Dublin must reinvent itself as a compact, high-rise capital modelled on its European peers, City Manager Mr John Fitzgerald told a conference last night.
"The old days of semi-detached, sprawling suburban development within the built-up area are gone forever," Mr Fitzgerald said. He was addressing the "Doubling Dublin" conference at City West Hotel.
"We have to make a cultural shift from low-density, almost rural-type housing to modern European city standards with a population base to justify extensive public transport provision," he said.
People were having smaller families than previous generations and did not necessarily need to live in large suburban homes, Mr Fitzgerald said.
"Housing estates on existing models were provided for large families; we now have an average household size of three persons, which is expected to fall even further over the next decade. This is one of the most significant demographic changes that has occurred," he said.
Dismissing predictions that greater Dublin would double in size over the next decade, he said the city's population was expected to rise by 500,000 to 1.75 million by 2011. Such an increase was "manageable and not excessively large", he said.
Dublin Corporation was implementing an ambitious city waste management plan, Mr Fitzgerald added. Officials were examining proposals to build a "Waste to Energy" plant in Poolbeg.
"Our objective is to provide enough resources to bring cleanliness in the city up to European standards within the next 12 months," he said.
Disadvantaged suburbs were reaping the benefits of ambitious urban regeneration programmes across the greater Dublin area, Mr Fitzgerald told the conference.
"The Dublin city region now competes in the premier league of European cities," he said.
"We don't compete exclusively in terms of wealth or size. At the end of the day, quality of life is what matters.
"Quality of life is not easily measured. It is more a measure of how the city looks and feels and is also about the feeling we have for the city," he said.
"Dublin is already a desirable place to be, as evidenced by the numbers who chose now to live here. It will become even more so in the years to come."