Vancouver City Council's guidelines for high-density housing for families with children specify that it should be located within 800 metres walking distance of an elementary schoool, daycare centre and grocery shopping, and within 400 metres of a playground and public transport stop.

The guidelines also say that there should be a sufficient number of family units in a project to give children peers to play with, to encourage a sense of community and to support the provision of adequate amenities for families with children - located and designed to maximise sunlight, especially in winter.

"Experience with high-density family projects in Vancouver clearly indicates that satisfaction with common outdoor open space increases as residents have control over its use and as outsiders are effectivedly prevented from entering it uninvited. Gated and locked central courtyards are the preferred design solution."

Architects were told to "design the whole environment with the safety needs of children in mind". For example, access to schools and amenities would involve providing a walking route which is free from barriers such as the need to cross a major unsignalled traffic junction, with an environment suitable for young children.

The guidelines, adopted as long ago as 1992, also go into detail about the facilities that family units should have, including bedrooms with sufficient floor space for playing, generous hallways with room for toys and equipment, secure indoor storage for bicycles and private outdoor spaces for the exclusive use of each household.

But despite all the talk here about encouraging families to live in city centre apartments, there is still no equivalent in Dublin or other Irish cities of Vancouver's far-sighted planning standards to make this possible - unless the current review of the 1995 apartment design guidelines takes the needs of children seriously.