Living in less economically-developed countries for the vast majority of my life has not only allowed me to recognize my privilege, but the unique development of cities, particularly in former colonial states. Living in Suriname (formerly a Dutch Colony) at the malleable age of 10 made me realize how many children grow up lacking access to basics such as food, water, and electricity, the latter of which I was brought to witness firsthand. I couldn’t understand why the children of Moiwana*, gathered excitedly around the generator installations. Over the years, however, I realized just how significant these changes are. My living experiences in the Global South, especially in Jamaica, has cultivated the avidity I have towards developing socioeconomic equity in urbanized communities, shaping my overall lens towards city life and development.
Living in Jamaica was a unique experience. For safety reasons, we had lived in gated communities for our stay in Jamaica, which shielded me from the dangers of the country that ranked 6th in highest homicide rate in 2021. Living alone for my last semester of Grade 12 in a modest apartment in a foreign country, I began to navigate the streets of Kingston with an even newer lens. It allowed me to realize the harrowing extent of social stratification in Jamaica, where the ‘middle class’ is but a myth. As the Jamaican Observer stated in 2019, “By a per capita income definition, Jamaica is not a middle-class country. The middle class in any society tends to represent the core of the society, both in terms of values and behaviour and in economic terms of the particular society. It is a barometer of normalcy.” In Kingston, there is no such barometer, there is no range of luxury nor wealth, but rather two discernible extremes as the result of government-perpetuated socio-economic polarization.
One may ask themselves, well, why is this an issue?
It boils down to the population density and the lack of government funding for many sectors. We can view this from a contemporary (independent) economic causal relationship lens: the ailing education system in jamaica, leading students to drop out of school for work, going into bauxite mining, fishing, and ackee farming which account for thousands of injured workers (many paraplegic) per annum, little to no federal pecuniary support for the disabled (mental, physical, etc.), resulting in social instability, high tensions, high crime rates. It is an unfortunate paradoxical cycle. In the Parish of St. Andrew (where Kingston is located), there are approximately ~1300 per square kilometer, or 3,300/sq mi (as of 2019). It is the 35th most densely populated country in the world, and yet it is prone to severe natural disasters as it lies on an active tectonic plate area, which, due to government negligence, was not considered upon the construction of Kingston. Port Royal (its remnants are now <8 km from central Kingston) was a situation which not only reflected British colonial ignorance, but a socioeconomic quandary plaguing the current Jamaican government as downtown Kingston begins to mimic its predecessor. Seeing the real struggles of former colonial states, now LEDCs, has helped my overall perspective and understanding the shocking depth of these issues interwoven into our contemporary structural offensive realist global stage (Mearsheimer, Heldermann).
* a Ndyuka maroon village
Side note: I invite you to view Marina Burnel's street photography of Jamaica -- they are truly wonderful. https://marinaburnel.com/street-photography/
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