3.10 Urban Structure

One of the policy priorities of the BMW Region is to enhance the urban structure of its principal towns. Large concentrations of people with deep labour pools are essential for regions to achieve critical mass and fulfil their potential.

The National Spatial Strategy designated five Gateways in the BMW Region. The Border region has three which are designated as Gateways for the purposes of the NSS. These are Letterkenny/Derry, Sligo and Dundalk. In the Midlands Region the Midland Triangle comprising Athlone, Mullingar and Tullamore is the designated Gateway and Galway is the designated Gateway in the West Region. The designated Hubs in the BMW Region are Cavan, Monaghan, Ballina, Castlebar and Tuam. The populations of these towns are included in Table 3.13. It is worth noting the low share of each of the region’s population accounted for by these Gateways and Hubs. The percentages are 18.9 % in the Midlands, 18.4 % in the Border and 24.5 % in the West. This highlights the importance of developing their critical mass in terms of population and increasing their significance as regional drivers of economic activity.

Source: Census 2002, CSO

Table 3.14 sets out in more detail the relative urban structure of the BMW Region when compared with other regions in Ireland. It can be seen that the State as a whole is significantly more urbanised than the three sub-regions of the BMW Region. The data also show that the principal urban centres account for a low share of the population when compared with other regions. This is a key weakness of the BMW Region which presents challenges in terms of economic and social development.

Table 3.14: Regional Growth and Urban Structures, 2002

*Bracketed numbers are the regional rankings, e.g. 1 to 7 - Source: Fitzpatrick Associates (2006) Implementing the NSS: Gateways Investment Priorities Study

The NSS underlines the importance of these Gateways as drivers for regional growth, recognising that this growth is mainly generated by urban centres. It is proposed that this Operational Programme will support the development of the designated growth centres through a targeted investment programme. This is outlined in Priority 3 in chapter 5 of the OP.

The strategy for enhancing urban-rural inter-linkages is provided in the National Spatial Strategy, as described in section 2.9 of this Operational Programme. The NSS reinforces the objective of balanced territorial development as a priority policy for the Irish Government and proposes that enhancing the development potential and generating critical mass in key urban centres is linked with the development of the rural hinterlands of the designated urban centres. The NSS, consistent with the European Spatial Development Perspective (1999: 66) recognises the interdependence of urban and rural areas and defines strengthening the rural economy, strengthening rural communities and strengthening environmental qualities within a typology of five types of rural areas as important policy areas.

The spatial planning framework in the NSS is elaborated at NUTS III level in the Regional Planning Guidelines, as described in section 2.15 of this OP. The Regional Planning Guidelines provide a regional framework for more efficient land use planning and provide regional investment strategies for each NUTS III region. The investment priorities for each of the designated gateways are set out in the Gateways Investment Priorities Report. These have been taken into account in the preparation of this OP.

The integration of spatial planning and public investment in order to assist all regions to deliver to their maximum potential and to enhance the quality of life of all people wherever they live, will be largely addressed through the NDP 2007-13 (see section 1.5). The NDP also emphasizes the role of strong urban centres in stimulating regional economic development. This OP will complement and add value to the NDP initiatives.

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