A cartoon depicting three Jamaicans standing beneath a signpost, staring at a collection of questions, highlights the importance of master planning in property development. The questions include land use, roads, water, electricity, schools, healthcare, and green spaces.
The message “Master Planning, Not Just Master Bedrooms!” towers above them, emphasizing the need to consider the overall community rather than just individual buildings.
Jamaica has become skilled at celebrating new housing developments, but often forgets that people must actually live in these communities. A beautiful house can become a daily struggle if the nearest school is miles away, the road floods, and the water supply is unreliable.
In a recent interview, Jamaica Homes founder Dean Jones raised questions about housing affordability, development priorities, and the future of homeownership on the island. He argued that Jamaica needs to think beyond individual buildings and plan entire communities, considering employment opportunities, transport connections, infrastructure, schools, and essential services from the beginning.
The issue extends beyond affordability, as a house may be within someone’s budget but become financially and physically exhausting to maintain when transportation, utilities, security, and other living expenses are considered. Development must serve not only overseas investors and returning Jamaicans but also teachers, nurses, police officers, tradespeople, and young families earning Jamaican salaries.
Proper master planning means connecting housing policy with transportation, utilities, environmental protection, employment, and community facilities. It means creating places where children can grow, families can thrive, and residents can afford to remain. A development is not truly successful merely because every unit has been sold; the real measure of success is whether the people who buy those homes can build a decent life around them.
Jamaica needs a master plan for the generations who will sleep in the homes being built. The cartoon’s depiction of three puzzled faces represents the ordinary Jamaicans who are increasingly being asked to make extraordinary financial commitments, choosing not just a house but a future that depends on decisions made long before the first concrete block is laid.
