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Description

Fine, original antique map showing the proposed layout for Dublin zoning regulations immediately following Irish independence, by Patrick Abercrombie, the most celebrated British post-war town planner of his generation. This was part of the winning layout proposal for a 1914 Dublin town planning competition.

While Abercrombie's most famous proposal was his "Great London Plan" following the blitz, this Dublin plan was one of his earliest works. Following a 1914 call for applications, he, along with Sydney Kelly and Arthur Kelly, entered an extensive "New Town Plan" for Dublin, laying out how the city's landscape could be changed by forward planning. This winning entry for the competition was published in 1916 and expanded in 1922.

This map, Abercrombie's zoning map, shows how his plan for the redevelopment of Dublin requires differential zoning requirements. The city is divided into an urban area, open spaces (mainly the bay and river), cemeteries, and re-housing areas. In the upper right, the density of housing, ranging from eight houses per acre to 20 houses per acre, is given. These colors mesh to give an attractive image of the city.

Most, if not all, of the proposed changes on this map were not actually completed, as a review of the city's geography today will indicate.

Abercrombie's methods have received mixed reviews. The former chair of the National Trust, Simon Jenkins, said of his Plymouth post-war rebuilding:

Poor Plymouth. It was badly blitzed in the Second World War and then subjected to slash and burn by its city fathers. The modern visitor will find it a maze of concrete blocks, ill-sited towers and ruthless road schemes. Most of this damage was done by one man, Patrick Abercrombie, in the 1950s. The old Barbican district would, in France or Germany, have had its façades restored or rebuilt. Here new buildings were inserted with no feeling for the texture of the old lanes and alleys.