KINGSTON, Jamaica—The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has taken another significant step towards transforming Kingston Harbour into a world class waterfront destination with the signing of a consultancy contract for the feasibility studies and detailed designs for segment two of the Kingston Harbour Walk Project.

The signing marks the beginning of the next phase in one of Jamaica’s most ambitious urban regeneration and climate resilience initiatives.

The contract will facilitate the preparation of the technical studies and detailed engineering designs for an approximately 10-kilometre section of the Harbour Walk extending from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to Harbour View.

The work is being financed by the Government of Jamaica in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank and will provide the technical blueprint required to advance the project towards implementation.

Speaking at the official signing ceremony, at the Cemex Sports and Wellness Club on July 22, Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation, Norman Brown, described the milestone as a defining moment for Kingston and for Jamaica’s future.

“The full potential of Kingston Harbour is about to be realised, and the Urban Development Corporation is proud to be leading that transformation. Today’s signing advances one of the most ambitious public infrastructure, urban regeneration and climate resilience projects ever undertaken in Jamaica. It moves the Kingston Harbour Walk from vision into detailed planning and design, bringing us another significant step closer to delivering a continuous, world class waterfront connecting Downtown Kingston to Port Royal,” Brown said.

Envisioned as a continuous 25-kilometre climate resilient linear park and waterfront promenade, the Kingston Harbour Walk will stretch from Ocean Boulevard through Harbour View and along the Palisadoes to historic Port Royal.

Once completed, it will feature public parks, landscaped open spaces, pedestrian bridges, cycling and walking corridors, public art, recreational facilities, green infrastructure and spaces designed to support tourism, entrepreneurship, culture and community life while strengthening resilience to coastal erosion, storm surges and rising sea levels.

The consultancy will be undertaken by the joint venture of CITYFORSTER, FELIXX and AQUA & TERRA, bringing together international expertise in landscape architecture, urban design, coastal engineering, climate science, environmental management and civil engineering.

In his address, Robert Honeyghan, general manager at the UDC reminded the joint venture consultants of the significance of the project and encouraged them that, “the studies and designs must address coastal protection, public access, shared-use mobility, amenity enhancement, habitat restoration, and social inclusion.

“They must be technically sound, economically practical, climate-aware and responsive to the character of the corridor and the needs of the people who live, work and move through it,” he stressed.

Over the coming months, the multidisciplinary team will carry out shoreline characterisation, hydrographic surveys, engineering investigations, environmental and social impact assessments, climate risk analyses and detailed design work, culminating in the preparation of construction cost estimates and technical documentation for implementation.

The project is expected to deliver far reaching economic, environmental and social benefits. Sixteen communities, comprising approximately 32,000 residents, fall directly within the project area, while more than 660,000 people across the Kingston Metropolitan Area stand to benefit from a safer, more connected and more resilient waterfront.

Extensive stakeholder engagement will also form a central component of the consultancy to ensure the development reflects community priorities while meeting international standards.

Brown noted that the Kingston Harbour Walk builds on the UDC’s long- standing legacy of delivering transformative national development projects and reflects Jamaica’s commitment to sustainable urban development, climate resilience and economic growth.

“The Harbour Walk will become one of the defining public spaces of modern Jamaica. Future generations will inherit a waterfront that is stronger, greener, more accessible and more vibrant because the decisions being made today place long term national development above short-term thinking,” he said.