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MAP OF LAND USE MAP OF SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SELECTED HAZARDS
INTRODUCTION TO THE URBAN ISSUES IN MONTEGO BAY The urban core of Montego Bay is composed of 38 neighborhoods which have a combined population of 110,115. Historically, planned urban development has occurred within the center of the city and along the coastline. Since the early eighties, most formal and informal housing development activities have been concentrated in the hills on the outskirts of the city. On the other hand, hotels and resort complexes are no longer developed close to the main Gloucester Avenue commercial axis (“Hip Strip”), but instead have been emerging along the coast, to the east of the Sangster International Airport. Over the past three decades, the city has continued to grow on the periphery, mostly in the form of low-density informal settlements. The city is operating under a zoning plan that was approved in 1983 and needs to be updated to reflect the current reality, residents’ needs, and modern planning practices. An absence of regulations and
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urban growth management has led to large, widespread, and unplanned new developments in areas unfit for urbanization, such as areas exposed to natural hazards such as flooding and landslides. The historic city center of Montego Bay lacks residences and has high congestion caused by mainly vehicular traffic and an inefficient public transportation system. Over the past 30 years, the city’s downtown area has become a central business district with banks, services, a public library, markets, schools, hospitals, and clinics, and has many important functions and uses. The commercialization of downtown for these purposes has resulted in a decline in its importance as a hospitality center and residential area. This kind of urban fragmentation leads to inefficient urban development. This includes a strong dependency on automobiles and high maintenance costs for road infrastructure, sewerage, and other public services. This also results in an inappropriate environmental footprint in terms of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and inefficiency in the use of resources. The abandonment of the downtown area after 6 pm, by employees, customers, and pupils, is a manifestation of this fragmentation. Only a small proportion of tourists venture to downtown Montego Bay to see its historical buildings and traditional markets.