City centre growth: Use it or lose it

Nearly every municipal authority in Europe is trying to find ways to sustain town or city centres feeling the chill winds brought by a relentless move towards online retailing.

There are usually issues around access, public transport and parking — the cost of it and its availability. Mass, choking tourism is making life in some continental cities intolerable though that imposition may not yet be as pressing in Ireland as elsewhere. Some cities, Cork included, have flirted with the attractive idea of extending pedestrianisation.