Chapter 10
Key Development Areas and Neighbourhood Development Sites
Issues / Recommendations / Observations
Sub. No.
Chief Executive’s Response & Recommendation
The floor area ratios in the Docklands area plan are considered to be too low combining the targeted floor area ratio (FAR) figures in table 10.3 with the target Heights table 10.4, which gives an indicative site coverage percentage of about 33%. It is considered that site coverage ratios should be provided and be between 70- 75%. The submission fears that this is due to a suburban approach to developing the City Docks with extensive surface car parking, Coverage figures of below 50% are also desirable on a district level when large public open areas are included but the Atlantic pond, Marina and new Marina Park all in this area appear not to be included in these figures, dividing the total floor space figures by the FAR figures in table 10.3 suggests the total area considered is circa 50ha or slightly under half of the total docklands area including the Atlantic pond and the larger open spaces Marina Park, Kennedy Spine N+S/ Kennedy Park, Monahan’s Road, The Marina, Centre Park Road & School Square in table 10.1. This is too low a site coverage percentage to give the area an urban character. Increasing the target floor area ratio would also yield a higher number of Dwellings per hectare and therefore a greater capacity for the area to provide much-needed housing close to the city centre. Limiting the entire Docklands to 10,000 residential units is an extreme underutilisation of a valuable irreplaceable resource for Cork City.
metrics for each character area, nor whether they are gross or net. The density targets relate to net developable area and not gross development area. Net developable area excludes strategic street corridors, strategic public open space, strategic public realm, sports grounds and schools. Refer to the Cork City Urban Density, Building Height and Tall Building Study for a number of relevant precedents comparable to the target density and character areas within the City Docks. The City Docks will have a very urban character but with different character areas with varying densities. The average target density is 225 dwellings per hectare. This is equivalent to a range of relevant urban precedents, including Barcelona La Caixa, Oresund Copenhagen, Nordhavn Copenhagen and parts of Dublin Docklands. The target density of 10,000 homes is not a maximum. The aim is to ensure that the City Docks is developed at a scale that will be attractive to a wide range of residential markets. The density of the neighbourhood steps down from north-to-south. The proposed density strategy is considered appropriate for the City Docks. Recommendation: No change.
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