For someone so closely linked to English tradition, the Prince of Wales is an unlikely person to be challenging the way cities and towns are built around the world. Yet, while most US and European policymakers and property insiders fret about falling house prices and mortgage availability in their home markets, Prince Charles is devoting increasing amounts of time, and quite a few public speeches, to crusading for what he calls “place-making” in areas as far from Buckingham Palace as Jamaica, Sierra Leone and Beijing.

The first place he tested his philosophy – derived from a movement called “sustainable urbanism” in the UK and “new urbanism” in the US – was Poundbury, a 2,500-home village in the county of Dorset, south-west England. The project launched in 1995, drawing both high praise and harsh criticism. But now the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment is spreading the model not only to other parts of the UK but also to places such as Rose Town, in West Kingston, Jamaica.