Prospects for Prosperity in the Caribbean: A vision and tool for planning and policymaking

Abstract

This Major Research paper asks the questions: What would an ecologically sustainable, system-thinking based vision for planning and development in the Caribbean look like? And how can systems dynamics modelling help to make this vision a reality? Through the critical presentation of the current “crisis of development” that has left the Caribbean vulnerable and economically disadvantaged; the Caribbean’s historical, socio-economic, environmental and planning context with respect to this crisis, and a planning framework rooted in systems theory, I conclude with a description of such a vision in Part 1. Part 2 involves the system dynamics modelling exercise in which I examine land use changes on a Caribbean island state, while also evaluating the method as a valuable tool for planning and policy-making.