The New York Times shrinks Dublin

Dublin, as New York, is both a city and larger political and geographic entity, in this case the term is county rather than state but the reach is the same. And within the city, there is the colloquial “city,” the inner historic and commercial center, and the outer residential areas.

In the New York Times “Portrait of Dublin as a boomtown” (an unfortunate description given that the year began with predictions of recession), David Amsden, the Times intrepid cartographer, confuses all:

“No matter how large its economy, Dublin remains a city still very much defined by its actual size: to even call it a city, in fact, is something of a misnomer. A million people live inside Dublin’s official borders, which are such that you can literally walk anywhere in about half an hour.”

Even the most fleet of foot flâneur would be unlikely to cover more than two miles in 30 minutes, which means, according to the Times, one million people live in four square miles. This would make Dublin one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with 250,000 people per square mile, on a par with Mumbai and Hong Kong (New York by comparison has 83,000 people per square mile – and it has skyscrapers). While not physically impossible – each Dubliner would have approximately 111 square feet to him or herself at ground level – it is practically impossible given the low aspirations of most buildings.

For the record, Dublin County is 356 square miles, of which Dublin City occupies approximately 45.5 square miles; the population for the county is 1,186,159, while the number of whom live in the city proper is 505, 379, according to 2006 preliminary census figures (Source, Encyclopedia Britannica, and the fact that I grew up in Dublin).