Professor Carol Archer - Gleaner file photo
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Urban planning expert Professor Carol Archer
Urban planning expert Professor Carol Archer is again calling for significant legislative reforms to address the country's outdated planning framework and promote sustainable urban development.
She was responding to the presentation of findings from a study by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI), titled Who Gets What? Mapping Rights, Access and the Future of Jamaica's Cities.
The research found that, among other things, a person's residential address influences access to services, safety and governance.
Researchers concluded that informal neighbourhoods are underserved due to fragmented planning and inequitable investment.
Addressing a panel discussion on the findings last week, Professor Archer said not much can be achieved with the current laws.
"We need to change how we go about planning because what we are seeing now in some of these communities where persons have the title, but guess what? The town and country planning laws says (sic) that there is not much that we can do because the road network prevents us from even acknowledging... so [the current planning laws] need to be changed."
"We did work in Naggo's Head and that's one of the things we found. The roads are so narrow, which according to the town planning laws, the municipality cannot take those communities because they don't fit the dimension as prescribed by law. So the communities would technically still be informal," she outlined.
The research also found that irregular, narrow streets lead to higher crime, poorer services and limited mobility. According to the study, reconfiguring streets and lanes to conform to grid-like patterns will improve urban inclusion.
Professor Archer said the 2016 Local Governance Act gives local authority the powers to address the issues highlighted in the survey.
CAPRI said in conducting the research, it used the urban integration index to map patterns of access and exclusion across 173 communities in the country's four major urban regions - Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine and St. James.
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