Pilot projects aimed at dispelling public misconceptions about higher-density housing are being planned for two sites in Dublin, one in the middle of Ballymun and the other in Mulhuddart.
Both sites are to be developed for affordable, mixed housing schemes in line with the results of design competitions organised by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland as part of its Housing 2000 initiative.
Mr Eoin O Cofaigh, the institute's president, said this week that higher residential density provided a key to solving the housing crisis.
"By spreading land costs over a greater number of dwellings, it will make housing more affordable. Higher densities will permit greater use of public transport and should mean shorter distances to shops, schools, churches and other social facilities," he said.
Mr O Cofaigh said the RIAI recognised there were fears and misconceptions about higher-density housing in Ireland. Many people confused it with high-rise developments or with small "two-up, two-down" houses.
The aim of Housing 2000 was to show in a very practical way that higher-density housing was the best way forward. It would provide prototypes for sustainable housing development which could be built anywhere in Ireland, he said.
So far five agencies - Ballymun Regeneration, Cork Corporation, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Fingal and Kilkenny County Councils - have agreed to provide sites for design competitions, and discussions are under way with several others.
The 40-acre site at Mulhuddart, provided by Fingal County Council, will be the subject of a competition involving architects, developers and contractors. It is intended to build the winning project, starting early next year.
In Ballymun a 4.5-acre site near the roundabout on the main road has been provided for the second competition, and architects are being asked to design a mix of social and private housing, including student accommodation.
The initiative was welcomed by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey. He said "slavish reliance" on policies for low-density residential development "gobbles up development land and wastes our investment in infrastructure".
There could be "no doubting the link between housing densities and housing affordability".
