CORINE 1 land cover mapping shows that the most dominant land cover types are urban fabric (concentrated within the City’s centre) and pastures and agricultural lands (in the areas surrounding the City’s centre). 3.2 Population and Human Health Population The National Planning Framework Project 2040 sets out that half of the overall national growth in terms of population, employment and housing will be targeted in Ireland’s five Cities, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. It is the objective of the National Planning Framework to redistribute growth in a more balanced manner, which would see each of the cities grow by 50% by 2040. Project Ireland 2040 sets ambitious growth targets for Cork City based on a vision of a regional strategy to provide a counterbalance to Dublin. With a population of 224,004 (CSO Census 2022) , Cork is an emerging international city of scale and a national driver of economic and urban growth. Project Ireland 2040 designates the city for significant additional growth over the next 20 years, supported by large scale investment. In 2016 Census, the total population of the area that is now under the administration of Cork City Council 2 was 210,853 persons, showing an increase since previous census by c. 5.1%. The population growth projections for the City are 257,852 persons by 2028 3 and 274,000-286,000 persons by 2031 (as set out by the NPF and the Southern Regional Spatial Economic Strategy). Cork City is the largest urban centre in the Southern region and it is recognised by the RSES as one of five Metropolitan Areas in Ireland. Cork Metropolitan Area acts as an international location of scale, a complement to Dublin and a primary driver of economic and population growth in the Southern Region.
The Plan designates different City Areas as follows:
City Centre;
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Docklands (City Docks, Tivoli Docks);
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• City Suburbs (North East Suburb, North West Suburb, South East Suburb, South West Suburb);
• Urban Town (Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire, Tower); and
City Hinterland.
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The new population provided for by the Plan will interact with various environmental components. Potential interactions include:
• Recreational and development pressure on habitats and landscapes;
• Increase in demand for waste water treatment at the municipal level;
• Increase in demand for water supply and associated potential impact of water abstraction;
1 The CORINE (Coordinated Information on the Environment) land cover data series was devised as a means of compiling geo-spatial environmental information in a standardised and comparable manner. CORINE has become a key data source for informing environmental and planning policy on a national and European level. The main land cover type in Ireland is agricultural land including forestry, which accounts for two-thirds of the national landmass. Most of this is permanent grassland pastures. Peatlands and wetlands are the second most widespread land cover type, covering almost onefifth of the country. While forested areas cover about one-tenth of the country. Despite rapid development in the past two decades, Ireland’s landscape is predominantly rural and agricultural.
2 4 In 2019, the Cork City expanded to approx. five times its former size and the population of the City grew by c. 85,000. The Cork City boundary was expanded to include the areas of Douglas, Rochestown, Ballincollig, Tower, Blarney, Glanmire and Cork Airport
3 Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028
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