- Sustainable City of Port-of-Spain: Myth or Reality?    477 kb by    Ramlall, Jaya | miss_ramlall@yahoo.com    Short Outline This paper seeks to assess the effectiveness of urban planning instruments in the city of Port-of-Spain using globally accepted indicators and consequently puts forth recommendations for the achievement of urban sustainability through urban reform. Abstract Urban settlements are quite dynamic with changes varying from sprawl to decline and even renewal. Thus, the role of planning instruments becomes highly critical not only in managing these dynamic environments but also guiding change to guarantee the ultimate sustainability of cities. Though planning instruments have been in existence over decades, they are now rendered obsolete and irrelevant thereby stimulating an urgent impetus for reform. Building codes require revision, zonation policies need to be enforced and master plans are to be refined, in some cases, be developed. This research assesses the current planning instruments governing the urban city of Port-of-Spain in the Small Island Developing State of Trinidad and Tobago. The failure of Port-of-Spain to be acknowledged as a sustainable city has triggered the need to put forth recommendations for guided change, that is, urban reform through the revision or development of relevant urban planning instruments. These suggestions are based on international best practices and seek to guarantee the attainment of one of the nation’s critical pillars in its Vision 2020: urban sustainability. Keywords urban sustainability, 'green' cities, building codes, zonation Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2010: Sustainable City - Developing World   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper