WALK GOOD Pedest r i anCor r i dor
DORRAI NE DUNCAN JHORDAN CHANNER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
2
History
3
Resilience Framework
4
Background
5
Site Area: Walk Good Vulnerabilities
5 8
Economic Depression and Exclusion
8
Road Safety and Crime
10
Urban Flooding and Climate Change
13
Logic Model
15
Interventions
16
Complete Road Pedestrianization
16
Green Infrastructure
20
Entertainment Zoning
24
Community Planning Board
28
Conclusion
31
Works Cited
32
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ABSTRACT This proposal suggests a pedestrian corridor that connects Kingston’s first capital in Port Royal with its second in Downtown Kingston and its burgeoning economic centre in New Kingston via a series of important green and open space networks that recite a historical narrative for the city. The nodes in this network begin with Port Royal ferrying to Downtown Kingston’s waterfront reaching to St. Williams Grant Park connecting to Heroes Circle and resolving at Emancipation Park. 1. The project will be designed and implemented following a Resilient City Framework 2. The corridor aims to create social and economic linkages between these very separate but strategically important zones of the city through Transit Oriented Development 3. Provide the opportunity for different modes of transportation to reduce dependence on automobiles. 4. Leverage the rich cultural and creative resources of Jamaican people through arts and entertainment zoning along the corridor. The pre-independence urban history of Kingston reveals a history rife with environmental vulnerabilities and a reactive urban settlement pattern. Post-independence saw a new set of economic vulnerabilities leaving the area socially, economically and physically devastated. The resilient approach to this project involves improving the capacity of the community to withstand both of these vulnerabilities. The first strategy being employed involves pedestrianizing the corridor for active transportation (bikes, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians etc), this provides affordable multimodal transport systems. Decreased dependency on automobiles have positive environmental implications and introducing urban green coverage to improve thermal comfort along the corridor and mitigate the urban heat island effect. Emphasizing walking, cycling creates a more intimate interaction between people and the city and by combining exercise with commute; health and fitness run parallel with transportation. This is especially important in a country with above normal rate of cardiovascular disease. The pedestrian corridor acts as a datum for development, physically connecting two major economic centres (New Kingston, Downtown Kingston) and with the inclusion of ferry transportation it further connects Portmore and Port Royal to the economic network. The second strategy involves arts and entertainment zoning that regulates nightlife and brings the informal economy into the fold of a new vibrant and diversified 24 hour economy. Development along this network with a comprehensive zoning system has the potential to meet all the basic needs of those along the corridor from housing to employment. Through resilient-focussed policy making a diverse social group of Jamaicans can access the economic benefits of this money flow; there is also potential to formalize the informal economy that will inevitably plug into this economic network.
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HISTORY Port Royal was an exceptional colonial city; with its enviable wealth and opulence, it became known as the unofficial capital of Jamaica between 1655 and 1692. As the mecca for English buccaneers and pirates, the city gained infamy as the “richest and wickedest city on earth”. Jamaica’s contemporary capital- Kingston, was nothing but agricultural land until 1692, when an earthquake and tsunami ravaged Port Royal and killed many of its inhabitants. Shortly after the disaster plans for the creation of the new town Kingston were drawn up and land purchase agreements set up for locals. However many of Port Royal’s residents chose to remain in what survived of the city- until 1703 when an enormous fire consumed the remnants of the city. A mass migration began, as Port Royal residents, new Asian and European migrants settled in what is now Downtown Kingston (National Library of Jamaica, 2015). By 1713 Kingston was declared its own parish and secured the right of political representation. The development of Kingston took place in phases: starting with a concentration of businesses and civic institutions around Parade Square. This was followed by high-end mansions, then township development and finally physical infrastructure (Urban Development Corporation, 2013). As the city’s post emancipation population ballooned, many merchants who previously lived above their businesses in Downtown Kingston relocated northerly to the Liguanea Plains (which is now considered an upper-income enclave) in the parish of St. Andrew. The Great Kingston Quake of 1907 accelerated this second migration further inland. With 1 out of every 48 persons residing in Kingston perishing, thousands of people were left homeless and sought safer grounds outside of Downtown Kingston (The University of the West Indies). The northerly suburb that many fled to was Half Way Tree, which was and is still the current capital of St. Andrew. The (pre-independence) urban history of Port Royal, Kingston and St. Andrew reveals a history rife with environmental vulnerabilities and a reactive urban settlement pattern. Earthquakes, hurricanes and flash floods have historically been a component of urbanization in Jamaica and continue to impact the way we live, work and play. The exodus of wealth from the downtown Kingston area exposed the region to another set of vulnerabilities that have persisted to this day.
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RESILIENCE FRAMEWORK In 2012 the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew had a population of almost 700,000 people and a population density of 3,600 people per square mile (STATIN, 2017). When contrasted with Metro Atlanta and its density of only 660 persons per square mile (US Census Bureau, 2017), we see that the region is particularly dense, thus exposing a large population to multiple environmental and social hazards. Though Kingston and St. Andrew serve as the economic, social and cultural hub for the nation, this region is also where multiple stresses accumulate and sudden shocks have and may occur again resulting in a collapse of an entire web of systems (Arup International Development, 2015). The extent of the risks associated with these shocks is dependent on the population, thus as the city boundaries grow to accommodate more people the risk will also continue to multiply.
Figure 1: City Resilience Framework (Arup International Development, 2015)
The Arup International Development Group define city resilience as “ the capacity of cities to function, so that the people living and working in these cities- particularly the poor and vulnerable- survive and thrive no matter what stresses or shocks they encounter� (Arup International Development, 2015). The City Resilience Framework was developed to respond to challenges faced by all cities, by providing an evidence-based articulation of city resilience. The framework combines all the physical components essential to cities as well as the less tangible components related to human behaviour such as economics and social capital.
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BACKGROUND For the past couple decades pockets throughout Downtown Kingston have fallen into states of dereliction and abandonment exacerbated by levels of crime that make Kingston one of the world’s murder capitals. Throughout this economic decline however, Kingston has been the epicentre of culture and the birthplace of almost all forms of Jamaican music; Ska, Rock Steady, Reggae, Dub, Nyabinghi and Dancehall. Receiving the title of a World Creative Music City by UNESCO in 2015, acknowledges that music is etched into the foundations of Kingston (UNESCO, 2017). The homes of legendary musicians such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and prolific music studios are scattered around Downtown Kingston. Since the 1960s there have been a multitude of redevelopment projects occurring for both Downtown Kingston and Port Royal. Currently the overarching plan, coordinating all activities is the 2013 Urban Development Corporation's Downtown Kingston & Port Royal Redevelopment Plan (DKPR Plan). Their site area covers 1840 hectares of land and is the first plan to focus on the redevelopment of both areas as a single ecosystem. The purpose of this plan is to present a framework to guide redevelopment, particularly in the following goals: Arrest physical & social blight, improve economic and social conditions, define the capital city’s status as the seat of Government, improve physical development infrastructure and finally create impetus for public/private investments. Through a series of design and financial strategies the DKPR Redevelopment Plan has six main objectives: 1. Renew and improve the housing stock and housing conditions 2. Bringing re-birth to the city’s landscape 3. Enticing the private sector to make use of urban renewal initiatives to spur redevelopment of dilapidated areas 4. Fostering the relocation of government offices to Downtown 5. Enforcing the city’s potential as a viable location for commerce 6. Creating an aesthetic space to attract visitors to the Kingston Waterfront and the Pot Royal peninsula
Site Area: Walk Good We argue that while the objectives laid out in the DKPR plan are admirable and prudent considering the current economic, environmental and social crisis in the region- it is absolutely imperative that resilience be a central component of all redevelopment activities. With a history of proven vulnerabilities, the economic depression of the area only weakens the capacity of the local community to withstand environmental and other type of hazards and bounce back afterwards. Building upon the research completed in the DKPR Plan our site area – entitled Walk 5|Page
Good, lies in the middle of the existing DKPR master plan and covers an area of 366 hectares. While Port Royal is a central component of the government’s plan, it is tangentially addressed in this project (See Figure 2). The title of our project is based on the Jamaican colloquialism ‘walk good’, which simply means to walk well, to take each step carefully. The phrase wishes good fortune on departing loved ones. Perhaps it was first uttered when walking was the obvious form of transportation in Jamaica; an agrarian time with far less density and those before us had to travel long distances on foot. To walk good today often means carefully navigating the vulnerabilities of a politicized urban environment that range from concrete obstacles like traffic accidents and crime to more abstract obstacles like inequality and access. The objective of this plan is to set a precedent for resilient planning that will inspire further redevelopment throughout the DKPR Plan site area. While resilience will manifest itself in various forms for every city, the Resilient City Framework provides a list of 12 key goals that describe the fundamental outcomes of a resilient city. We aim for our site area to exemplify these traits as a microcosm of the entire city of Kingston: 1. Minimal Human vulnerability 2. Diverse livelihoods and employment 3. Effective safeguards to human health and life 4. Collective identity and community support 5. Comprehensive security and rule of law 6. Sustainable economy 7. Reduced exposure and fragility 8. Effective provision of critical services 9. Reliable communication and mobility 10. Effective leadership and management 11. Empowered stakeholders 12. Integrated development planning The DKPR Plan is anchored by several civic, economic and cultural institutions including: the National Parliament building, the Bank of Jamaica, The Jamaica Stock Exchange, Supreme Court, National Gallery of Art and the Port of Kingston. There are also several financial institutions and accounting firms, both local and international along with retail and distribution companies which play a major role in the local economy. The Walk Good project, located in the middle of the larger plan encompasses cultural institutions such as the Ward Theatre, National Gallery of Jamaica and is bordered by the Little Theatre and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Other important civic institutions within the boundary are; Nuttall Memorial Hospital, Jamaica conference centre, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. Several primary, secondary and training schools are in the boundary and the famous Coronation Market is adjacent to the site. The Walk Good site area is bounded in the 6|Page
South by the Kingston Harbour Waterfront. The site encompasses several residential and mixeduse communities either partially or completely, these include; Allman Town (3,429 residents) Central Downtown (2,131), Cross Roads (4,357), Fletchers Land (3,971), Kingston Gardens (1,565) and Woodford Park (2,755) (Urban Development Corporation, 2013).
