Dublin is located on the eastern coast at the mouth of the River Liffey, where it flows into Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea. The city proper has a population of around 600,000, while the wider metropolitan area, brings the total to over 1.4 million, more than a quarter of Ireland’s total population. Dublin evolved into the political centre of British rule under British colonisation, before becoming the capital of the independent Irish state in 1921.
The city has expanded dramatically since the 20th century, major suburbanisation occurred from the 1960s through the 1990s. During the Celtic Tiger boom (mid-1990s to late 2000s), Ireland experienced massive construction and urban expansion. Housing, and other types of grey infrastructure were constructed up on greenfield sites, replacing permeable green spaces with impermeable surfaces.
Overview
Since the 20th century, Dublin’s economy has shifted from domestic manufacturing and port-based industries to a service- and export-led model. Since the early 2000s, the city has attracted major multinational corporations, particularly in the technology, pharmaceutical, and financial sectors, which are particularly concentrated around affluent Docklands areas.
This economic boom created jobs in high-skilled sectors but also intensified housing pressures and widened spatial and social inequalities across the city. Dublin is in the grip of a deepening housing crisis, marked by rapidly increasing rents, a shortage of affordable homes, and growing levels of homelessness. Average rents have climbed well beyond what is affordable for many low- and middle-income households. Efforts to expand social and public housing have been outpaced by private development.
Map of Dublin
Climate risk
Dublin’s exposure to flood risk stems from a combination of fluvial (river), pluvial (surface water), and coastal flooding.
Particularly, pluvial flooding has become more frequent in newly urbanised zones. In the late 2000s, Dublin’s northside saw multiple flash floods in areas that had recently urbanised; a 2008 analysis noted “19 areas of North Dublin had severe flooding, many of which had no previous history of such flooding”
Dublin has faced numerous flooding events in recent decades. The River Tolka has long been flood-prone, with a major event in November 2002 causing serious damage in Glasnevin, Drumcondra, and Fairview, which led to flood defence investments that were completed in 2009. The River Poddle, which runs through south-central Dublin, is especially vulnerable during high-intensity storms. In October 2011, the Poddle overflowed, flooding parts of the city and killing two people and affecting hundreds of homes.
Intense rainfall events can overwhelm outdated and insufficient drainage systems. Recent storms and rainfall extremes have intensified flooding risk due to climate change. For example,in October 2023 Storm Babet brought record-breaking rainfall to parts of Ireland, with Dublin experiencing spot flooding and saturated drainage systems. Even outside of rainfall “extremes” the country experiences persistent rain. Annual rainfall amounts in Ireland appear to be increasing with 2023 declared Ireland´s wettest year on record. Sea level rise and coastal erosion presents an additional long-term hazard, with parts of Dublin Bay, including more affluent areas such Clontarf, and Sandymount, projected to face regular inundation within decades.
2011 flooding in Dublin
Climate adaptation policy
The Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFARM) is Ireland’s primary framework for identifying and managing flood risks on a national scale. At municipal level, Dublin City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan outlines the city´s plan to investments in hard infrastructure such as flood walls. alongside green infrastructure.
Migration history
Dublin, by contrast, has a different socio-historical trajectory regarding migration. Dublin’s housing crisis exacerbates climate-health vulnerability, as many migrants and lower-income residents are forced into overcrowded, substandard, or insecure rental accommodations that are highly susceptible to dampness, mold, and water damage. This situation is exemplified by the death of Celia de Jesus, a woman originally from the Philippines, who tragically died during a severe flood event in Crumlin, Dublin in 2011. She was living in a basement flat and became trapped and drowned before emergency services could reach her. Social justice advocates and highlighted that Celia’s death was not just because of flood, but of systemic failures: she had been housed in a known flood-prone basement with inadequate protections.
Current snapshot
Traditionally an emigrant country, Ireland has only more recently become a significant destination for immigrants, with notable increases in migration from Eastern Europe, Africa, and South Asia since the early 2000s.
Additional concerns have been raised about the treatment of asylum seekers in the Direct Provision and International Protection systems. These systems have long faced criticism for placing residents in overcrowded and substandard. In recent years, amid accommodation shortages, some asylum seekers have even been housed in tents, as opposed to shelters, which have left them extremely exposed to climate risks such as extreme rain.