The Urban Vacancy in Ireland report uses Dublin — where “public and media attention has frequently highlighted visibly derelict or vacant buildings as a frustrating feature of the city’s urban landscape” — as well as Cork and Waterford as case studies for urban vacancy.

Drawing on interviews with stakeholders involved in planning, governance and development of vacancy, the report outlines recent political responses to urban vacancy in Ireland.

The report highlights an “inherent tension between planning and market dynamics which can produce and prolong urban vacancy”, with “planning and development systems… designed to prioritise high property values and incentivise redevelopment over reuse”.

It concludes by making three recommendations including the creation of integrated regional ‘reactivation’ units, the introduction of new State funding mechanisms and placing communities at the centre of reactivation strategies.

The report is the second and final policy output of the IRC-funded research project Rethinking Urban Vacancy, led by geographer Dr Cian O’Callaghan, and was co-written by Dr O’Callaghan with Dr Kathleen Stokes of the University of Galway and Dr Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn of the University of Luxembourg.