In order to resolve the housing crisis, the Irish government implemented the SDZ (Strategic Development Zone) plan, which help build many new suburban towns in the country. During the economic upturn, the country was able to keep up with the continuous expanses recurred by such projects; the 2008 crisis however put everything on hold, and the market never recovered. Consequently, most of these properties developed under the SDZ plan were never sold nor occupied. Recently, the Irish government has announcement a subsidy that will be given to all first-time home buyers in these suburban towns as an incentive for people to relocate to these neighborhoods. Along with the demolition of some empty homes in poorer quality, the public opinions of these ‘ghost estates’ seems to have recovered somewhat, and the announcement was received positively. Whether this confidence in these estates could continue or not remains to be seen, however, as the Irish real estate market seems to be recovering at an extremely slow pace.

      Adamstown is a typical development under such context. However, unique to this development, there seems to be a planned ‘town center’ that included some mix-use residential and retail district. These plans seemed to have been executed; however, they did not act as enough of an attractor, and Adamstown ultimately fell victim to the economic crisis like many other developments in Ireland.

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