Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city in the Caribbean.[4]
"New Kingston" redirects here. For the band, see New Kingston (band).
The local government bodies of the parishes of Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation Act of 1923, to form the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). Greater Kingston, or the "Corporate Area" refers to those areas under the KSAC; however, it does not solely refer to Kingston Parish, which only consists of the old downtown and Port Royal.[5] Kingston Parish had a population of 89,057, and St. Andrew Parish had a population of 573,369 in 2011[2] Kingston is only bordered by Saint Andrew to the east, west and north. The geographical border for the parish of Kingston encompasses the following communities: Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town, Rae Town, Kingston Gardens, National Heroes Park, Bournemouth Gardens, Norman Gardens, Rennock Lodge, Springfield and Port Royal, along with portions of Rollington Town, Franklyn Town, and Allman Town.[6][7]
The city proper is bounded by Six Miles to the west, Stony Hill to the north, Papine to the northeast, and Harbour View to the east, which are communities in urban and suburban Saint Andrew. Communities in rural St. Andrew such as Gordon Town, Mavis Bank, Lawrence Tavern, Mt. Airy, and Bull Bay would not be described as being in Kingston city.[8]
Two districts make up the central area of Kingston: the historic Downtown and New Kingston. Both are served by Norman Manley International Airport and also by the smaller and primarily domestic Tinson Pen Aerodrome.[9]
Religion[edit]
There is a wide variety of Christian churches in the city, most of which are Protestant. The chief denominations are Church of God, Baptist, Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist and Pentecostal.
There is a strong Roman Catholic community, with the Holy Trinity Cathedral which is the seat of metropolitan archbishop and was consecrated in 1911, as well a few Catholic schools and institutions such as the Immaculate Conception High School, St Francis Primary and Infant School, Holy Childhood High School which was founded and is owned by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of our Lady of Perpetual Help (FMS) in Jamaica.
Afro-Christian syncretic religions such as the Rastafari movement also have a significant following.
The Shaare Shalom Synagogue serves Kingston's Jewish population. The city also has communities of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. The Islamic Council of Jamaica and the Islamic Education and Dawah Centre are both located in Kingston. There are three units of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the city.[27]
Housing[edit]
In 1848 the Jamaican government expanded Kingston by constructing new homes in the west, north and east of the city. This housing became highly segregated in terms of race and class and by 1860 the majority of white elites lived on the outskirts of the city.[38]
As Kingston's population grew, existing settlements became so densely occupied that marshes in the southwest were filled in to allow the development of new housing. By 1935, continued population growth and poverty resulted in the emergence of slums in the east and west of the city. Later these areas were demolished by the government and residents were rehoused in Denham Town. This development accommodated 3,000 people, leaving more than one sixth of displaced resident homeless. Consequently, overcrowding persisted throughout the city and cramped living condition resulted in public health issues.[38]
Suburbanization also became significant and by the 1960s this residential area spread to the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Subsequently, the lack of space and continued consumerism meant this area then expanded to the east of the mountains.[39]
In Kingston, 20% of the population now live in squatter settlements.[40] Contrastingly, Kingston is also home to Red Hills, Norbrook, Cherry Gardens, Stony Hill, Jack's Hill, suburbs that hold some of the most expensive houses in all of Jamaica.[41]
Transport[edit]
Road[edit]
The St William Grant Park (Parade) in the heart of downtown Kingston is the starting point for three of Jamaica's four A roads, namely the A1 (Kingston to Lucea), the A3 (Kingston to Saint Ann's Bay) and the A4 (Kingston to Annotto Bay), while the city itself is provided with a dense network of trunk, main, secondary and minor roads. It also consists of the Highway 2000, Jamaica which runs through Portmore, Ocho Rios and Mandeville. A new section of Highway 2000, Jamaica (called "T3") was recently opened to the public. It has greatly reduced the travel time between Kingston and Montego Bay from 4 hours to a mere 2+1⁄2 hours.
Kingston is served well by a modern bus system, mini buses and taxis, which operate throughout the city with major hubs at Parade, Cross Roads, Half Way Tree and elsewhere.[48]
Buses[edit]
In June 1898, the existing mule car service was phased out and a transition to electric trams, initially operated by the West India Electric Company and later by the Jamaica Public Service Company, was undertaken.[49] This transition to the electric tram was completed on 31 March 1899. This service continued to operate, but the inflexibility of a tram service could not keep pace with a growing city, and the tram service ceased to operate on 7 August 1948.[50]
Between 1948 and 1953 a motor bus service was operated by a company called Jamaica Utilities. The government revoked its franchise in 1953.
