Montego Bay suffers from uncontrolled, low-density urban growth much of which faces natural hazard risk. Informal settlements across the city present safety and sanitation issues and limit the government’s financial capacity to make investments to benefit residents by reducing the property tax base. Several projects are planned to address these risks to promote resilience. The Integral Neighborhood Upgrading Program and Pilot Downtown Housing Project plans to implement physical improvements, like new or updated homes and improved or added infrastructure (paved streets, sidewalks, sewage connections, stormwater drainage, street lamps, etc.), but also through social improvements, for example, by connecting people with safety and sanitation programs or training and education programs for employment. Neighborhood upgrades will also include added outdoor recreation facilities like basketball courts and playgrounds, and open and green spaces. Sustainable transport plans to include a Railway Lane Community. This project plans to develop 7 blocks of this informal settlement for a total of 419 new housing units, plus upgrade the adjacent Charles Gordon Market. Community improvements also include landscaping, recreation and sports areas, bike lanes, eco-friendly design and design elements that may reduce the opportunity for crime.

With the objective of highlighting advancements in sustainable communities, the Organization of American States (OAS), with funding from US/OAS, in partnership with the Government of Jamaica has organized a Sustainable Cities course for a group of urban and social transformation professionals. The Sustainable Cities course provides an integral overview of the different aspects that contribute to building sustainable communities, targeting different topics emanating from the First Summit on Sustainable Development in the Americas held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in December 1996. In this context, section II.3 Sustainable Cities and Communities recognized:

• The incorporation of the poorest and most disadvantaged sectors of the population into the productive process by, inter alia, creating jobs through public and private investment and expanding and enhancing access to credit and to environmentally sound technologies;
• Growth in job creation in small and micro-enterprises by simplifying paperwork, bureaucracy, and operations that affect them and by promoting the economic competitiveness and environmental efficiency of these production units in urban as well as rural areas;
• Narrowing of the housing unit gap and expansion of basic infrastructure services through a comprehensive approach to the problem of rapid urban growth, including the use of clean, safe technologies;
• Promotion of the quality of life in cities and communities, taking into account their spatial, economic, social, and environmental circumstances; and
• Assurance of the most efficient and least polluting industrial and transportation practices so as to reduce adverse environmental impact and promote sustainable development in cities and communities