THE DEAN OF the University of Technology's Faculty of the Built Environment, Dr Carol Archer, has called for a development plan for urban centres to deal with population growth.

"The policymakers, being informed by the planners, should have an idea of what the density for an area ought to be based on - infrastructure, transportation network, schools, health services, and so on," Archer said.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that gated communities and strata-type dwellings are growing in popularity, especially in the Corporate Area, and Archer says the growth is a response to the need for housing.

"It is not a bad thing that we are having these kinds of development. What we want to see is a plan for the development of the city," Archer said.

She added: "We have enough persons trained to assist the decision makers to come up with a development plan for the city. What we want are for the policymakers and developers to commit to the way they want to see the city look."

No need to reinvent the wheel

But Kingston's Mayor, Desmond McKenzie, is insisting that Kingston has a development plan and there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

"There is the old development order and a building code is far advanced," McKenzie told The Sunday Gleaner.

The mayor argued that Kingston was "bursting at the seams"and that there was hardly enough room for additional development.

"We hope that the developers will start to look at going up in terms of multi-storey facilities in getting more habitable rooms in the city," McKenzie said.

He added: "Our position is to ensure that whatever is put forward is something that can stand the test of time."

Meanwhile, Archer has endorsed the move to apartment-type housing and gated communities in Kingston.

"It is not a bad thing that we are having these developments. In fact, I think the State needs to put in place policy and resources that would help to make this type of housing development a positive one, as it can be re-engineered to serve the good of the society," Archer said.

She said by this time, planners, working with policymakers, should have arrived at a sense of what would be the optimum density for the metropolitan area of Kingston and St Andrew.

"That has not been done and we need to get that in place," Archer told The Sunday Gleaner.

Kingston was founded in July 1692 as a place for refugees and survivors of the 1692 earthquake that destroyed Port Royal. It has grown to a city which is home to nearly 100,000 residents.