This paper reports on the first stage of a research project that analyses the changing social composition of Kingston during and after the period of constitutional decolonisation (1938-1962). Here, an overview of the city's development under colonialism is presented, before assessing in greater detail the residential pattern of Kingston during the early 1940s. An index of dissimilarity and an index of social isolation are used to quantify the social and spatial segregation of racial and ethnic groups in the capital city on the eve of adult suffrage, which was achieved in 1944. The conclusion assesses the impact of this segregation on the contemporary urban landscape. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT];
