Neoliberal Urban Policy and the Transformation of the City Reshaping Dublin

by MacLaran, Andrew; Kelly, Sinéad

• ISBN13: 9781137377043
• ISBN10: 1137377046
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-08-12
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This collection focuses on the character and impacts of 'actually-existing' neoliberalism in Ireland, taking Dublin as a central case study. It explores the way in which Irish neoliberalism brought about a major transformation in the city and how the 'Celtic Tiger' economy underwent a dramatic change in fortunes, requiring a bail-out from the EU, ECB and IMF in late 2010. The study comprises four parts, setting the contextual background, examining the property-development boom and its legacy, reviewing the impacts of neoliberal urban policy in reshaping the city and, finally, noting aspects of public resistance to the operation of neoliberal urban policy, highlighting salient points to be drawn from the continuing Irish experience of neoliberalism and austerity. Drawing together a wide range of research, this volume is an essential read for undergraduates, postgraduates and academics in geography, sociology, urban planning and political science.

Author Biography

Andrew MacLaran is Associate Professor of Geography and Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. His book Dublin: The Shaping of a Capital (1993) won the RICS (Irish Branch) Manning Robertson Award in recognition of its contribution to a better understanding of Irish planning.

Sinéad Kelly is Lecturer in Geography at the National University of Ireland, Ireland.

Table of Contents

PART I: SETTING THE CONTEXT

Introduction; Andrew MacLaran

1. Neoliberalism: The Rise of a Bad Idea; Andrew MacLaran and Sinéad Kelly

2. Irish Neoliberalism and Neoliberal Urban Policy; Andrew MacLaran and Sinéad Kelly

3. Light-Touch Regulation: The Rise and Fall of the Irish Banking Sector; Sinéad Kelly

4. The Political Economy of Legislative Change: Neoliberalising Planning Legislation; Enda Murphy, Linda Fox-Rogers and Berna Grist

5. The Changing Ideology and Operation of Planning in Dublin; Andrew MacLaran and Niall McCrory

PART II: THE PROPERTY BOOM AND ITS LEGACY

Introduction; Andrew MacLaran

6. Ready Money: Over-Development in the Offices Sector; Andrew MacLaran

7. Ready Money: Residential Over-Development and its Consequences; Declan Redmond and Brendan Williams

8. The Financialisation of Irish Homeownership and the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis; Dáithí Downey

9. Bailing out the Banks: the Role of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA); Brendan Williams

PART III: RESHAPING URBAN POLICY AND RESHAPING THE CITY

Introduction; Andrew MacLaran

10. Actually-Existing Neoliberalism: Public-Private Partnerships in Public Service and Infrastructure Provision in Ireland; Rory Hearne

11. Taking Liberties: Gentrification as Neoliberal Urban Policy in Dublin; Sinéad Kelly

12. Neoliberalising the City 'Creative-Class' Style; Philip Lawton, Declan Redmond and Enda Murphy

13. Neoliberal 'Regeneration' and the Myth of Community Participation; Paula Brudell and Katia Attuyer

14. The Collapse of PPPs: Prospects for Social Housing Regeneration After the Crash; Rory Hearne and Declan Redmond

15. The Role of Private Consultancies in Neoliberal Urban Regeneration; Paula Brudell

PART IV: CONSIDERATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Introduction; Andrew MacLaran

16. Contested Urban Environments: Community Engagement and Struggle in Central Dublin; Michael Punch

17. Neoliberal Urban Policy and Challenging the Ideological Straightjacket; Andrew MacLaran and Sinéad Kelly