Jamaica Celebrates World Town Planning Day on Nov. 8

World Town Planning Day 2023 will be celebrated in more than 30 countries, including Jamaica, on November 8 under the theme ‘Building Resilient Communities & Cities through Smart Solutions’.

Speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ on Wednesday (October 25), Senior Manager, Spatial Planning Division, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Dwight Williams, said the day “is really to share with the public the importance of urban and regional planning and to get persons interested in [town planning] as a career path”.

While the Day’s recognition started officially in 1949, Jamaica, through NEPA and other key stakeholders, began commemorating it in 2001 and has been engaged in a series of activities executed under various themes, on November 8 each year.

Mr. Williams told JIS News that NEPA, along with key partners and sponsors, will be undertaking three major events.

These include a church service slated for Portmore New Testament Church of God in Bayside, St. Catherine, on Sunday, November 5 beginning 8:45 a.m.

“On the day (November 8), we will be having a symposium at the National Housing Trust (NHT) Overtime Facility in New Kingston with our keynote speaker [being] the Most Hon. Prime Minister, Andrew Holness,” Mr. Williams told JIS News.

The symposium will take a hybrid approach and will start at 9:00 a.m.

The Senior Manager said the symposium promises to be exciting, as several topics, such as integrating smart solutions, that are geared towards having our cities and communities developed in a resilient, sustainable manner, will be discussed.

The Church Service and the symposium will be open to all citizens who are being encouraged to come out and participate.

The third major event will be a 10-day school tour, starting November 1, which will see representatives from NEPA journeying to several high schools islandwide to “get students and administrators aware of the importance of urban and regional planning in developing Jamaica in a sustainable manner,” Mr. Williams said.

“We are proud that we are engaging the students at this level, because of the importance of urban and regional planning to Jamaica,” he added.

NEPA will, this year, be partnering with the NHT, Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Jamaica Institute of Planners, and the Universities of Technology and the West Indies, to undertake the activities for World Town Planning Day.

Sponsorship support is also being provided by Jamaica Property Company Limited and New Era Homes, along with the Local Government Ministry and NHT.