Transforming Narratives of a Caribbean Downtown Neighborhood: Community Mapping and “No Man’s Land” in Kingston, Jamaica

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a low-income neighborhood in the capital city of Kingston, Jamaica, which was transformed by the act of an individual, and subsequent community-wide participation, to reclaim the residential and public spaces of what had become part of the so-called “ghetto,” following four decades of political and gang-related violence. The dangerous but seemingly straightforward act of reclaiming “No Man’s Land” by walking across the abandoned space between rival turf areas was a bold enactment and statement of the residents’ right to the city. New urban development initiatives were supported by an active community-mapping project to repossess – psychologically and practically – neighborhood space from gang-controlled turf.