GEORGETOWN, a unique City, basks under the South American and Caribbean sun on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean with its character a blend of its Dutch and British heritage; the only City in the region lying below sea level, with heavy concrete seawalls bordering its ocean front; all these characteristics giving it a defining, romantic character.
Georgetown’s flair and flavour and finesse, this makes for a city unlike any other in the world. It’s got an interesting feel, a kind of ancient cuteness with the layout of streets and key enduring architecture, like the main market and cathedrals and canals. Although occasional flooding affects the city when it rains heavily, as climate change impacts the natural environment, Georgetown is a calm, safe city, immune from natural disasters, safe from any kind of major stress. The City is a great resource for the country, offering Guyana a golden opportunity to showcase the new future the nation embarks upon, a micro-metaphor of the overall Guyana 21st century vision.

In the three areas of the natural environment, the launching of a vibrant innovation startup entrepreneur culture, and the development of the arts and humanities scene, Georgetown offers Guyanese a wonderful playground to dance with the world, to showcase the Guyanese heart and soul to the global village, and to cultivate global goodwill for the Guyana brand.
Government announced its plans to build a new city more inland, and that is wonderful news, given predictions of climate change causing a re-defining of society in the future. Yet, one would expect Georgetown to always remain standing; a quaint, bustling, peaceful, charming city decorating this corner of the Atlantic.
The Mayor and City Council must cooperate and work along with Central Government to develop a sense of intentional vision for the city, and commit to work to rid Georgetown of some persistent problems that dog pockets of the municipality. Government is showing visionary, futuristic, forward- thinking leadership for Guyana, and it is only to be expected that Georgetown would as well encompass the overall developmental plans.

Georgetown cannot continue with pockets of poverty and socially depressed areas breeding generations of petty criminals. Streets like Leopold Street, parts of High Street and Lombard Street and sections of Charlestown, Albouystown, Tiger Bay, and Alberttown have suffered from socio-economic depression for generations, and petty street crimes are a major problem, with Guyanese dare not venturing into these areas for an evening stroll, or to conduct their day-to-day affairs, for fear of being robbed and harmed. Thankfully, the area at Broad and Lombard Streets which housed scores of squatters in run-down unsafe buildings got cleaned up and the residents re-located to better housing situations. But other areas of the city need urgent modernising and cleaning up, with young people in many of these inner city blocks needing major rehabilitation from drug addiction and extreme poverty.
What is the vision for Georgetown from the Mayor and City Council? What is the plan of these city officials to move Georgetown along with the same tide that the country is moving with? Much of the city’s development comes from the initiative of private sector business entrepreneurs, and from Central Government. The municipality’s local leaders seem more interested in playing politics than developing a futuristic vision for the city.

Were the city officials to simply focus on an action plan to clean up every corner of Georgetown, to make places like Lodge and Kingston and La Penitence safe for residents to enjoy the streets, rather than be scared of street criminals, it would go a long way to make Guyanese feel better about their city. It would fuel tourism. It would bring the charm and beauty of Georgetown to life.
Guyanese should be able to stroll through the Botanic Gardens and the Promenade Gardens and along Main Street in the evenings enjoying artists painting and sculptors carving their art like they do on this magnificent street, and writers penning poems and musicians regaling the city with solo performances. Georgetown offers this kind of atmosphere, for the arts and humanities to flourish in public squares and on streets in the evenings for residents to enjoy the talent and creativity of its people. Much of this could be live-streamed around the world, offering a golden opportunity to brand the nation and to showcase Guyana’s goodwill and creative flair.
This is the kind of thinking that markets a country on the world stage, making use of the charming, romantic character of the place to ramp up the humanities and bring a sense of culture and class to the fore. Georgetown is where the humanities could flourish and thrive.

In today’s world, Georgetown’s leaders should be thinking of developing a technology and innovation startup hub, a corridor to encourage and develop world class entrepreneurship, with cutting edge digital projects. Nearly every forward-thinking city in the world today is developing innovation tech hubs and ecosystems for thriving digital environments that launch businesses and projects online, with the goal of global reach.
But Georgetown’s biggest value to the nation is in its offer of a natural aesthetic wonder. A simple project for the city to cultivate a horticultural programme of planting and maintaining flowers along its streets and parapets would be such a scene-changer, impacting the scenery, scent and sensibilities of the city. Plating 100,000 rose plants around the city, for example, and hiring staff to maintain them, perhaps naming hybrid new roses after outstanding Guyanese as a fun thing, these are the little things that bring enormous goodwill to a society. First Lady Arya Ali took the initiative to launch a beautification project, but the city officials never came out with a plan to join her or support her work.
Georgetown is a city with its own character, with such a rich heritage and history. People who visit the city from around the world love its charm and its beauty, with the sun and ocean breeze adding a lovely feel to the land. Minister Juan Edghill announced recently that the Stabroek Market and wharf will be modernised and developed. The city is seeing fine new buildings going up along its major business corridors. No doubt, like Guyana, Georgetown is moving. It would fast become a world class city were the local city leaders to get with the times and launch a vision for it to maximise its potential.