Government's plans for the Economic Empowerment Zone in North-East Hamilton appear to be gaining speed, with some projects getting underway and the operating infrastructure of the EEZ office being built up. On the whole, this is good news, not just for residents and businesses in the area, but for Bermuda as a whole.

Traditionally, this part of Hamilton, whose population and building ownership is predominantly black, has been left out of the city's explosive development.

In part, it has been argued, this was one of the unintended consequences of desegregation, because a traditionally thriving black business community weakened as career and wealth-building opportunities opened up in parts of the economy where much of the participation was previously reserved for whites.

Since the 1960s, the area also became an area known for higher than usual crime, while some of the fibre of the community was weakened as middle and upper class black Bermudians moved out to the rest of Bermuda as new neighbourhoods were developed.

So this is an area which is ripe for business development, and Government, and especially Finance Minister Paula Cox (along with the Opposition United Bermuda Party, which also promoted the idea of EEZs) deserve credit for formulating the idea, and now are putting it into action. If it works, it will make Hamilton a more vibrant and safer city.

Tax breaks, new amenities and public sector support, giving advice and generally focusing attention on the area can only help in the long term. That's not to say that there are no reservations about the idea.

One is that circumstances have changed since the EEZs were first mooted, especially in terms of the economy. While development in the area may inject some liquidity into the economy and prop up the construction industry, it is also fair to say that almost all local businesses are facing challenging times, and many will ask why one segment of Hamilton is getting extra support when established businesses already employing people and actively contributing to the economy are left to struggle on their own.

There are two other concerns. One is that as a result of decades of underdevelopment, the area has some of the best home-grown architecture extant in Hamilton, and many buildings have some kind of story to tell. In the rush to develop, it is important that Bermuda not lose its heritage at the same time; the controversy earlier this year over Alexandrina Hall should be enough to make the idea clear. To its credit, the plan identifies some buildings of historic or architectural importance, but may be a little too narrow in its definitions.

The plan also floats the idea of the sale of development rights for these kinds of buildings, in which owners would surrender the right to develop an important historic or architectural site by selling those rights to a developer who would then have the right to build more concentrated developments elsewhere. The plan rightly says this is a complex area, but it is well worth exploring and could be a template for similar policies throughout the Island.

The other area of potential concern is, in many ways, the opposite one – the "micro-districting" of the area. Commerce, and residential development to a lesser extent, tend to be quite organic in the way they grow. So the planners need to take care that designation of particular districts for particular uses is not overly dogmatic. The planners seem to have taken account of this, but it is an area that needs to be monitored.

Still, this is an encouraging step forward. It will not be easy, but with sufficient leadership, it has great potential for Hamilton and Bermuda as a whole.