Planning Derry: Planning and Politics in Northern Ireland

153 Pages·2000·6.756 MB·English

by  McSheffrey, G.

Planning Derry
Planningisoftenmisunderstood.Somebelieveittobeakindof
strait-jacket, which ¢xes and restricts. On the contrary, the
purpose of planning is to create a framework within which the
citycandevelopfreely,a frameworkthat shouldprovide for the
development of each city area without restricting other areas,
that should facilitate any desired extension, while maintaining
throughouttheproperrelationofthecity’sdi¡erentparts.
LudwigHilberseimer
We must now conceive the city, accordingly, not primarily as a
placeofbusinessorgovernment,butasanessentialorganforex-
pressingandactualizingthenewhumanpersonality(cid:1)thatof‘one
worldman’.Theoldseparationofmanandnature,oftownsman
andcountryman,ofGreekandbarbarian,ofcitizenandforeigner,
cannolongerbemaintained:forcommunication,theentireplanet
isbecomingavillage;andasaresult,thesmallestneighborhoodor
precinctmustbeplannedasaworkingmodelofthelargerworld.
LewisMumford,1961
Ancientandmodern:PrincessMacha,legendaryfounderofthe¢rstIrishhospital,
withAltnagelvinHospital,Derry,inthebackground
c
GERALD M SHEFFREY
Planning Derry
Planning and Politics
in Northern Ireland
LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Firstpublished2000by
LIVERPOOLUNIVERSITYPRESS
LiverpoolL697ZU
(cid:2)2000GeraldMcShe¡rey
TherightofGeraldMcShe¡rey
tobeidenti¢edastheauthorofthiswork
hasbeenassertedbyhiminaccordancewith
theCopyright,DesignandPatentsAct,1988
Allrightsreserved.
Nopartofthisvolumemaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystemortransmitted,
inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise
withoutpriorwrittenpermissionofthepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
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ISBN0^85323^714^X(hardback)
0^85323^724^7(paperback)
Typesetin11/13StempelGaramondby
WilmasetLtd,Birkenhead,Wirral
PrintedbyAldenPress,Oxford
FOR NORMA,
LAURENCE, NIALL andAIDAN,
inrecognitionoftheirpatienceandlove
forafrequentlyabsent
husband,fatherandplanner

Foreword
ThisbookisdevotedtoplanningLondonderryinNorthernIreland,writtenbyaredoubtable
person,formerlyavice-presidentanddeanatArizonaStateUniversity,adeanatIllinoisInstitute
ofTechnology,directorofArchitectureatKansasUniversity,andforyearsapractisingarchi-
tect/plannerinNorthernIreland.
This book has relevance far beyond Ireland.There, it is a con£ict between Protestant and
Catholic;intheUnitedStates,theparalleliswithrace,blackandwhite.Thereisnoinnocence
here.Themotivatingthemehasbeenretribution.Irelandsharesthesorrydistinctionofconten-
tiousnesswithBosniaandIsrael.Thesigni¢canceofthebookliesintheuseoftheplanforDerry
asaninstrumentforreconciliationandresolution.Itbecameanimportantvehicleforremedying
injustices.McShe¡reybringsabalancedviewtothisbeleagueredplace.BornaProtestant,his
paternalgreat-grandfather,aCatholic,marriedaProtestantbutchosetobeburiedinaCatholic
cemetery.
Theplanwasalandmarkforadvocatingthepreservationofthesurroundinghills,asalmon
river,andestablishingtheurbanperimeter,butitsdistinctionliesintheverystrongpublicpar-
ticipationinitsimplementation.Theactofplanningbecameanimportantinstrumentforcor-
rectinginjusticesanddevelopingco-operation.
TheplanowesmuchtothatScottishpatriarch,SirPatrickGeddes,hiscommitmenttosurveys
and informed participation. Happily,with the advent of Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, there arrived a strong advocate for reconciliation. May he ¢nd a modus
vivenditowhichtheplanforDerryaspiredandcontributed.
Ian L. McHarg
DepartmentofLandscapeArchitectureandRegionalPlanning
UniversityofPennsylvania
January1998

Contents
Foreword page vii
List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction 1
1 Prelude 7
2 The Steering Committee 17
3 The Planning Team 24
4 Place, Folk andWork 30
5 The Housing Crisis 42
6 Breaking the Stalemate 51
7 The Bridge 66
8 Selling the Plan 85
9 Interlude 91
10 The Development Commission 98
11 Community Resolve 109
12 Retrospect and Prospect 115
Appendix: Northern Ireland Regional Plans 128
Bibliography 130
Index 133