Figure 2: Walk Good Project boundary: Within the larger Downtown Kingston and Port Royal Redevelopment Project area (Duncan, 2017)
Stakeholders
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VULNERABILITIES Economic Depression and Exclusion LIVELIHOODS & EMPLOYMENT Most of the communities in the Walk Good site area are lower-income communities characterised by fair to poor quality housing stock. In most of the communities almost half of the housing stock is considered to be in fair condition, in Allman Town, Kingston Gardens and Woodfard Park 54% of the housing stock was considered to be in poor or derelict conditions. Land ownership ranges from a high of 50% to a low of 29% across the communities, with a significant percentage (20.2%) throughout the DKPR area not stating or unaware of their land tenure. An unfortunate feature of the entire Walk Good Site, signifying the generational economic depression of the area is the abundance of abandoned or vacant lots. Using UDC’s 2013 land use map of the area and updating it with GIS analysis of satellite imagery we estimate that vacant lots make up 3.7% of the site area [See Figure 3]. This percentage, in actuality may be much higher as many illegal parking lots are cleared residential or commercial lots and would not have been included in the tally.
Figure 3: Vacant Lots in and adjacent to site (Duncan, 2017)
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Unemployment is also a significant factor in several of these communities; Central Downtown with a particularly high youthful population (65.7% under 30 years) cited unemployment as a major community challenge. More mixed-use (commercial and residential) communities, such as Cross Roads have a higher population of professionally employed residents (27.7%). Throughout the DKPR area and the Walk Good site the most common source of financial support for unemployed heads is remittances from abroad (20.3%). The main economic earners in the area include a wide variety of informal activities: • Peddling • Shop-keeping • Hairdressing • Barbering • Teaching • Janitorial • Accounting Throughout the Walk Good site area and the lager redevelopment area markets are an ever present typology, having historical roots preceding the Port Royal earthquake of 1902 (Urban Development Corporation, 2013). There are 13 markets across the entire area and 4 markets in or directly adjacent to the Walk Good site area. In a 2011 study completed by the Social Development Commission (SDC) there were about 6,241 vendors that operated in all 13 markets, but another almost 2,500 persons sold their products informally on the streets (Urban Development Corporation, 2013). The majority of ‘higglers’ (Jamaican colloquial for a vendor) were females between the ages of 40-44. The UDC stated that the vending on the street is a direct result of the lack of space and poor conditions within the market. The informality that exists within the market districts is prevalent inside and outside of the market as the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation who operates the markets states that only 2000 out of the 6,241 vendors in the market were actually registered. UNEMPOWERED STAKEHOLDERS During the consultative stages of the Downtown Kingston and Port Royal redevelopment plan five 1 day community stakeholder sessions were held. In Port Royal, a town of almost 2000 people only 19 residents attended the meeting. In Delacree Park 30 of 3,169 residents attended, Greenwich Town 34 of 7,561, Parade Gardens 20 of 2,131 and Allman Town only 27 of over 4,000 residents (Urban Development Corporation, 2013). The few residents who attended the stakeholder sessions included youth clubs, citizens associations, academic institution staff and sports clubs. Consultation with the community occurred only 4 months before the final draft of the Redevelopment Plan was published. Thus we could infer that the results of the community engagement meetings did not greatly impact the direction or aims of the master-plan.
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It is also important to note that corporate and civic stakeholders were not included in the same set of community sessions as the residential community but continue to play a major role in shaping the redevelopment and investment in the area. While the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), states that a Participatory Learning and Action method was used to conduct discussions with residents, there is no list of explicitly community-oriented desires for the redevelopment plan. Most recently community leaders/enforcers, otherwise known as don men called a meeting with the lead adviser of the UDC redevelopment project, Dr Gladstone Hutchinson to state that they wanted to play a role in the redevelopment of the area. The conversation between 30 dons from around Downtown and Dr Hutchinson highlighted that they were interested in making Downtown safer for night time activities, so that the economy could flourish. "So I said to them, 'You are telling me that you want to get a second shift in downtown', and they said, 'Yes', that would be good, because keeping downtown open until 10, 11 or 12 o'clock at night, is in everybody's interest. Everyone has started now to see their enlightened self-interest and their interdependence and the interlocking of their private benefits ... then we begin a conversation about how we are going to do this," - Gladstone Hutchinson (Cross, 2017) This self- assertion of stakeholders into the formal planning discourse has raised debates about the involvement of the “criminal underworld� as legitimate stakeholders.
