SHRINKING!?

With the unprecedented volume of construction in Dublin and the greater Dublin Area over the last decades now facing an equally unprecedented period of negative growth, the shrinking of the cities fabric in some form seems certain. While the economic realities of an emerging shrinking process can be described in numbers and balance sheets, it is the human, social and environmental aspect that requires new strategies. How to assess and distinguish between good and bad developments? What can be demolished and what has potential for consolidation? How can we manage a shrinking process that involves existing social patterns and identity? Can shrinking be positive?