Michelle Mycoo

• Professor of Urban and Regional Planning
• Professor (Full) at University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

Islandness is a contested concept, not just between disciplines but also cultures, entangled with what islands, island studies, and island identity are understood to be. The purpose of this article is to explore some of these different meanings, without necessarily unifying or reconciling them, with the aim of keeping multiple understandings of isl...

The paper focuses on the particular vulnerabilities of small island developing states in the Caribbean and across the Commonwealth, and the critical importance of involving and empowering local governments, especially in an urban context, in climate adaptation and mitigation. It also explores how cities and local governments in Commonwealth SIDS c...

The challenge of meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, especially given climate change, disaster risks, poverty, and the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, is a major concern of Caribbean governments and policymakers. Anthropogenic pressures along with climate change impacts are significantly affecting water and sanitation...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been impacted by and responded to COVID‐19 in ways that give us clues about vulnerabilities under climate change, as well as pathways to resilience. Here, we reflect on some of these experiences drawing on case study examples from the Caribbean, Pacific, and Indian Ocean SIDS, exploring how SIDS have respo...

The inherent vulnerabilities of small island development states are exacerbated by weak implementation of spatial development policies and limited capacity to enforce against poor development practices. This chapter explores why the vulnerabilities of Caribbean small island development states to climate change are worsened by the undermining of spa...

As urban risks associated with a changing climate continue to intensify, it is increasingly important to broaden our understanding of climate vulnerabilities in coastal cities and human adaptation to climate-related hazards. Coastal cities in small island developing states in the Caribbean stand to be among the most climate-impacted. This paper exp...

Many Caribbean Small Island Developing States face the daunting task of fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. As signatories to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, their governments committed to embark on a roadmap to achieve sustainable development within this time frame. In this context, Caribbean Smal...

Informal settlements are quite complex because they consist of economically disadvantaged, often landless households located on steep hillsides, floodplains and swamps, which contribute to their exclusion from accessing infrastructure. These challenges need not be constraints; rather they offer opportunities for transformation. Such communities are...

Urban planners in the Caribbean have long advocated for a resolution of conflicts between built development and the environment. They have grappled with challenges of small geographic size, an increasingly urbanised landscape and the need to facilitate urban centres as engines of economic development and as the loci of prosperity. This article inve...

Scientific findings confirm that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean are experiencing droughts and sea level rises that are contributing to saline intrusion of underground aquifers and surface water sources. This paper, using Trinidad as a case study, analyses water governance challenges in meeting Sustainable Development Goal (S...

Global warming of 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels and a commensurate increase in global greenhouse gas emissions pose an unprecedented danger to human settlements, livelihoods and the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), yet these challenges present tremendous opportunities to rethink development pathways. The paper h...

Urbanisation, climate change and natural hazards present serious challenges for the Caribbean which Habitat III brought into focus. This paper critically examines problems associated with these complex challenges, to propose a relevant Caribbean specific New Urban Agenda and suggest implementation mechanisms which are essential to forge ahead. It r...

Although the history of the plantation economy and its land tenure legacy have contributed significantly to environmental degradation in Caribbean small-island-developing states, in the contemporary period multiple drivers are negatively impacting on sensitive ecosystems and other natural assets. This paper investigates the complex web of drivers o...

Spatial planning in the anglophone Caribbean has lost its appeal having failed to deliver on its promises. Unsuccessful master plans, approval delays, numerous appeals and weak enforcement of regulations result from tensions generated by planning, democracy and capitalism practices. Additionally, regulatory and legislative reforms are insufficient...

Purpose – This study aims to, using Grande Riviere, Trinidad, as a case study, determine levels of climate change knowledge and awareness in the community. Second, it seeks to provide new knowledge on appropriate techniques for developing climate change literacy. Third, it attempts to highlight action needed for messages to be widely communicated a...

Governance dynamics and the interplay between inadequate infrastructural investment and institutional inertia undermine the potential of low-income cities in low-elevation coastal zones to become climate change resilient. This paper explores the influence of these factors as well as household socio-economic characteristics on autonomous household a...

The vulnerability of tourism-dependent communities, coastal tourism facilities, and beaches to climate change demands the use of measures that can urgently minimise vulnerability and in the long term achieve sustainable development. This paper makes policy recommendations to address climate change and sea level rise challenges in small island devel...

