Nine urban centres and a further 13 development hubs have been identified under the draft Dublin city development plan published yesterday.
In a controversial move, Dublin City Council has also moved to delist 500 buildings from its register of protected structures as part of a review under the development plan.
The plan has identified nine mini-city centres in the suburbs outside the city centre. It is envisaged that the areas, such as Ballsbridge and Crumlin, will act as focal points in their general areas for housing, jobs and shops.
The designated city centre area is also to be expanded west as far as Heuston Station and will now include areas such as Spencer Dock, Phibsboro and Grangegorman.
In addition to this, 13 development "framework" areas, some of which overlap the urban centres, have also been identified for major retail and office developments.
Many are in areas with major redevelopment potential. Mr Jim Keogan, the deputy city planner, said it was envisaged that the centres would act as "focal points to the existing areas. Previously the focus of development plans have been on the city centre", he said.
"It was seen that it was about time that we started looking at the suburbs and to try and get some form of cohesion to them."
It is envisaged that the centres will provide a range of community and public services, with an expansion in residential accommodation, retail areas and office developments.
In addition, 13 strategic development areas have also been chosen for major commercial and residential developments.
They include Spencer Dock, Grangegorman, Finglas, Heuston and Park West. These areas will all be targeted for high density developments.
"There are no remaining greenfield sites in the city," according to Mr Keogan.
"So in order to accommodate the future needs of the city, we have identified broadly a number of strategically important sites, mainly brownfield, for development."
The draft plan provides for an additional 36,000 houses and apartments in the city centre over the next five years, many of which will be provided in the development areas. A major expansion of the bus corridor network is also detailed in the plan, with 10 main lanes out of the city to the suburbs.
These will be also be linked up through a network of orbital bus lanes on the outskirts of the city.
A metro link between the airport and Dublin city centre is also identified as a key transport objective.
The council has also proposed a coastal cycle and walkway running from Sutton to Shankill, passing through the docklands.
The council has defended its proposed overhaul of the protected buildings register, which is included in the draft development plan.
Mr Keogan said the council's grading process was in need of a major overhaul under planning legislation introduced four years ago.
Under the councils old system, buildings could be given a listed status even though they do not have a full preservation order.
As a result 500 buildings have been removed from the list of 9,500 and further delistings are planned during the consultation phase of the plan.
Many of the properties delisted are in residential areas, which have now been given a conservation area rezoning, according to Mr Keogan, and therefore do not need protected status. Areas where houses have been delisted include St Lawrence's Road and Hollybrook Road in Clontarf, Belmont Avenue in Donnybrook and Aungier Street in the city centre. The draft plan will be on display for the next ten weeks at the the city council offices in Wood Quay. It is also available on the city council website, www.dublincity.ie