Digital hub to play key community planning role in Cork city

Cork City Council has launched a new digital tool aimed at neighbourhood planning.

The Neighbourhood Profiles Digital Hub is an interactive version of the 2025 neighbourhood profile report, a report based on 2022 census data, where social demographics, employment, housing, and commuting patterns, can be analysed at a neighbourhood level.

The insight available through the digital hub will enable communities across the city to have greater involvement in the strategic development of their neighbourhoods.

The digital hub has been developed to gather data in a user-friendly and engaging manner, to empower community groups, academics, and all Cork residents to access rich data available for their area and to have the tools to engage in neighbourhood planning and community development.

At a launch event in City Hall hosted by the Lord Mayor, Fergal Dennehy, community groups, planners, residents’ association, and city council staff were given an overview of the report and a demonstration of the accompanying digital hub, which is now live.

Centre of decision making

Valerie O’Sullivan, chief executive of Cork City Council, said: “Putting our communities at the centre of our decision making is really important for our city. We are proud to be leading in neighbourhood planning and seeing other cities adopting this approach.

“Cork city has a rich network of neighbourhoods where people can access the local services they need within their own area. The strategic planning and community teams have been actively working together on this project and are now bringing the profiles to a more accessible version with this new digital hub.”

Building Blocks

The director of planning and integrated development at Cork City Council, Niall Ó Donnabháin, outlined the importance of the new tool in future planning: “Neighbourhoods are the building blocks of our city, continuously changing and influencing how our city looks, feels, and works. We have been growing our team and our ambition around data-driven strategic planning.

“This new iteration of the Cork city neighbourhood profiles was a great opportunity to create a digital hub that highlights the digital and analytical tools that are used for decision-making and make them available to all decision-makers in and outside the city council."