals in some depth with the Housing System. The book concludes with an examination of the emergence of serious Inner-City problems resulting from economic restructuring. This important book will be widely read as the classic, authoritative study of a remarkable city. Contents

1. Introduction
2. The origins and growth of Dublin
3. The economy of Dublin
4. Politics and government
5. Planning the city
6. Strategic planning of land-use and transportation
7. Creating the urban landscape
8. The population of Dublin
9. The residential environment
10. Inner-city problems and regeneration
11. Epilogue

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852931663
• ISBN 13: 9781852931667
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224