No decision has been made as to whether this area will have the benefit of special legal and financial incentives with a more integrated land use and urban design strategy. The extent of European funding for special projects will be limited and are hardly ever to be of the same magnitude as in Temple Bar. The new light rail transport system - LUAS, will pass through the area and this should have a strong economic effect. It also poses major design challenges. Conclusion Dublin like many other European Cities, now recognises that urban design is a vital and integral part of urban planning and is necessary to complement the traditional land use development plans.
Urban design needs to be refined and developed.
Its theories, concepts and strategies, must take into account low key projects, static city districts, maintenance and energy conservation factors, and be incremental just as well as interventionist. Dublin, Collected Poems, Louis MacNeice, published London 1966, Faber and Faber. Dublin Metropolitan Streets Commission - A Summary of Draft Proposals, 1987. The author of this article was Principal Professional Consultant to the Metropolitan Street Commission. Temple Bar Framework Plan, Temple Bar Properties, Dublin 1991.