The Development of the Functional Urban Region of Dublin: Implications for Regional Development Markets and Planning Dr. Brendan Williams, Cormac Walsh, Ian Boyle School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin Abstract This paper investigates the land transformation process and growth pattern emerging in the functional Greater Dublin Area (GDA). The process is considered in the light of the growth pattern of the GDA, which is analysed based upon economic and social statistical evidence. The emergence of discontinuous patterns of development and rapidly expanding functional urban areas has been observed in many developing city regions. Two contrasting trends have emerged with an urban regeneration-driven return of development to the central areas of economically strong cities and a concurrent signiicant dispersal of housing and employment activities development in a sprawl type manner. It is recognised that such patterns have signiicant implications for the long-term urban development of regions such as Dublin. This paper includes empirical evidence on emerging development patterns, which it is expected will assist in evaluating the effectiveness of policy measures. The paper argues that the absence of an effective strategic decision-making process at the functional regional level negates national development policy aspirations. A methodology is proposed to develop a regional understanding of current and proposed patterns of development and their inluence on urban form. The paper includes a contrast between stated policy aims, analysis of development data and conclusions on likely future trends. The conclusions explore the likely future development trends in the functional urban region and their implications for policy making and development. Key words: Functional urban regions, urban form, land and housing markets, regional growth patterns. Section 1: Introduction City Regions and Functional Urban Areas. Regional economic development has played an increasingly important role in planning and development policies in Ireland and Europe in recent decades. This can include building economic competitiveness in Ireland or addressing declining industrial competitiveness in established industrial regions suffering from the effects of global economic restructuring (Danson, 2003). From the 1990s onwards, the seminal works of Porter (1990) and Krugman (1991) have developed a critical focus on exploring issues of agglomeration economies and economic competition in a geographical setting (Evans, 2003). Modern enterprise development policies often prioritise enterprise clusters and the role of institutional structures and capacities in developing cost advantages and urban/regional competitiveness. The new urban economic patterns of more diffuse settlement patterns - spread city, edge cities and polycentric city form - are explored from this period in the work of Garreau (1991), and Fujita