Fingal County Council has unveiled plans to accommodate a new city of over 120,000 people in Swords as a result of Metro North.
Planners want a third-level university campus, a private hospital and their own bus service.
Fingal County Manager David O'Connor said he is not concerned about the impact of present economic difficulties on the development because this is planning more than 20 years into the future.
He points out that Fingal has a booming population, and is set to benefit from Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, a new port at Bremore and the IKEA development, as well as Metro North.
The new rail line will have nine stops in the Fingal area.
Mr O'Connor predicted that Swords will merge into Drumcondra in the same way that Dundrum has merged into Ranelagh.
Fingal intends to double the region's employment to over 66,000 jobs to ensure that the new city of Swords does not become a commuter town.
The council is planning a hospital development and it is understood it is in talks with two third-level institutions to site a campus near Swords.
It also plans a bus service to link the housings estates with retail and work centres.