Road Safety and Crime The Downtown Kingston colonial style urban grid is a dense lattice of public streets and residential lanes of narrow widths and compact building lots. The majority of the roads in the area operate on a one way system, with some roadways facilitating only west to east and north to south movement (Urban Development Corporation, 2013). Public transportation is dominated by buses (both publicly and privates owned), a total of 47 bus routes service the Downtown area. The compactness of the grid facilitates heavy pedestrian movement through the core of the area, particularly the market district. These pedestrian corridors run along avenues of concentrated retail activity. Either because of, or in spite of the current road network, the Walk Good site area has relatively high incidences of traffic accidents [See Figure 4]. With data obtained through the Road Safety Unit, in the Ministry of Transport & Mining, 2016 crash data was represented graphically using density circles. As seen below the darker the circle, the more accidents that occurred at that particular intersection. Within the Walk Good site, areas of concern include the borders of the Sir Williams Grant Park, King Street in the south, Orange Street and the south-western edge of Heroes Park. King Street is a notable dense pedestrian retail corridor (Urban Development 10 | P a g e
Corporation, 2013), wherein pedestrians are in competition with vehicles. The entire northern border of the Sir Williams Grant Park is occupied by a bus park, which merge onto an already narrow 3 lane road. Statistics related to the human impact of these crashes was not found, however it can be inferred that the road network and associated traffic in and around the site puts residents and visitors at significant risk.
Figure 4: Car Downtown Kingston Accident Density (Duncan, 2017)
In 2010 only 17.9% of the Jamaican population owned a car, in the Walk Good site approximately 8% of the total site area was consumed by parking and roughly 50% consumed by road networks (Author’s analysis (Duncan, 2017)). This a a problem that needs to be addressed as land in Downtown is scarce and as redevelopment gains speed will become more and more valuable. Of the 3000 odd parking spots availale in a sampled section of the DKPR site, only 4% was available to the public, as the majority of the lots were contracted out to offices and other businesses in the area (Urban Development Corporation, 2013).
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Another component of road safety is perceived crime and violence. As a nation, Jamaica’s homicide rate is high by even international standards and continues to sabotage the economies of all its cities. Kingston has the highest rate of murder of the three major urban areas, and since 1990, while total crimes has decreased- murders have more than tripled (Gray, 2007). In a study completed for the Jamaica Constabulary force; centres of crime distribution were found for the Kingston Area. The Walk Good site (outlined in the white) appears in the red, signifying an exceptionally dense distribution of major crimes [See Figure 5].
Figure 5: Downtown Kingston Crime Distribution Centres (Lyer-Ayee & Greene, 2013)
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Urban Flooding and Climate Change A vulnerability that all coastal cities face, but particularly those in the Caribbean is urban flooding and sea level rise. According to the State of Jamaican Climate Report, 25% of the island’s population lives within coastal areas and 90% of national GDP is produced within these areas, this fact makes the island extremely vulnerable (Climate Studies Goup Mona, UWI, 2012). In and around the site area characteristics of the built environment exacerbate this vulnerability; there are no permanent surface drainage features within the area. Seasonal runoff channels that have been converted to paved storm drains and open gullies, represent the only drainage feature (Urban Development Corporation, 2013). Figure 6 shows the paved gullies that run though and around the Walk Good site.
Figure 6: Site Area Artificial Drainage (Duncan, 2017)
The site area elevates in a northerly direction with the lowest section being along the coast of the Kingston Harbour. Tivoli, Barnes, Waggonette, Kingston, Pen and the South Camp Gullies serve as the primary (artificial) conveyance systems that carry storm water runoff away from the city centre to the Kingston Harbour. Where storm water runoff volumes are too high, localized flooding does occur when water overflows the banks of the drainage systems. Contributing 13 | P a g e
factors of these floods include: gullies that are filled with silt and debris which reduce capacity as well as poorly designed inlets on roadways which do not efficiently direct storm water. As climate change continues to lead to more extreme weather events, more frequent and powerful hurricanes will be a new normal. The built environment in the site area will continue to put the population are great risk of flooding, property damage and even loss of life. Another major contributing factor to the area’s flooding vulnerability is the lack of permeable surfaces throughout the site. A rough land usage analysis was completed using GIS software and found that the vast majority of the site was impermeable (roughly 90%) (Duncan, 2017). Over half of the site area was consumed by the road network and other non-developable features (which we assume is completely impervious) whilst the only green spaces in the site are the parks and fields and open spaces associated with educational institutions (See Figure 7). Parking 7%
Vacant Lots 4%
Building Footprints 23%
Roads & Nondevelopable 54%
Large Parks 7% School Campuses 5% Parking
Vacant Lots
Building Footprints
Large Parks
School Campuses
Roads & Non-developable
Figure 7: Land Use Estimations (Duncan, 2017)
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LOGIC MODEL A logic model is a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of potential interventions, and examine their potential outcomes (See Figure 8). The scope of the Walk Good project aims to serve as a springboard study for the application of the City Resilience Framework in Kingston and to hopefully inspire a similar form of development throughout the wider Downtown Kingston and Port Royal redevelopment area. Based on the vulnerabilities previously presented, we have proposed four interventions to be applied in the Walk Good site: complete road pedestrianization, green infrastructure, entertainment zoning and a community planning board. We believe that the nexus of these interventions will realise specific resilience outcomes: empowered stakeholders, reduced hazard exposure, improved livelihoods and employment as well some level of social stability & security. While limitations of time and expertise prevented us from comprehensively exploring the vulnerabilities and potential capabilities listed in the City Resilience Framework, we believe that the following interventions, based on case studies can indeed attain these outcomes.
