The Tribune

• Bahamas told to confront ‘vexing challenges’

• Making no progress on land rights reforms

• Near-100,000 new homes needed by 2045

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

New Providence’s urban development costs could be slashed by $1.6bn over a 30-year period via “intelligent” planning, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report revealed yesterday, as it urged “vexing challenges” be confronted.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, crafted with input from Bahamian government agencies and private sector stakeholders, estimated that this nation could slash the capital’s urban development costs from $6.89bn to $5.28bn by adopting a structured approach to integrating and managing the island’s various land uses.

The current land use mix, according to the report, involves an even split between urbanised and natural areas, with both holding a 36 percent share. However, a further 28 percent of New Providence’s land use mass was said to be “at risk” - meaning it has been cleared for development, although no such activity has yet taken place.

Acknowledging what it termed the “competitive advantages” bestowed upon Nassau by its existing infrastructure and US proximity, the Sustainable Action Nassau Plan nevertheless warned: “New Providence faces several financial, social and environmental challenges that severely threaten the island’s future growth potential.....”

The Bahamas’ fiscal, economic and income inequality challenges have further deteriorated beyond what the report allows for, as it was written prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pointing to income inequality, in particular, it said: “The latter results in visible levels of urban poverty throughout New Providence, particularly in the Over-the-Hill neighbourhoods of Grants Town and Bain Town.

“Managing urban density in a sustainable way and successfully attracting residents back to the downtown Nassau core area, where the concentration of people can yield significant fiscal and environmental savings, are vexing challenges the island must confront.

“A rigorous analysis of the New Providence urban footprint yielded significant evidence that the island should shift to a sustainable urban development trend in preparation for the expected 367,500 persons who will be living on the island by 2045.

“Under the intelligent growth scenario, the expected housing demand for 2045 can be met with an additional 6,186 homes, while the land use mix could change to include 54 percent of urbanised space and 46 percent of natural systems areas,” the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan continued.

“The New Providence urban footprint analysis also showed that adopting an intelligent urban planning approach would yield savings of more than $1.6bn in urban development costs over a 30-year period for The Bahamas and could reduce CO2 emissions (the carbon footprint of the city) by 1,420 kilotons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) compared to a ‘business-as-usual’ urban growth scenario.”

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, though, asserted that The Bahamas appeared to be making little to no progress in addressing these concerns. “At the heart of creating a sustainable city lies the need for a clear, transparent and effective system of land administration,” it warned.

“The Bahamas, while fully aware of the complexities of its situation in terms of land rights, tenure, taxes environmental issues and other issues, does not appear to be working towards creating such a system currently. Urgent actions must be taken to develop a better system of land utilisation and management within New Providence.”

Detailing New Providence’s planning inadequacies and deficiencies, the report estimated that The Bahamas could need close to 100,000 new homes for its expanding population by 2045 unless it implemented significant, far-reaching reforms. 

“There are significant gaps in the quality of housing and the surrounding built environment in Nassau, particularly for lower income families,” the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan said. “Also, consideration needs to be given to the projected quantitative housing deficit for future populations, estimated at 98,979 new houses needed by 2045.

“Innovative settlement upgrading programmes can add value to the existing private or co-operative housing developers to leverage resources and produce better residential settings. New programmes could consider the strategic use of financial subsidies for housing and neighbourhood upgrading.

“Subsidies could be directed at improving housing materials, encouraging resilient designs, improving accessibility and mobility corridors, and providing smart solutions for water catchment, energy consumption and solid waste management.”

Upgrading the real property tax roll, as was done via the recent Tyler Technologies-led revaluation exercise, appears to be one of the few areas where the Government’s actions align with the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan’s recommendations. The latter, though, called for The Bahamas to move beyond simply using real property tax waivers as a foreign direct investment (FDI ) incentive for the likes of the hotel industry.

“New Providence has a record of low property tax revenue collection due to improper assessment and limited capture of capital gains from real estate investments,” the report said. “This can be at least partially attributed to certain elements of land taxation in The Bahamas plus the fact that easements in the land tax have been utilised to promote foreign direct investment.

“Land value capture, and other forms of property and land taxation, are critical options to harness resources for new public urban investments. It is necessary to start a comprehensive analysis of land and property taxation throughout New Providence to find ways in which property taxes, and the mechanisms whereby they are applied in the country, can go beyond simply attracting foreign investment and become a source for sustainable urban development of Nassau.”

Calling for an urban master plan and land administration system for New Providence, the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan also identified further planning-related flaws. “The current city zoning system is not sufficiently capable of addressing the future challenges New Providence faces to achieve balanced, sustainable urban development. The urban master plan (for land use and land development) for New Providence would provide a vision of sustainability for the future of its territory,” it added.

“Currently, there is no functional ability to block areas for future development where climate change projections and environmental risk analysis dictate that urban development should be restrained.

“The most effective mechanism to support proper land administration is by establishing a sector-area planning framework, within which different stakeholders (land owners, developers, purchasers and the public interest represented by the Government) can ensure the benefits of urban development are maximised together with absorbing and/or mitigating any side effects from disorderly development.”

While the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan appears to have been developed between 2016-2017, transcending both the Christie and Minnis administrations, its findings and recommendations are arguably even more relevant today post-COVID given that so little has been implemented.

Dr Nicola Virgill, then-director of the economic development and planning unit in the Prime Minister’s Office, wrote in the report: “The city of Nassau on the island of New Providence must fully harness its potential as the driver of urban sustainability, both economically and environmentally, if we are to see meaningful growth and development in The Bahamas...

“Nassau, like other emerging cities, faces similar challenges: High levels of vulnerability to coastal intrusion; growth and expansion of the city of Nassau and urban sprawl to the rest of New Providence; elevated crime levels; and urban poverty.

“Sound urban planning, social engagement, well-structured institutions and frameworks, focused environmental responses and economic initiatives will be critical to successfully reversing these trends. It is our hope that the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan will provide a road map for the future development of Nassau. The focal point of this plan is the urban regeneration of Nassau through citizen engagement, and a focused long-term socio-economic outlook.”