Spatial strategy covers more than hubs and gateways
The National Spatial Strategy is much more than a selection of gateways and hubs.
It is a framework document that will facilitate the implementation over the long term of strategies supportive of sustainable development in its environmental, economic and social dimensions.
It is, therefore, a very significant contribution to the strategic planning that is required to enable Ireland to comply with the international agenda for sustainable action.
The need for an NSS-type framework to support planning and development at the local, regional and national levels has been advocated by geographers and planners for many years, long before the concept of sustainable development achieved the status it has now.
Henceforth, there will be no excuse for ignoring the vital importance of geographical concepts such as location, place and space in the formulation and implementation of government policies. The research for the NSS identified significant gaps in our current understanding of the geography of development in Ireland.
Effective monitoring and implementation of the NSS will require considerably improved spatial databases that can be easily integrated with a geographical information system covering the island as a whole.
We, therefore, welcome especially the commitment in the National Spatial Strategy to develop a national spatial data infrastructure.
A highly desirable outcome from this initiative would be the preparation of a multi-thematic dynamic atlas of Ireland that could contribute to a more informed and ongoing debate on issues related to spatial development.
The National Committee for Geography of the Royal Irish Academy is currently investigating the feasibility of preparing a new atlas.
Des McCafferty,
President,
Geographical Society of Ireland;
Prof. Jim Walsh,
Chairman,
RIA National Committee for Geography,
Dawson Street,
Dublin 2.