Figure 8: Logic Model (Duncan, 2017)
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INTERVENTIONS Complete Road Pedestrianization The built environment has been described as having 3 dimensions: density, destinations and design (Cervero and Kockelman, 1997). Density represents the population density of a neighbourhood, in numerous studies areas of higher residential density have been associated with increased walking (Frank et al., 2005). The number and variety of Destinations in a local area is also associated with increased physical activity (Eisenberg, Vanderbom, & Vasudevan, 2016). Lastly, Design of the built environment includes the aesthetics, the sidewalk infrastructure, pedestrian safety and crime. Street connectivity and land use mix have been associated with physical activity individually and as a part of neighbourhood walkability indices (Eisenberg, Vanderbom, & Vasudevan, 2016). This plan proposes to manipulate the density, dimension and the number of destinations throughout the Walk Good site area to stimulate active forms of transit throughout the corridor. PRECEDENT
Rua XV Novembro (November 15th Street) otherwise known as Rua Das Flores (Flower Street) was the first pedestrian-only public thoroughfare in Brazil, created in Curitiba state in 1972. This 1km stretch is located in the city centre has transformed the thoroughfare into a vital artery through downtown Curitiba (Street-Films, 2009). The pedestrian plaza spans 15 blocks and it the epicentre of local businesses, retail and entertainment. Lined with trees, greenery and street furniture the corridor has become a gallery for public art and a stage for street performers. The important accompanying features of Curitiba’s pedestrian corridor are connective surrounding corridors and social anchors such as large parks and neighbourhood parks (Mikesh, 2006). Curitiba’s connective corridors feature a network of local bus lines that run in routes of concentric circles that connect to five radial lines jutting outwards, away from the city centre. These high speed, high capacity buses hold 300 passengers, travel as fast as subway cars but are only at 1/18th the construction cost. Not only do buses have their own allotted lanes but so do bicycles (Mikesh, 2006). The reliability and accessibility of the areas surrounding the pedestrian corridor make utilization of the path convenient for recreational and utilitarian purposes. Green zoning protects every tree in the city, additionally new parks and green spaces were created from abandoned dumps and other industrial sites (Mikesh, 2006).
DESTINATIONS We propose a 5.15km (3.2miles) pedestrian path starting at the Downtown Waterfront, flowing through Sir Williams Grant Park (819m or 11mins), then north towards Heroes Circle Park (1.5 km or 16mins) and a proposed green space near Nuttall Memorial Hospital (1.3 20mins) and finally commencing at Emancipation Park (1.53 km 20mins) in New Kingston. The estimated walk time between each park is no more than 20 minutes, making the entire Walk Good Path 16 | P a g e
walkable in about an hour. Each of these green spaces will become destinations in and of themselves; drawing pedestrians through them for both utilitarian and recreational purposes (See Figure 9).
Emancipation Park
Proposed Park
Heroes Circle
Sir Williams Grant Park
Figure 9: Walk Good Pedestrian Path and Parks (Duncan, 2017)
DESIGN Connectivity and accessibility are essential factors in the pedestrianization of the streets included in the Walk Good Path. The pedestrian corridor can be broken down in to 4 segments with a park as an end point. Segments 1, 2 and 3 are unbroken pedestrian only paths that have no vehicular intrusion. The last segment will have one break and crossing to allow traffic from major thoroughfares (yellow line in map). Existing bus stops are shown below, while several of 17 | P a g e
them will be removed from the Walk Good Path, it is important to note that bus access is still in close proximity in segments 4 and 3. Recommendations for additional bus stops closer to Segments 2 and 1 will be made (See Figure 10).
Segment 4
Segment 3
Segment 2
Segment 1
Figure 10: Walk Good existing public transit Network (Duncan, 2017)
The Walk Good Path aims to give residents and workers of Downtown Kingston a safe and engaging alternative to traverse around their communities. While majority of Downtown’s residents use the bus as their main mode of transit, much of the working population does use personal vehicles. As such parking throughout the site is a must. As was suggested in the UDC masterplan, the consolidation of small scale parking will be done and replaced with high volume multi story, shared parking decks near high density job zones.
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DENSITY Walk Good, as the flagship development in the wider Downtown Kingston and Port Royal redevelopment could be the main catalyst for development; thereby attracting density around its corridor. As with any amenity, property in close proximity will be most desired. Fortunately Downtown’s existing plot sizes are small and lend themselves to increased vertical density and infill. Density in this site can be viewed in various ways; high residential density or a density of diverse programming and typologies. Any future development that extends from our Walk Good pedestrian corridor will need to increase residential density, to capitalise on the amenity of Walk Good’s pedestrian corridor. As noted in several governmental studies there is a dire need for diverse housing solutions, particularly affordable housing in the metro area. Lastly, to ensure public engagement with the corridor diverse programming must be scattered along each segment of the path.
