Our City, Kingston — Jamaica's Corporate-Funded Downtown Improvement Campaign (DKRI)

The Downtown Kingston Redevelopment Initiative (DKRI), branded 'Our City, Kingston', is a partnership between the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), the Kingston Restoration Company (KRC) and the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), funded by corporate sponsors GraceKennedy, Scotiabank, Pan Jamaica and VM Group. Launched in 2025 and chaired by JCC past president Michael McMorris, it targets eight strategic blocks between Orange Street and East Street, and Ocean Boulevard and Tower Street, combining daily street cleaning and a 'Keep It Clean' recognition scheme (about 30 enrolled businesses) with coordinated policing and lighting improvements.
An internal survey conducted after roughly six months of interventions, reported in March 2026, found public ratings of cleanliness rising from 39.6% to 58% positive, reports of negative environmental impacts falling from 48.6% to 23.3%, business satisfaction with street lighting rising from 28.6% to 53.3%, public safety confidence rising from 49.5% to 73%, confidence in policing rising from 72.3% to 81%, and overall positive ratings of the business environment rising from 45.5% to 61%.
The survey was conducted and reported by the initiative's own organisers rather than an independent evaluator, so the figures should be read as self-assessed perception data rather than audited outcomes. Downtown Kingston has also seen earlier redevelopment pushes fall short of their goals — a public-private restoration company launched in 2003 with a J$500 million target struggled to sustain momentum — so DKRI's six-month gains are an early, encouraging signal rather than proof of durable turnaround.

Read the full analysis: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/03/02/survey-shows-gains-cleanliness-business-environment-dkri/