Our changing landscape and planning for the future
OUR CAPITAL Kingston and the metropolitan area are undergoing massive environmental changes, rendering certain places almost unrecognisable, or totally transformed. This is also true of our Second City, Montego Bay, and certain towns in other parishes, to some extent. Road developments are a part of the phenomenon, but the more obvious event has been the sharp increases in the construction of high-rise buildings, whether they be housing solutions, offices or commercial enterprises.
These are good signs for the construction industry and economy, generally. Employment in this sector must be on the rise and it seems this will be the case for some time to come. Things of this nature must be carefully thought out and planned, if they are to be of good benefit and sustainable.The rapid developments being witnessed do raise some concerns.
GOBBLED UP BY DEVELOPERS
Many older residential communities appear to be the focus of such construction activities. These communities naturally have large lots/land space per dwelling, and they are being gobbled up by developers who have one aim and one aim only in mind, and that is to construct high-rise apartment buildings. What this means is that where you had a sewage system dealing with one residence, the same system is now being made to handle the requirements of multiple occupants in a multistorey apartment building. Many older communities do not have residences tied into a central sewage disposal system.
In addition to this, the location that once housed a family of six people, for example, now hosts 60 or more! Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be a limit on the amount of such developments that can be done in any one community. This is a huge problem in the making.
Putting aside the obvious sewage capacity problem, I see where there are increased demands being placed on utilities, such as water, electricity, with no improvements evident in garbage collection and traffic flow. It is more difficult to get out of my community in the mornings to go to work, and if garbage is collected one day during the week, I feel extremely blessed. Water supply and guaranteed power supplies are constantly under threat. This is the result of a community, built to accommodate a specific number of citizens, suddenly becoming ‘overpopulated’ and forced to cater for increased numbers using its original infrastructure.
It does not end there. The overpopulation of residential areas, without the mandatory addressing of infrastructure, is likely to see the rapid spread of diseases the likes of COVID, dengue, chicken pox, measles, and mumps, for example, which will be very difficult to contain if there is a break out. The question asked is simply this. Is there a plan to address these i ssues, that the public could be made aware of? Having regard to the ‘zoning’ of addresses and schools for students to attend, is there a plan to have schools cater for the additional influx of students that may suddenly come into their area of influence? In the present set of circumstances, what is the plan to stop the community or corner shop from emerging, becoming prevalent and running down residential property values.
GREEN SPACES
With the population of communities increasing as outlined, the need for l arger green spaces is evident, but this will not be possible in the older established areas unless the Government is prepared to purchase existing locations to create that necessity. Such a move might not be welcome, however, at the rate with which things are going in my area. I can see where the free flow of air is going to be adversely disrupted by high-rise buildings should this trend be allowed to continue. This is the ‘concrete jungle’ that Bob Marley warned us about!
Our improving road network will see to the expansion of the high-rise concept across the country as developers try to meet the demand for housing in our population. Careful planning with the introduction of protections to ensure property value, safety, healthy environments, and sustainability are key to our growth as a nation. As citizens we must take the necessary actions to ensure that our government provides us with these conditions. Societies need to be properly structured with people having access to dependable social services.