Figure 11: Reimagined Pedestrian Corridor along Marescaux Road (Channer, 2017)
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Green Infrastructure Green infrastructure otherwise known as Low Impact Development (LID) is a network of decentralized stormwater management practices, such as green roofs, rain gardens and permeable pavement, that can capture and infiltrate rain where it falls, thus reducing stormwater runoff and improving the health of surrounding waterways (Center for Neighborhood Technology , 2010). The ability of these practices to deliver multiple ecological, economic and social benefits within urban areas has made LID an increasingly popular strategy in cities across the United States and Europe. Even more attractive is that fact that in multiple EPA studies LID developments have been shown to reduce project costs- when compared to traditional stormwater solutions (Environmental Protection Agency, 2007). Additionally various US studies have found that green infrastructure can increase property values between 0.7% and 11%, depending on the types of features included (EPA, 2014). We will be recommending the development of a green infrastructure system throughout the Walk Good site that could eventually be replicated throughout Downtown Kingston. Techniques being proposed include: 1. Bioretention pond at Heroes Circle. This feature maintains a pool of water throughout the year and holds stormwater runoff, thus reducing the volume of water running through gullies and underground conveyance channels. The precedent for this intervention is the bioretention pond in the Historic Fourth Ward Park, Atlanta Georgia. This 2 acre detention pond provides relief to the City of Atlanta’s combined sewer system, along with aesthetic elements such as a waterfall (to aerate and recycle the pond water) and a stone water cascade. The pond is built below the site’s water table and generates a minimum of 425 gallons a minute, even in a drought. The water generated is used to water the park’s lawns and playing fields. In total the project came in at $23 million dollars, which is almost half the city had budgeted to fix the stormwater problem using traditional methods. We propose a similar project in Heroes Circle, where gullies north of the site would be rerouted to deposit runoff in an appropriately sized detention pond in the northerly section of the park. An updated landscape design must be done to blend the existing historical monuments, proposed civic institutions as well as the pond into a green oasis in the middle of the city (See Figure 12). 2. Pervious pavement. Pervious pavement is a type of surface material that unlike traditional concrete or asphalt roads allows streets to retain the underlying soil’s natural infiltration capacity, while maintaining the structural function. This pavement which can either be asphalt or concrete is porous on the surface and has a series of under layers of gravel and silt which facilitate the downward movement of water (EPA, 2014).Pervious pavement should be installed the entire stretch of the pedestrianized corridor (See Figure 13 a. and 13 b.). 3. Planter boxes along pedestrian path. These are small bioretention facilities contained within concrete boxes that serve a similar purpose as the bioretention pond- just on a smaller scale. Runoff from the street typically enters a planter box though a curb cut and 20 | P a g e
the open bottom of the boxes allow infiltration of water to the underlying soils. These boxes are well suited for narrow areas and can include native shrub species that are best suited at absorbing large volumes of water (EPA, 2014). Planter boxes will be installed throughout the Walk Good site area and along the pedestrian path. 4. Tree cover along pedestrian path. A city-wide effort will be catalysed by the proposed Walk Good tree canopy to improve Kingston’s natural tree canopy by replanting native trees. To encourage the use of Walk Good’s path as a pedestrian and bike corridor thermal comfort must be addressed. In Atlanta, temperature differences between heavily forested urban areas and areas with no tree cover were found to range from as small as 0.169°F to as much as 2.6°F (Stone, Mallen, & Lanza, 2015). Walk Good pedestrian corridor will be lined with local woody-trees so as to ensure the maximum thermal comfort for users.
