DUBLIN

BALLYMUN

Ballymun was built between 1966 and 1969 by the National Building Agency on agricultural land on the north-western fringe of the city, 8 kilometers from the centre of Dublin. The area of approx. 518 hectares consists of five separate neighborhoods, hosting the population of 17.786, each with their own local facilities and a variety of house designs. The area is zoned and serviced for development as well as for housing. The land is owned by Dublin City Council.
In 1966 the first tenants moved in, frequently from slum clearance areas or poor inner city terraced housing. The estate was modern and offered a high level of comfort. Very soon the experiment with modernity and social housing experienced problems including an above average turnover and vacancy rate. Flats could not be purchased and soon were seen as an inferior option for tenants who could purchase houses and receive generous discounts off the purchase price. In addition the Government pursued a policy of providing incentives to those vacating local authority dwellings in an effort to increase the number of units available to those on housing waiting lists. For all these reasons by 1985 the turnover had reached crisis proportions. There was also a lack of employment opportunities in the area, as well as a strong domination of the singles and broken families. The social structure of the area is greatly inconvenient (percentage of youth and single mothers in the neighbourhoods particular for the Dublin conditions), increasing the instable character of the population and job market difficulties.
The structural situation of the housing stock is partly very bad; the conditions do not respond the expectations of the tenants, forcing temporary improvements and future permanent changes (demolitions, improvement of the design).