Dear Editor,

Public discourse on urban development often focuses on the perceived threat of gentrification — the displacement of lower-income residents by wealthier newcomers as neighbourhoods improve.

Yet, in Jamaica, this focus, in my opinion, is a profound misdiagnosis. The real, life-altering crisis eroding our nation is ghettoisation — a deliberate, politically manufactured decay, whereby once-stable communities are systematically starved of order and investment, becoming dilapidated and isolated. As the saying goes, “Ghetto nuh nice.”

The presence of a broad, thriving middle class is one of the clearest indicators of a productive, safe society. However, this vital cohort — teachers, nurses, small business owners, and other workers — is being driven to the brink. They are the ones who invested in safe, titled properties and established trusted neighbourhoods only to watch, over a short and brutal period, as their communities fundamentally change.

This crisis stems from decades of what can be called “curry-goat politicking”, a clientelist system of gerrymandering that creates and sustains “garrison constituencies”. This was achieved through the normalisation of illegal squatting, the intentional fostering of criminality, and the neglect of legitimate infrastructure — all for the sake of reliable, dependent voting blocs.

The result is an islandwide tragedy. Encroachment, a collapse of security, plummeting property values, and the absence of reliable services compromise the very foundations of these working Jamaicans’ lives. They flee, leaving behind the skeletal remains of communities — places like parts of Mountain View and Spanish Town — now hardened into political garrisons. The “gentrification” observed by some is often simply the desperate, frantic search by ordinary working Jamaicans for the next haven as they run out of places to go on the island.

This politically engineered dependency has exacted a profound social and cultural cost. The Jamaican family unit, once our bedrock, is fundamentally undermined. Stable families and marriages are often replaced by reliance on the State or political “dons” for basic necessities.

This government handout culture is the antithesis of the true Jamaican spirit of self-agency, independence, and entrepreneurship. Ghettoisation strips us of our “Jamaican-ness”; it flourishes when community pride and ownership over our “little piece of the rock” are outsourced, turning citizens into serfs. Even vast tracts of prime land, like the Kingston waterfront, remain tragically underutilised due to the fear and disorder this decay engenders.

In our necessary conversations about community organisation and housing we must avoid framing good development as the enemy. The elements of a strong society are not complex: healthy families, secure land ownership, reliable clean water and electricity, proper land titles, good roads, education, affordable health care, and green recreational spaces free of gangs and political manipulation.

We desperately need rational, non-partisan urban planning that ensures an area’s infrastructure adequately supports its population. Achieving this requires making difficult but essential choices, including fairly compensating and relocating people currently living in unsafe or illegal areas and reclaiming lawless spaces for the common good.

If prioritising infrastructure, security, and the reclamation of unsafe spaces — essential steps for all citizens to thrive — is what some critics call gentrification, then we must consider embracing that process (with fairness and dignity).

The failure to manage our cities and protect our citizens is caused by those who profit from disorder and dependency. The true monster in the closet is the calculated poverty that fuels political control.

Francesca Tavares

francescatavares@yahoo.com