Figure 12: Proposed Section for bio-retention pond at Heroes Park (Channer, 2017)
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Figure 13 (a): Existing Street Section along Walk Good path (Channer, 2017)
Figure 13 (b): Proposed pedestrianized Corridor (Channer, 2017)
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Figure 13 (c): Proposed Green Infrastructure Master Plan (Channer, 2017) Emancipation Park
Proposed Park
Bioretention Pond at Heroes Circle
Parade Square
Kingston Waterfront
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Entertainment Zoning This intervention is based on the recent proposal of entertainment zoning as a solution to the informality and nuisance of dancehall culture and its nocturnal economy. Proposed in 2013 by then State Minister in the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment Damion Crawford, he suggested the creation of specific zones for certain types of entertainment events scattered around the Kingston Metropolitan Area. The idea was similar to the zoning and development of Miami Beach, Florida that not only has spots for entertainment activities, but also centralized parking and food venues (Reynolds-Baker, 2014). During his party’s time in power the Minister went as far as to designate Fort Rocky along the Palisadoes strip in Kingston as a pilot entertainment zone. He said “This will be a pilot project that, if it works well, will be replicated in other parts of the island.” A political transition following the February 2016 national election has since shelved the Minister’s pilot project and the progress he made. However the idea of entertainment zones (EZs) is one that has been explored as a mechanism to control nuisances such as noise as well as spur redevelopment of dilapidated urban areas around the Western world. In one study about EZs the author notes that they are generally located near downtown, often former industrial or commercial districts. He notes that the key physical components of entertainment districts surveyed in the study are “vernacular industrial and commercial buildings that have outlived their original uses and have survived large-scale development and planning programs” (Campo & Ryan, 2008). “Entertainment zones’ ephemeral, temporal quality and their occupation of seemingly marginal buildings, spaces and urban precincts belie the critical vitality that they contribute to otherwise dead spaces in [American] downtowns.” Characteristics of the Walk Good site area lend itself to the development of EZs all along the pedestrianized corridor. Features of this zoning plan will include: 1. Extension of lock-off hours as stated in the Noise Abatement Act. This is necessary along the pedestrian path so as to facilitate the growth of an energetic 24-hour economy throughout the Walk Good site. Street parties, concerts and other events will still have to apply for a permit for hosting their event, but will no longer have to end the event at 2:00AM but can continue all night during the weekends. Building upon Kingston’s designation as an UNESCO Creative City of Music in 2015, entertainment will be encouraged to fuel development along the Walk Good Path and throughout Downtown Kingston. 2. Zoning for living exhibitions and public art work. Insurgent, community driven revitalization projects such as Paint Jamaica1, have proven the potential of public art to shatter the negative stigmas of inner city areas, as well as make the built environment more convivial for its residents. We propose a public arts program similar to Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program which stated in 1984, as an anti-graffiti initiative. The program aimed to stop vandalism throughout the urban core, by employing graffiti 1
Paint Jamaica: started in July 2014 when a group of Jamaican artists and a French traveler got together and decided to bring art into the streets of Kingston in unexpected ways and in unexpected places. The idea at heart was to change and revolutionize the relationship between art, talent and society.
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artists, other local artists to create massive murals on the sides of civic buildings, abandoned buildings and donated walls (Wu, 2014). The effect of this program is a cityscape which includes almost 4,000 murals that have been found to be one of the few investments a city can make in commercial areas to have a positive impact on property values and retail sales (City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, 2010). Public art throughout the Walk Good Site can turn an eyesore into something well-maintained which in turn can make that location a destination- thus drawing people to the redevelopment area. Along with murals the entertainment zoned pedestrian corridor will have a simplified permitting process to facilitate public art installations and exhibitions, similar to those held during the Miami Art Walk. 3. Entertainment Development Prioritization. As development begins to take place in the Walk Good site area, we expect a repatriation of investment to take place. As such it is important that the niche of this corridor is defined acutely as an entertainment and green corridor; this branding must influence the type of development occurring within the site. Priority lots will be defined as areas where open and closed concert venues will be encouraged. 4. Public Amenities. The perceptions of crime in Downtown Kingston may be worse than the reality, this is especially true in areas that are dilapidated and lack public amenities that make pedestrians feel safe and secure. The Walk Good site area must include amenities such as improved street lighting, patrolling security and emergency call boxes. Other amenities include a comprehensive solid waste management and recycling system and public bathrooms in the parks. 5. Co-working kitchens. Hawker centers sprang up in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1960s as a solution to the problem of unhygienic food preparation by unlicensed street vendors. Instead of mobile food carts, permanent stalls in open air buildings are provided, with shared cooking utilities and fluid dining space. While Jamaica’s street food culture is not as established as many places in Asia, a typology such as this could not only encourage entrepreneurship and culinary creativity but can also solidify Walk Good Pedestrian Corridor as a desirable destination (See Figure 14).