From 1953 to 1983 the Jamaica Omnibus Service operated a service, which at its peak consisted of over 600 buses and served an area spanning Spanish Town, Border, Mt. James, Bull Bay and Port Royal. It was wound up by the government in 1983 after being nationalised in 1974.
Kingston is served well by a modern bus system, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), mini buses, and taxis, which operate throughout the city with major hubs at Parade, Cross Roads, Half Way Tree and elsewhere.[48]
Rail[edit]
The now disused Kingston railway station served the Kingston to Montego Bay main line with branches from Spanish Town to Ewarton, Bog Walk to Port Antonio, Linstead to New Works and May pen to Frankfield.
The railway station opened in 1845 and closed in October 1992 when all passenger traffic on Jamaica's railways abruptly ceased.[51]
Air[edit]
Kingston's international airports are Norman Manley International Airport, Sangster International Airport and Ian Fleming International Airport in St. Ann, while Tinson Pen Aerodrome in Kingston provides domestic services.
Sea[edit]
Historically, the Kingston waterfront was Jamaica's main port with many finger piers at which freighters and passenger liners could dock. More recently, with the containerisation of freight, the port has moved to Newport West.
Media[edit]
The Gleaner Company, the Jamaica Observer and the Sunday Herald, three of Jamaica's large newspaper companies, make their home in Kingston. Several television and radio stations including Television Jamaica (TVJ), CVM TV, RJR 94 FM, TBC Radio 88.5 FM, Hitz 92 FM, FAME 95 FM, LOVE TV, ZIP 103, Kool 97 FM and LOVE FM, are all based in Kingston.
Telecommunications[edit]
Fixed voice and broadband[edit]
Fixed voice and broadband services in Kingston are provided by either FLOW and Digicel (via their new Digicel Play service which is exclusive to the Kingston Metropolitan Area). FLOW uses a Hybrid Fibre and Coaxial network to provide IPTV, VoIP & POTS and broadband capable of speeds up to 100 Mbit/s. FLOW also uses a Copper network to provide POTS and ADSL capable of speeds up to 12 Mbit/s. Digicel uses a GPON fibre-optic network, providing IPTV, VoIP and broadband speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s. Digicel's Fibre-optic network boasts capacity of up to 10 Gbit/s.[54]
Mobile voice and broadband[edit]
Mobile voice and broadband services in Kingston are dominated by incumbents, FLOW and Digicel. Both carriers provide GSM, EDGE, HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE connectivity in and around the city.
FLOW offers HSPA+ of up to 21 Mbit/s on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz. FLOW also offers DC-HSDPA (commonly known as DC-HSPA+) allowing capable devices speeds of up to 42 Mbit/s on contiguous 1900 MHz spectrum.
Digicel also offers 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ however, they also offer DC-HSDPA (commonly known as DC-HSPA+) allowing capable devices speeds of up to 42 Mbit/s on contiguous 850 MHz spectrum. Digicel was also first to market with LTE in Jamaica. Their network covers all of Kingston Parish and most of the populous areas in the Kingston Metropolitan Area, capable of speeds of up to 75 Mbit/s on 10 MHz of Band 17 spectrum.
FLOW also offers LTE in Kingston.[55] FLOW's LTE network is accessible on Band 4 or AWS spectrum. Due to the network delaying its rollout to acquire more spectrum, its network is theoretically faster than both Digicel and Caricel, to the tune of 150 Mbit/s (20 MHz of Bandwidth)[56] with further plans to add low band spectrum, possibly increasing theoretical speeds up to 225 Mbit/s.
Kingston is also home to Caricel, Jamaica's newest telecoms operator, which deployed its LTE network first to the Kingston Metropolitan Area.
In addition, both carriers have their Jamaican head offices in the city (with the exception of Digicel, which has its company headquarters in Kingston rather than a regional office there as is the case with FLOW, which is based in Miami).
Institutions[edit]
Kingston, as the capital, is the financial, cultural, economic and industrial centre of Jamaica. Many financial institutions are based in Kingston, and the city boasts the largest number of hospitals, schools, universities and cultural attractions of any urban area on the island. Notable Kingston landmarks include the University of the West Indies, Jamaica Defence Force Museum, and Bob Marley Museum. A United Nations agency, the International Seabed Authority is headquartered in Kingston.