Patricia Green | An environment vision: Kingston (un)fulfilling smart cities

‘High Tension’ headlined The Gleaner on June 25, which aptly described the environment of The Gleaner Editors’ Forum ‘Building Issues’ where myself and two other citizens affirmed that we endorse developments including high-rise construction. The tension resided over the increasingly arbitrariness of the planning and approval processes.

It must be pointed out that there is a distinct difference with separate professional responsibilities between architecture design and urban design when handling the overall landscape of any city and its management.

“… The chronic nature of the construction now is how it disenfranchises people … ”, asserted deputy director of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, architect Christopher Whyms-Stone, “… Kingston since inception has been a single-family city … it cannot stay that way …”.

Yet, “… The future of downtown Kingston lies in its past …”, echoed Dr Pedro B. Ortiz, Spanish architect and former mayor of Madrid, Spain, as keynote speaker at the Hon Maurice Facey inaugural lecture in October 2019.

Using the metaphor of the game of chess Ortiz announced the “… old centre of Kingston is the king to be enhanced and protected … the queen is what you export … .” He continued “… if the metropolis of a country does not work, the country does not work … when I think of Kingston as a metropolis, I think of Mandeville as part of this metropolis ... you need a single system/institution to manage this metropolis for it to be efficient, not six … .”

SEVEN LEVELS OF PLANNING

Giving at least seven levels of planning, Ortiz outlined, 1:50 suggests architecture scale; 1:500 represents urban design scale; 1:5,000 earmarks urban planning scale; 1:50,000 becomes metropolitan planning scale; 1:500,000 promotes national development scale; 1:5,000,000 augments ‘regional’ (continental) politics scale at levels of UN, World Bank, etc.; 1:50,000,000 denotes geopolitics scale at levels of the European Union, etc. Based on research, Ortiz pronounced that the highest scale of operations in Jamaica is at 1:500, elaborated by four components.

To understand better what Ortiz postulated about Jamaica operating at 1:500, I have added some commentaries to his components: (1) “space” may be equated to residential neighbourhoods now changing radically; (2) “volume” may be likened to high-rise developments across Kingston; (3) “semiotics” may explain the distress to citizens regarding, recognising that the Oxford Dictionary defines semiotics as “… the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation …”; (4) “engineering” may cover zoning and roads diving neighbourhoods.

Whyms-Stone argued, “… Seymour Lands is caught between two local planning areas, Liguanea and New Kingston … .” Yet, Ortiz emphasised, “… it does not mean that we need to invite another two million persons to come to live in Kingston but create the transport structure that will make a single market … you will have a multiplier effect that doubles the efficiency of the city … link these with a train … examine the financial versus the economic issues … avoid congestion and gridlock … highway designers are not planners … .”

Did Ortiz anticipate May 23 commentary by Clifton Yap in The Gleaner, ‘In the quest for safe and liveable streets’, discussing a proposed Lady Musgrave Road highway through this residential community?

How often is it lauded that the economy is booming with development construction? Would this be a truism in that citizens bemoan the absence of comprehensive and integrated planning for these? Why are so many citizens requiring assistance from national governance entities, some needing costly court proceedings to redress many of these construction activities with development anomalies? Why do citizens need to engage the Jamaica ‘Access to Information Act’ to know about government approvals issued next door?

HOW SUSTAINABLE?

How sustainable are all these development and construction activities on the Jamaican landscape beyond water harvesting and solar energy? Do citizens appreciate that sustainability means conformity to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs)?

Goal #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities’ Target #3 states, “… enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries … .”

Recognise that all nations globally, including Jamaica, became in 2016 signatories to 17 UNSDGs with their targets. For implementation by 2030, these “… call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognise that ending poverty must go together with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities … .”

Jamaica is now obligated to fulfil Goals: 1 – No poverty; 2 – Zero hunger; 3 – Good health and well-being; 4 – Quality education; 5 – Gender equity; 6 – Clean water and sanitation; 7 – Affordable and clean energy; 8 – Decent work and economic growth; 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure; 10 – Reduced inequalities; 11 – Sustainable cities and communities; 12 – Responsible consumption and production; 13 – Climate action; 14 – Life below water; 15 – Life on land; 16 – Peace, justice and strong institutions; plus 17 – Partnerships for the goals. International agreements and performance criteria are evaluated in accordance with whether the nation is fulfilling these, especially at the community level.

Goal #11 Target #1 states “... ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums …”, it is commendable that in May 2021 a Low-Income Housing Design Competition was launched. However, Jamaica already has an excellent historic track record of numerous successful low-income/affordable housing designs and construction systems. Some of these were previously exported globally by various international agencies to construct housing in other developing nations. Additionally, Caribbean School of Architecture students consider such designs from as early as their undergraduate second year.

The Gleaner June 24 editorial ‘Central Kingston and urban renewal’ laudably advocates the refurbishing of the Kington historic urban landscape, and this would fulfil Goal#11 Target #4, “Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”. The editorial reads, “… as we have noted before, many of the capital’s inner-city communities have salvageable infrastructures, such as roads and water, and in some cases sewerage. Some homes, too, are in relatively decent conditions or are repairable, although in some instances questions of ownerships and titles arise …”.

Significantly housing provision is rooted in the colonial 1930s Central Housing Authority precursor to the 1950s Ministry of Housing that focused on social housing as rental units thereby dividing housing into the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ around land title.

Henceforth, are these the root causes surrounding crime across Jamaica? Is it possible that community battleground is over social housing without titles? Would crime be reduced by eliminating generational post-colonial shackles of political feudalism of citizens not having land titles for house ownership, especially in the inner city of Kingston? Would meeting sustainability targets replace combined military/police zones of special operations?

SMART CITIES

Finally, ‘smart cities’ are another arm of sustainability. The 2012 Committee of Digital and Knowledge-based Cities states, “… in a broader definition, a city can be considered as ‘smart’ when its investment in human and social capital and in communications infrastructure actively promote sustainable economic development and a high quality of life, including the wise management of natural resources through participatory government …”.

The Gleaner June 16 article ‘Public gets ‘window’ into smart cities’ from Masaya Fujiwara, Japanese ambassador to Jamaica, in a webinar hosted by Environmental Solutions Limited under the theme ‘Smart Cities: Urban Development for a Liveable Future’.

Fujiwara presented four approaches to Japan smart city development; (1) connect all people and things; (2) overcome social issues and people will be liberated; (3) free humans from burdensome work; (4) open possibilities so humans will expand through robots, automatic-driving cars, etc. In discussions, he compassionately connected the natural disasters of Japan and Jamaica hurricanes and earthquakes, emphasising that afterwards Japan “… built back better …”.

Carolyn Cooper in The Gleaner June 13 commentary wrote “Is who Andrew Holness calling ‘bad-mind’?”, shared how Most Hon Prime Minister broke ground for 10 villas in Kingston 6 to cost J$294,202,347.00 each, “… almost 300 million Jamaican dollars for a single unit …”.

Do these new development housing units link into a sustainable and smart city vision for Kingston and Jamaica?

International agreements and performance criteria are evaluated in accordance with whether the nation is fulfilling sustainability. When you listen to debates in the Parliament, understand that the language is framed around issues of UNSDGs global fulfilment. The true test is how are these targets being translated at the community level, and especially in Kingston.

- Patricia Green, PhD, is a registered architect, former head of the Caribbean School of Architecture in the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Send feedback to patgreen2008@gmail.com.