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The butterfly and the bulldozer
Common SenseJohn Maxwell
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Urban redevelopment was an American concept of the 1960s - modern architectural, town-planning and behavioural sociological concepts would be brought to bear on the wreckage of the inner cities.
Urban redevelopment never really got off the ground in the US, but the idea was picked up in Jamaica - a gimmick to adorn the facade of the liberal development Washington Consensus model.
The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was formed in 1968, and by 1971 it had managed to devastate downtown Kingston, wrecking a lively, fairly sophisticated if somewhat tatty capital. Over the centuries, Kingston had been worked over by disastrous hurricanes, catastrophic earthquakes and voracious fires. It survived them all.
It could not survive the UDC.
Downtown Kingston had a soul. People lived there, and until its untimely demise at the hands of the UDC, it was the place to parade youthful arrogance and nubility, especially on a Saturday morning. And it was the place for revolution, as in 1938 and as the government thought was happening in 1964, with the JBC strike. Kingston was alive. It was political.
That had to go.
It had to be sanitised, Americanised and shrink-wrapped; there would be a broad seaside boulevard, populated by hotels and skyscrapers in the style of Miami. So everything on the waterfront was destroyed, some charming old buildings, including the first reinforced concrete building in the western hemisphere. Fortunately, Wray and Nephew's rum store was not destroyed; it is an early example of barrel vaulting in concrete and is a splendid structure in its own right - the perfect place for a crafts market.
But that had been cleared out of the old wrought iron Victoria Market years earlier and could not be accommodated so close to large affairs and big business. It was relegated to the No 2 Railway Pier warehouses. The quaint old finger piers, made of 20x20 inch greenheart baulks and virtually indestructible, were destroyed. No one thought that they might make attractive sites for restaurants over the water or other means of divertissement.
The problem with the UDC has always been a lack of imagination. As chairman of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority in 1979, I wrote asking that they protect the areas where iguanas were last reported. The UDC's reply was that iguanas were said to be extinct. The fact that a hog hunter 12 years earlier had seen one killed by hogs and had preserved its skin, counted for nothing. So, of course, when iguanas were once again found in Hellshire the UDC was no doubt flabbergasted.
In its 40 years of existence, the UDC has done no urban development. It has built roads, beachside condos, one or two housing schemes and rakes in its cash from enterprises like the Dunn's River Falls and Beach. With a little help from their friends, the people of Hellshire Bay have at last won a 35-year war against the UDC to be recognised as the owners of Halfmoon Beach at Hellshire.
Meanwhile, the UDC is now into collecting rents and entrance fees from Dunn's River Falls and from Reach Falls in Portland and other touristic enterprises. A guesthouse owner in Portland complained to me about one of these enterprises. Fredericus Enneking, a European, says he was perfectly content with Reach Falls when it was owned and operated by a Jamaican.
"It was the most beautiful time for the Reach Falls people and his visitors. There was a relaxed and nice natural atmosphere that invited you to stay. You could mix up with local people who were running their business like selling fish soup, jelly coconuts, fruits, bamboo and other craft and a bar where you could get a nice cool Red Stripe. And you could go where you wanted and enjoy yourself."
No one is quite clear how the UDC got hold of the property, but according to Enneking (and others) "there are no local people anymore on the premises to sell their things, there are no drinks or food on sale and visitors have to pay an entrance fee of US$10/J$650".
Enneking says he and other guesthouse and hotel owners in the area weren't consulted or even informed by the UDC when they decided to take over this important attraction. Now, their guests come back from the Falls saying the entrance fee is ridiculous and the 'vibes' aren't there any more. They feel they are under supervision everywhere.
Cont.
Common SenseJohn Maxwell
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Urban redevelopment was an American concept of the 1960s - modern architectural, town-planning and behavioural sociological concepts would be brought to bear on the wreckage of the inner cities.
Urban redevelopment never really got off the ground in the US, but the idea was picked up in Jamaica - a gimmick to adorn the facade of the liberal development Washington Consensus model.
The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was formed in 1968, and by 1971 it had managed to devastate downtown Kingston, wrecking a lively, fairly sophisticated if somewhat tatty capital. Over the centuries, Kingston had been worked over by disastrous hurricanes, catastrophic earthquakes and voracious fires. It survived them all.
It could not survive the UDC.
Downtown Kingston had a soul. People lived there, and until its untimely demise at the hands of the UDC, it was the place to parade youthful arrogance and nubility, especially on a Saturday morning. And it was the place for revolution, as in 1938 and as the government thought was happening in 1964, with the JBC strike. Kingston was alive. It was political.
That had to go.
It had to be sanitised, Americanised and shrink-wrapped; there would be a broad seaside boulevard, populated by hotels and skyscrapers in the style of Miami. So everything on the waterfront was destroyed, some charming old buildings, including the first reinforced concrete building in the western hemisphere. Fortunately, Wray and Nephew's rum store was not destroyed; it is an early example of barrel vaulting in concrete and is a splendid structure in its own right - the perfect place for a crafts market.
But that had been cleared out of the old wrought iron Victoria Market years earlier and could not be accommodated so close to large affairs and big business. It was relegated to the No 2 Railway Pier warehouses. The quaint old finger piers, made of 20x20 inch greenheart baulks and virtually indestructible, were destroyed. No one thought that they might make attractive sites for restaurants over the water or other means of divertissement.
The problem with the UDC has always been a lack of imagination. As chairman of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority in 1979, I wrote asking that they protect the areas where iguanas were last reported. The UDC's reply was that iguanas were said to be extinct. The fact that a hog hunter 12 years earlier had seen one killed by hogs and had preserved its skin, counted for nothing. So, of course, when iguanas were once again found in Hellshire the UDC was no doubt flabbergasted.
In its 40 years of existence, the UDC has done no urban development. It has built roads, beachside condos, one or two housing schemes and rakes in its cash from enterprises like the Dunn's River Falls and Beach. With a little help from their friends, the people of Hellshire Bay have at last won a 35-year war against the UDC to be recognised as the owners of Halfmoon Beach at Hellshire.
Meanwhile, the UDC is now into collecting rents and entrance fees from Dunn's River Falls and from Reach Falls in Portland and other touristic enterprises. A guesthouse owner in Portland complained to me about one of these enterprises. Fredericus Enneking, a European, says he was perfectly content with Reach Falls when it was owned and operated by a Jamaican.
"It was the most beautiful time for the Reach Falls people and his visitors. There was a relaxed and nice natural atmosphere that invited you to stay. You could mix up with local people who were running their business like selling fish soup, jelly coconuts, fruits, bamboo and other craft and a bar where you could get a nice cool Red Stripe. And you could go where you wanted and enjoy yourself."
No one is quite clear how the UDC got hold of the property, but according to Enneking (and others) "there are no local people anymore on the premises to sell their things, there are no drinks or food on sale and visitors have to pay an entrance fee of US$10/J$650".
Enneking says he and other guesthouse and hotel owners in the area weren't consulted or even informed by the UDC when they decided to take over this important attraction. Now, their guests come back from the Falls saying the entrance fee is ridiculous and the 'vibes' aren't there any more. They feel they are under supervision everywhere.
Cont.
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