The Strategic Development Plan that guides the East Port of Spain Development Company's operations articulates a spatial development strategy to guide the economic, social and physical regeneration of East Port of Spain in fulfillment of the mandate of the East Port of Spain Development Company. The Plan envisions East Port of Spain as a network of:
Healthy, safe, economically vibrant and sustainable communities fully integrated into the Greater Port-of-Spain Metropolitan Area and the wider society.
The objectives of this East Port of Spain Strategic Development Plan (2007) are to:
The Plan builds on previous planning and policy initiatives undertaken in the 1970s. It was prepared after consultations with community groups and key stakeholders and involved extensive reviews of physical, social and economic conditions using published data, land use and socio-economic surveys and reviews of earlier plans and policies.
The East Port of Spain Strategic Development Plan is presented in three (3) parts. Part 1 details the Vision, Mission, Goals and Guiding Principles of the Plan and the Executive Summary. Part 2 provides a detailed assessment of current conditions in East Port of Spain and includes a gap analysis which identifies deficiencies in relation to models of community structure and service provision. Part 3 establishes the development framework and articulates several strategies and implementation programmes, mechanisms, schedules and budgets for achieving sustainable transformation of East Port of Spain to address existing challenges based on development opportunities and potentials.
The East Port of Spain Metropolitan District is part of the Greater Port of Spain Metropolitan Area and extends over 2,700 hectares of land. The population of over 92,000 persons in 24,000 households is distributed among 19 communities or Urban Villages and a number of smaller Urban Neighbourhoods.
The potential of East Port-of-Spain is evident in its assets, but the area also faces several other development constraints and challenges.
Preliminary analysis confirms that East Port-of-Spain demonstrates evidence of deprivation and considerable variations in quality of life and economic indicators which reinforce the need for transformation and regeneration. The challenge is to realize the potential of the area’s assets and utilize them to achieve sustainable transformation.