ABSTRACT
Recent economic growth has finally allowed Ireland to begin to catch up with its European partners in terms of an array of quality of life indicators such as per capita income. In the meantime this same growth has placed pressure on the existing infrastructure. While true of the whole country, infrastructure constraints are certainly very evident in Dublin, most recognisably in the familiar level of road congestion. Painful as it may now seem, State and Structural Fund investment will eventually see the infrastructure deficit overcome. However, if quality of life indicators are to have any meaning in the future, it is essential that policy-makers and planners give thought to the type of urban environment that will justify this investment in the long-term.
