Mullingar is a midland town straddling a gentle topographic dip but which is otherwise on relatively flat terrain. The N4, passing approximately 1.5 - 2 km to the east of the core, is a major national route as well as a potential morphological determinant. It has been selected because it combines a midland location, fairly flat terrain, radial road structure, linearity, informality, circular centrality, multi-infrastructure complex integral to form and national bypass.