Beaches are frequently subjected to erosion and accretion that are influenced by coastal development interventions and natural variations due to storms and changes in river flow. Climate change may also exacerbate beach erosion and accretion. Natural scientists are concerned with the sustainability of species dependent on the beach ecosystem. Polic...

Unsustainable development in the Caribbean has reduced the effectiveness of coastal ecosystems as ecological buffers against climate variability, climate change, extreme weather events, and sea level rise. Using Barbados as a case study, the research conducted first examined ecosystem degradation. Second, an analysis of adaptation options for clima...

Unsustainable development in the Caribbean has reduced the effectiveness of coastal ecosystems as ecological buffers against climate variability, climate change, extreme weather events, and sea level rise. Using Barbados as a case study, the research conducted first examined ecosystem degradation. Secondly, an analysis of adaptation options for cli...

Water pricing policy is determined by multiple, though conflicting objectives. This paper analyzes flat water charges for households based on property values, using Trinidad as a case study. A major finding is that this tariff is economically inefficient and encourages water wastage which becomes environmentally unsustainable. Also, while social eq...

If one were to put on your desk two words, “green economy”, what would your first take on this be? My reaction: an economy that produces goods and services for human consumption by respecting nature and harnessing its potential efficiently, without causing damage. A quick literature review reveals this is partly true. According to UNEP, a green eco...

This paper seeks to answer the question, "how to make islands safer using natural hazard risk reduction measures." It uses St. Lucia as a case study. Among the key findings of the paper is that physical risk reduction measures are difficult to implement or enforce despite their enactment. Furthermore, structural measures are costly to build and mai...

This paper seeks to answer the question, “how to make islands safer using natural hazard risk reduction measures.” It uses St. Lucia as a case study. Among the key findings of the paper is that physical risk reduction measures are difficult to implement or enforce despite their enactment. Furthermore, structural measures are costly to build and mai...

Article on pages 36-51

Trinidad has suffered from the classic water problems that face developing countries such as unreliability and low pressure. These problems stem from policies relating to the supply and distribution system, economic and management approaches, and in general, the country's politics and corruption. Ultimately consumers have been plagued by persistent...

Tourist destinations are under market pressure to offer a green product, including the Caribbean, one of the world’s most tourism-dependent regions. A decade after the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States convened in 1994, sustainable tourism remains a priority for Caribbean countries. This paper, using...

The emergence of gated communities of the upper-income and middle-income classes can be directly traced to the failure of governments to close the growing divide between rich and poor and to solve the accompanying wave of crime and fear of violence. It is also a result of an abandonment of faith in governments’ capacities to deliver and maintain in...

Although globalisation is not a recent phenomenon, it is the trend toward trade liberalisation that poses the greatest threat to small countries. The paramount question is how can small states buffeted by the forces of trade liberalisation attract foreign investment while protecting their populations from the foreign control of land. Using St. Luci...

In most developing countries, planning was initially concerned with economic growth. Upon gaining political independence, post-colonial countries set about addressing the unmet backlog of physical and social infrastructure problems, low rates of economic growth, and poverty. Since the post-independence era, development in non-industrialized countri...

The collapse of the banana industry and the dependence on fishing in coastal villages in the Caribbean calls for an examination of alternative sustainable livelihoods for the poor. Tourism has the potential to be a feasible alternative sustainable livelihood. However, tourism in the Caribbean is dichotomized between high return activity for large c...

Abstract Throughout the developing world there are numerous examples of high levels of Government spending on water infrastructure while maintaining low tariffs and subsidies. The supply-focus approach has proven to be wasteful. A strong case is advanced for a demand-oriented approach, which emphasizes expenditure in relation to demand, and the ado...

Adopting integrated coastal planning and management: A case study of Trinidad Land reclamation and the building of coastal structures often take place in response to demands from tourism, industry and the upper-income housing market. The development strategy for islands is to capture the high amenity value of the coast and to provide `solution spa...

Government expenditure on infrastructure has been high in most developing countries. However, though access to services has broadened, the general condition of infrastructure is poor, and the quality of service has deteriorated. Water services is a good example of this problematique. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a demand-oriented perspe...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--McGill University, 1996. Includes bibliographical references.