Dublin City Council is to carry out a comprehensive audit of all state and church-owned land in the capital with a view to developing it for social and affordable housing.
Brendan Kenny, assistant city manager in charge of the council's housing department, said it was also considering the demolition of a number of older schemes for senior citizens to make way for higher-density housing.
He was speaking after the council published its latest housing strategy, covering the period to 2008, as well as an action plan for social and affordable housing under Part 5 of the 2000 Planning Act.
Although Mr Kenny conceded that local communities were generally opposed to higher-density housing schemes, particularly for social housing, he said: "The days of the two-storey house with large front and back gardens are over."
On the wider housing front, he said the good news was that the number of new homes produced last year in the Dublin area - 16,800 - had exceeded the target figure in the Regional Planning Guidelines by 800 units. "If we continue to reach that, the overall supply issue will be resolved," Mr Kenny said.
"The big challenge is to ensure that there is sufficient social and affordable housing available to cater for people on low incomes."
Altogether, according to the council's housing strategy, it is estimated that 760 acres of land zoned for residential development in the city could be developed to provide 41,000 new homes during the period to 2011. Much of this land consisted of "brownfield sites" in areas such as docklands.
"Several other large developments throughout the city also have permission and are proceeding with construction," the strategy notes. "This possible provision of 41,000 units compares to a predicted demand for 40,000 units over the period."
Many of these new homes will be built in new development areas such as Pelletstown and the North Fringe.
The cost of providing more social and affordable housing is estimated at €2 billion over the five years of the council's current action plan, which is funded from its own resources, Exchequer grants, the Housing Finance Agency and private finance.
