If economic rather than political factors were decisive, Cork's functional urban region would extend to encompass the commuting zones of Cork city based on OECD definitions. The harbour area, where much of the employment of the city region is located, has been left out. Census commuting patterns indicate that people are predominantly travelling from Douglas, Ballincollig, Glanmire, Midleton, Passage, Rochestown and Carrigaline to workplaces in the Harbour, Little Island and the city centre on a daily basis.
But Carrigaline, Glanmire, Midleton, Passage, parts of Rochestown and other harbour areas have been excluded in the new boundary proposal. The result of this will be that the city will not be managing services in all the residential and development areas of the greater city-region.
In addition, the new boundary includes land on the opposite side of the city, which is currently rural (near Blarney and Tower), and this area does not contain much employment. Directing the city in a north-west direction away from the majority of work opportunities on the east and south side of the city makes no sense. Again it increases sprawl, resulting in segregated suburb-to-suburb living and working connections, the spreading of public services, and even more car dependency. The proposed boundary for appropriate governance of the Cork-city region is wrong and if it goes ahead Cork city's struggle for prosperity will be undermined for the foreseeable future.
