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Is Haiti Poor Because of its Design?

I was just reading a article on Forbes Magazine which raises the question that bad governance and Haiti's dependence on foreign aid may not be the only reason why Haiti is poor... Design may also be the reason...
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Here are some highlights from the article "Designing An Entrepreneurial Haiti" by Elmira Bayrasli:

Is Haiti poor because of its design?

Port au Prince is nearly impossible to navigate... Public parks and spaces have been turned into tent cities. Makeshift and precarious dust trails on cliffs outnumber the number of paved roads....

There are few street signs. Public transport is a byzantine maze that somehow shuttles people across town and back and forth into the deforested suburbs...

It takes hours to travel just a few kilometers.

Especially in Port au Prince, Haitians have few places to experiment, congregate and network...

Incubators are non-existent as is a central marketplace where entrepreneurs can convene to brainstorm and share best practices....

Compounded by bad roads as well as weak security, the population is disconnected.

Port au Prince's successful business men and women are isolated in one section of the city (Petionville) from promising entrepreneurs in other parts.

That's a problem in a globalized economy where mobility and space are vital to entrepreneurship and innovation.

To read the article in full click on "Designing An Entrepreneurial Haiti"

Question:

Elmira, the writer, did not even address how difficult it is for entrepreneurs to network across the 10 departments of Haiti, across the major cities, she only address the difficulties in Port-au-Prince alone, and she only focuses on mobility and insecurity...

Does she have a point?

Is Haiti poor because of its design?

What else do you think needs, in forms of infrastructure, in order to encourage entrepreneurship and inovation?

Reply with your comments

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Read more: Driving in Haiti, Insecurity in Haiti, Forbes Magazine, Networking In Haiti, Business

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Responses

Janet says...

oula je vois que le debarquement est difficile. Bon p'tit punch et caguore pour la suite qui s'annonce difficile. P'tits bateaux, nous pensons more »

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Ian Joseph says...

Listen we are continuing to make the same mistake Port-Au-Prince is not Haiti, she also missed the point that the small groups who control more »

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Rocksana says...

I think that the author wrote about the Island of Haiti. You should carefully read the article to understand what the author writes. thesis more »

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Cesaire Estime says...

the point use in this article to prove the reason we are poor is putting up side down because these are the characteristics of a poor country more »

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Ronald says...

Like you said the observation was only built on Por-au- Prince.And the way I see it in the 50's and 60's Haiti did not look like that. Maybe more »

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Sergo Jean says...

I am strongly agree with you,but 206 years ago after our freedom,our leaders do not have plan or vision.Lack of vision,plan put Haiti this more »

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Cj says...

Ms Elmira definitely has a point. Her critics are facts. I'm in my mid-thirties, I was born in Haiti and resided in the US a year after more »

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Qween says...

I agree. Haiti's roads have poor design. People build houses anywhere that has space, without taking safety into consideration. It takes forever more »

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Jj says...

25 years ago I Comment with my family and group of friends about the poverty of Haiti it is because #1 is design unappealling is poor more »

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Sergo Jean says...

I do not support the topic,I do believe Haiti is a rich country.But people we put to serve the nation do not have vision,plan or dreams.si Haiti more »

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