31 January 2024
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Up to €2.5 billion is being invested in Cork as the city enters a period of unprecedented transformation with significant investment in housing, sustainable transport, parks, public spaces and climate resilience over the next five years.
This forms part of a wider €10 billion investment pipeline, excluding health and education, over the next 10 years.
Cork City is projected to be the fastest growing city in the country, increasing population by 110,000 to 353,500 by 2040.
Over €2.5 billion will be invested in the city so Cork can manage this growth sustainably with infrastructure-led development meaning residents and communities can live close to public transport, walking and cycling links and have ready access to education, amenities and healthcare facilities.
Cork City Council and its public sector partners are working to ensure the delivery of:
€1.9 billion on housing
€120 million on walking and cycling facilities including Marina Promenade upgrade
€200 million on rail and light rail planning and design
€190 million on Cork Docklands
€40 million on flood prevention
€35 million on new city library
€25 million of public realm improvements – Grand Parade Quarter and Bishop Lucey Park
€14 million on Marina Park Phase 2
Cork is experiencing this period of rapid and unprecedented change due to the alignment of national, regional and local strategic policy frameworks and substantial Exchequer funding.
As the country’s second city, Cork has the greatest capacity to sustainably scale up to absorb population growth and leverage opportunity as a European city of scale and enhance quality of life.
Last year, Cork City Council delivered the Mac Curtain Street Public Transport Improvement Scheme and a suite of major public realm, active travel and public amenity projects are now underway including the redevelopment of Bishop Lucey Park and the wider Grand Parade Quarter, Marina Promenade, Mahon Cycle Scheme, Marina Park Phase 2. Work is due to start on Morrison’s Island Public Realm and Flood Defence Scheme and development works in the Cork Docklands are ongoing with a draft Framework Masterplan to be published in the coming months.
Chief Executive of Cork City Council Ann Doherty said: “Our expanding city presents huge opportunities: to become a city of scale with top class public transport and a vibrant city centre, a greener city with safe, new and attractive amenities and a much improved public realm and a healthier city that is easier to get around on foot or by bike.”
She added: “Cork City Council cannot deliver a more sustainable and liveable city on its own. It can support the creation of conditions for a more sustainable way of living but it needs support from residents, communities and business and an acknowledgement that the transition, while challenging at times, will ultimately deliver for the city and its people.”
The people of Cork want a more liveable, better connected and greener city. A Behaviour and Attitudes study commissioned by Cork City Council’s Climate Action Unit last year found that nearly two thirds of people wanted Cork to become a more sustainable place to live and work, 86% want more pedestrianised streets and 92% want more parks, biodiversity and green spaces.
Render of proposed public space at Cork Docklands. The location is Cork Docklands, South Docks.
Over the coming months. Cork City Council will roll out a public information campaign, entitled “Our City is Changing” to familiarise those who live, work and study in Cork with the rationale behind these projects and details of the transformational schemes they will see in the city over the coming years.