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Figure 14(a): Rendering of Co-Working Street along King Street (Channer, 2017)
Figure 14(b): Rendering showing streets open for cultural activity (Jonkonnu) (Channer, 2017)
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Figure 15: Proposed Green Infrastructure Master Plan (Channer, 2017)
Co-work Kitchens
Co-work Kitchens
Co-work Kitchens
Co-work Kitchens
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Community Planning Board Community Planning Boards have been a tool for community involvement in the US since the 60’s; giving communities a legal authority to make decisions and to be the first point of contact for public and private development. In states like New York, these boards are appointed advisory groups that among other tasks advise on land use zoning and participate in city budgets. The value of these organizations is the creation of a sense of community ownership, which has been proven to improve the sustainability of new developments- particularly environmental amenities. We propose the creation of a community planning board for the Walk Good site area that could eventually be expanded to represent the entire Downtown community. This entity will transform community involvement from being only concomitant to endowing the community with leadership and ownership of the project. In one study comparing various management strategies for water and sanitation systems in South Asia, the authors concluded that: “Participation is important because a critical mass of community members must understand the potential benefits of the scheme and participate in setting project rules. Moreover people’s participation contributes to the achievement of the five main objectives of water supply projects: effectiveness, efficiency, empowerment, equity and coverage…….It is also important for the community to feel a sense of ownership for the resource; the community as a whole should believe that this is their project and they are responsible for keeping it operational.” (Water Sanitation Program ) The mandate of the Walk Good’s Community Planning Board will include: 1. Interim planning and programming for vacant and parking lots A major factor repelling Kingstonians from visiting Downtown is the perceived risk of crime that takes place in the scores of abandoned properties, lots and informal parking lots. Whilst we expect that the Walk Good corridor will spark further development around the area, some type of programming must take place in the meantime, to ‘soften the image’ of the area by transforming these lots which have become sores in the urban form. This experiment in insurgent planning has been seen in disinvested cities such as Detroit and Cleveland, where communities members, though ‘guerilla farming’ have been able to beautify their community- but also feed people who would not otherwise have access to fresh produce (Resnikoff, 2014) This form of informal planning is an example of communities reclaiming their autonomy to create a better social and physical environment by community-led activities. We envisage a local planning board that is given the opportunity to experiment with various initiatives (e.g. urban gardening or public art) that can fill the voids in the urban fabric. The board, through a consultative processes with the constituents will decide on their shared needs and how innovative uses of the land can better the neighborhood, whilst potentially improving property values and perceptions of the community. From the Detroit case study, a key policy tool needed to ensure the feasibility of their urban farms was a multi-year government lease agreement for $1 a year. The government allowed 28 | P a g e
communities to utilize abandoned properties for a period of time- until it could be converted into a productive use by its legal owner (Guzman, 2016). A similar policy needs to be installed throughout the Downtown and Port Royal redevelopment area to give the community the support to undertake transformational vacant lot planning and programming. 2.
Management of Street vending along pedestrian corridor The informal economy is particularly active in the Downtown community and is best exemplified by the density of street vendors along popular streets. It is no surprise that street vendors, peddlers and hustlers in general use public space downtown more intensely than anyone else. They understand the street as an amenity for the people to be used actively, attempts to cull them miss the point, they have weaved themselves into the public realm. The overcrowding in markets and the lure of quicker earnings incentivizes many vendors to leave designated places of commerce and move to the streets. The Walk Good community planning board can designate special vending zones along the corridor to release the tension on markets, the development of co-working kitchens could further reduce the number of vendors on the streets. To regulate the service that vendors provide the board can introduce a licensure program that mandates the necessary quality of food preparation and services to operate on the corridor. Ideally the planning board will be in contact with vendors often organizing them to serve at events along the corridor.
3.
Permitting of events along corridor Throughout the metropolitan area, all events taking place in public spaces must be approved by the local police force, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and abide by all sections of the Noise Abatement Act. In lieu of these prerequisites an event can be legally shut down by the police. We do not wish to make the process of event approval more cumbersome for promoters and further disincentive their attempt to abide by the law, but we acknowledge that the community deserves to have a say in the type of events being held in shared spaces around their community. As an extension of the desire to give the community ownership in new developments, we propose that the Community Planning Board partner with the KSAC to approve events. The Community Board must come up with a list of compulsory requirements that along with KSAC’s requirements each event promoter must achieve before permits are issued. Requirements that the community could include the hiring of local street clean-up crews and other stipulations that can ensure economic opportunities for local vendors and other businesses. 29 | P a g e
CONCLUSION To move toward resilience is to move towards ideas of inclusivity, resourcefulness, integration and reflectiveness. A city that aims to be resilient must be reflective in its acceptance of the inherent and ever-increasing threats that surround its boundaries. It must integrate city systems to ensure consistency, it must also be resourceful and creative in its approaches to attaining policy goals. Lastly a city must be inclusive; actively engaging stakeholders and giving them the opportunity to dictate their needs and impact the direction of development. At the core of the Walk Good proposal is the understanding of the complexity, interconnectedness and multidisciplinary nature of cities such as Kingston. The approach necessary to rejuvenate Downtown Kingston has to be equally multidisciplinary and broadly focused if it is to not only redevelop the area but build up its inherent capabilities to withstand threats to its stability. Walk Good will be Kingston’s first pedestrian corridor and will employ multiple interventions to improve the resiliency of the city, its residents and systems. Green infrastructure and an urban canopy are design elements which target the perpetually growing vulnerability of urban flooding and climate change. These interventions increase pervious surfaces, thus reducing the threatwhilst creating an oasis in the dense concrete landscape of Downtown Kingston. Entertainment zoning throughout the pedestrianized corridor is a tool that takes advantage of Kingston’s strength as the epicenter of Jamaican music and culture, to stimulate economic activity in the area. Lastly the project proposes the creation of a community planning board that will transform community involvement from being only concomitant to endowing the community with leadership and ownership of the project. This entity is instrumental in giving the community an avenue to invest in the improvement of their neighborhood and ensures that benefits from the redevelopment are shared with locals. The Walk Good pedestrian corridor is a small sliver of the entire Downtown Kingston community but has the potential to create a new typology and set of institutions that actively empower its stakeholders reduce both environmental and economic hazards, facilitate diverse economic opportunities for locals and provide a sense of social stability and security.
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