Fortunately, many European cities can be used as a model of modern urban design. Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Vienna have all used the urban framework plan approach. In these cities, a multi-disciplinary team of consultants - including architects, planners and traffic engineers - provided the planning authority with a policy document which outlines proposals for a given area.

The introduction of an urban framework plan for Dublin would not be without precedent. The landlords of the estates which founded the major part of the Georgian city - Mountjoy and Pembroke - initiated a tradition of clearly articulated planning standards which defined such elements as lot width and depth, building line, parapet height and materials. They also defined the form and location of public spaces.

The work of the Wide Streets Commissioners was not just confined to defining new thoroughfares for Dublin, but also determined precise elevational treatments for such streets as Westmoreland Street and D'Olier Street. During the reconstruction of O'Connell Street in the 1920s, the City Architect, Horace Tennyson O'Rourke, laid down design standards in the use of materials and consistent cornice and parapet lines.

In 1989, the Construction Industry Development Board recommended the establishment of a Dublin Inner City Renewal Authority, independent of the corporation, to act as a catalyst for renewal in the city. While this idea was not taken up, the subsequent success of the Custom House Docks Development Authority and Temple Bar Property Ltd in achieving a significant volume of renewal to a high architectural standard illustrates the potential of dedicated, area-based renewal bodies.

Though it is unlikely that a separate renewal authority will be set up for the inner city, the corporation could set up a body with specific responsibilities and resources allocated to it. Such a body would have representatives from development and professional elements in the private sector.

Good examples of this approach can be found both in Berlin and Barcelona. In both cities, the local authorities set up separate organisations with the aim of developing and implementing a co-ordinated approach to the renewal. Both are now recognised as being Europe's foremost urban renewal success stories.

The proposed renewal measures by the Department of the Environment provide a timely opportunity to take stock. With a commitment to confine this process, attention should now shift to new mechanisms and structures - particularly the idea of urban framework planning by a single-focus body - to ensure that the next phase of urban renewal is carried out to the highest architectural standards while ensuring a satisfactory economic return.

Dublin City Council in the tradition of the Wide Streets Commissioners should now examine this very closely and implement reforms in the city's urban renewal structures so that Dublin can once again have a vision of its future.

Tony Reddy is a director of Fitzgerald Reddy & Associates Architects and urban Designers, and chairman of the public affairs division of Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. He is also a former member of the Construction Industry Development Board.