Understanding and Improving Walkable Caribbean Urban

Heritage:

St Georges, Paramaribo, Bridgetown and East Port of Spain

Objective• To comparatively

analyze built and cultural heritage of four Caribbean cities, Paramaribo, Suriname; Bridgetown, Barbados; St Georges, Grenada; and East Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Current Status

PRELIMINARY OUTPUTS/ INITIAL FINDINGS

Port of Spain and Paramaribo

Port of Spain: Built environment quality for pedestrians and cyclists vis-à-vis automobile traffic and overall functionality as historic urban space:

• Area walkable in scale but lack amenities,

• Upkeep of the built environment is poor example of the Independence Square corridor

Paramaribo: Built environment quality for pedestrians and cyclists vis-à-vis automobile traffic and overall functionality as historic urban space:

• Excellent building design and placement but the condition is troubling

• Students visiting from Europe create bicycle traffic and a bit of dynamic economic assistance

• Loss of its street trees Poor condition of historic core buildings

Port of Spain: Adherence to sustainable community principles and UNESCO historic preservation principles:

• Little appreciation evident for the original city center and the east Port of Spain Neighborhood

• Lack of awareness or thought of the basic principles of UNESCO or the Valletta principles.

Paramaribo: Adherence to sustainable community principles and UNESCO historic preservation principles:

• Low priority from planning initiatives including efforts on sustainability

Lack of pedestrian amenities and basic infrastructure

National policy and institutional frameworks

Paramaribo

•Policies seem minimally engaged in the World Heritage

Port of Spain

•Weak regulations and negative attitudes about the existing environment •The Historic Preservation laws have never been implemented.

Local economic development existing practices and potential

Paramaribo

•The Casinos do not appear to be contributing to the vitality

•Lack of information from interviews or documents

Port of Spain

•Designation as an Emerging and Sustainable City under the IADB programme •Lack of strategic thought or planning regarding return on investment•Lack of political will, weak planning frame work, low citizen participation

Recommendations- Paramaribo• Planning needs to be enhanced

• Utilize tools such as tax incentives and others to help attract investment

• Develop an economic development strategy for the city and surrounding area

• A 2-3 block demonstration site to recruit businesses, provide streetscape improvements including green infrastructure should be a priority

• Detail on the legal issues with property rights and regulations that act as barriers to investment and revitalization is needed e.g. heir property divisions clouding title.

• A broader promotion strategy could attract both investors and visitors.

Recommendations-Port of Spain• Discussion among all stakeholders on planning, policies and

options for future scenarios.

• Case studies from successful Caribbean communities need to be compiled to demonstrate the methodologies, costs and laws that are working elsewhere in the region.

• A physical inventory of the built assets along with a revised set of policies and investment strategies, including international marketing, needs to be started.

• Government agencies should participate in the vision process and use the IDB framework to improve coordination, reduce overlap and set fiscal and policy priorities