The news that greater Dublin "will soon occupy the same surface area as Los Angeles, but with less than a quarter of its population" is hardly an original observation.
Such stark characterisation of the capital's sprawl was formulated by Tony Reddy, former president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), as long ago as September 2001, and the Los Angeles synonym was also used two years earlier by economic consultant Colm McCarthy, who rightly branded it as unsustainable in social, economic and transportation terms.
It has now been resuscitated by the Urban Forum in its report, A Better Quality of Life for All. The forum brings together the RIAI, Engineers Ireland, the Irish Planning Institute, the Society of Chartered Surveyors and the Irish Landscape Institute, all of which represent professionals at the coal-face of the construction industry in this country.
The aim of its report is to encourage voters to consider carefully the whole issue of sprawl in the political choices they make in the forthcoming general election.
The forum wants whoever forms the next government to review the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), with the aim of promoting the development of an Atlantic corridor comprising Cork, Limerick/Shannon and Galway to counteract the dominance of Dublin.
Though its report does not specifically say so, any concentration on developing such an Atlantic axis would necessarily involve downgrading other "gateway" and "hub" towns identified by the NSS and, in effect, reverting to a regional development strategy not dissimilar to what Colin Buchanan first proposed in the late 1960s.
The provision of good road and rail links between Cork, Limerick and Galway has already been given a high level of priority under the new National Development Plan. These are obviously essential if the three cities are to join forces in providing a viable alternative to Dublin. The Urban Forum is not advocating an "exodus" from the capital to the west and south of Ireland; it has adopted the quite sensible proposition that young people growing up in Cork, Limerick and Galway should be provided with opportunities locally so that they don't feel compelled to move to Dublin.
Leading members of the Urban Forum were reluctant to blame the Government for Dublin's sprawl, suggesting instead that it resulted from "decisions made by the people of Ireland". But the Government, throughout its term in office, failed to ensure a sufficient supply of affordable housing in Dublin. Sprawl is its most visible legacy.