DUBLIN’S LANDSCAPE, BOTH cultural and geographical, has changed massively in the last three decades.
Back in 1987, the Dart was three years old, the M50 was still a commuter pipe dream, and Grafton Street had only recently been pedestrianised.
It’s tough to conceive of what Ireland’s largest city might look like in another thirty years, but that’s exactly what Dublin Chamber are aiming to do, by asking the people of Dublin for their opinions and aspirations for the future of the city.
The Great Dublin Survey campaign, which is part of the Chamber’s Dublin 2050 initiative, will form part of a long-term progress plan. With that in mind, we’ve cast our minds ahead by five decades, to imagine what the front page of TheJournal.ie might look like in 2050. Here are a few of the headlines we reckon might take pride of place…
The first batch of ‘hyperloop commuters’ arrived at Dublin’s Heuston station this morning to board a new one-hour subsonic train service to Cork. From today onward, express trains will run every 30 minutes at peak times, reaching speeds of up to 700mph.
We already have Elon Musk’s Tesla cars in Ireland, so his Hyperloop train proposal is surely next on the list for the Dublin of 2050. According to Musk’s plans, these subsonic trains would ‘eliminate the barriers of space and time.’
Jangling coins and crumpled notes will become a thing of the past in Dublin from next January, as the entire city goes cash-free. The pilot scheme will roll out across the capital from New Year’s Day. Fingerprint-based payment via systems like EirPrint and GreenFinger are already widely accepted in many Irish shops, bars and restaurants.
Everything from transatlantic flights to morning coffee orders can be paid for by card or online payments these days, so it’s no great leap to imagine an entirely cash-free city 33 years from now. Here’s hoping we won’t still need to deal with slow card readers and forgotten PIN numbers by that stage.
It’s rare to pass Dublin’s Samuel Beckett Bridge without seeing at least one group of tourists taking photos against the backdrop of the IFSC skyscrapers, and now the beautiful vista has been acknowledged on an international scale.
One answer to the current rental crisis that has been touted of late? Ending the 28-metre building height restriction and building some very, very tall apartment blocks. If nothing else, it’d give us a skyline to rival that of Manhattan.
Ireland’s first multi-storey vertical park opened this morning, with thousands of families gathering on Dame St to take a first look at the city’s newest green space. The old Central Bank building has housed both a free working space and a film studio since its sale in 2017, but plans for a “vertical park” were officially confirmed three years ago.
The idea for a multi-story green space in Dublin was first touted back in 2011 - for the defunct Anglo Irish Bank HQ in Dublin’s Docklands. That building is now home to a brand new Central Bank base, so why not swap the locations around and put the park at the old Central Bank location on Dame St instead?
Dublin’s city transport system will soon follow in the footsteps of London, New York and Paris thanks to a new Underground Metro service set to launch in 2053. Foundations will be dug 150ft below Dublin 1 and 2, with proposed stations at College Green, Stephen’s Green, O’Connell Bridge, The Spire and Dorset St.
A Dart Underground service for Dublin has long been suggested as an alternative to the city’s traffic issues. Plans have stalled in recent years, but three decades (and a bit) is surely enough time to iron out any issues.
Dublin’s iconic Poolbeg Towers today joined the Sydney Opera House and the Taj Mahal as one of the 814 cultural sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The red-and-white chimneys were built in 1971 as part of an ESB-owned power plant.
The chimney stacks at Poolbeg have been out of operation since 2010, but tentative plans to knock them down faced massive public outcry. In 2014, the towers were listed as protected structures in Ireland, and while they might not be as awe-inspiring as the Taj Mahal, to us Dubliners, they’re just as special.
What do you see for the Dublin of 2050? Share your ideas, hopes and aspirations for the future of Ireland’s capital city by taking part in The Great Dublin Survey. Part of Dublin Chamber’s ‘Dublin 2050’ initiative, the survey aims to facilitate better long-term planning for Dublin’s future, as the city continues to grow and expand. Have your say now.
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