Disparity & Urban Lifesyles (Port of Spain)

(Photo Reference: Phang 2015. Blog Assignment - An Intro to Urban Geography)


The disparity of those who could afford to commute on a daily basis into the city, and those who live on the fringes as the only means of sustaining life is striking.

The Urban place is usually characterized by a central business district which has given it its form and can account for its urban network.The Central business district can also account for all outlying land use and settlement surrounding the urban place.It is responsible for how the city had taken its form.Urban Geographers are more than familiar with the concentric model of Burgees, who in his theory sought to account for the spread and plan of a city around its central business district.A city or any urban hob is formed by the activities and opportunities provided by what these business districts supply.

While Burgees' model was simplified, clear cut in its concentric rings and far too distinct to apply to the urban systems of cities today, it is still very much relevant in the case of urban development, especially since it has encouraged and given way to theories that have refined it. Burgees Model of Concentric Zones, Hoytt's Sector Model , as well as The Multi-Nuclei Model of Ullman and Harris are all used in comparisons within urban land use modeling.The aborigines of city forms date back to pre-industrial times, and were mainly reinforced by security, religion as well routes of transportation and communication, mainly for trade. Evidence of these are still prevalent in many spaces, although the concentrations of city forms have varies.

The increasing growth and urbanization of cities is particular driven by rural to urban migration.As analyzed by many geographers, for example Pooley's case on Residential Mobility in the Victorian City (Pooley, 1879) urbanization is built on the concepts of mobility,more so that of long distance mobility. This is very distinct in the spacial layout of Port of Spain and environs, where the picture above has been taken.The outskirts and fringes of the city are inhibited by the lower class, who have undergone this type of mobility to access the city and its resources ; a better way of life by seeking out employment opportunities is one of the most popular in this long term mobility.

As the Cental Business District, Port of Spain is frequented with the heavy workday traffic as commuters go in and out of transit, from home to work on a daily basis. The disparity pictured above exists because of the circumstances of an urban place. We can observe that a car is pictured, bearing the brand in which is expected of an affluent person to own, in a part of the city in which "belongs" to the lower class, near a square that is the home to many of the homeless , east of the  main placemarks of the city.

No Parking! ( Chaguanas )

This blog seeks to explore how people of different socio-economic status survive in urban areas within the island of Trinidad. Urban relates to towns and cities. Survive in this context mean how those who exist whether wholly or partially within an urban setting cope with the hardships that are synonymous with urban areas. Socio-economic status (SES) is defined as “an individual’s or group’s position within a hierarchical social structure. It depends on a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence. Sociologists often use socioeconomic status as a means of predicting behaviour.” (Dictionary.com)

 

(Photo Reference: Neils 2015. Blog Assignment - An Intro to Urban Geography)

What do you see when you look at the picture above? A street with no cars, electrical wire posts and light poles, a wall, behind it trees and a peek at Centre City Mall, Chaguanas. Almost at the very centre of the photo are two grocery trolleys covered in tarpaulin which are tied by ropes, further covered by a sheet of galvanize and a thin piece of wood. Next to it is a fold in chair. What you don’t see is the owner of the trolleys. The trolleys belong to a man who’s home are the streets. His age, how he ended up there, what’s contained within the trolleys are all unknown just like the people we see while we ourselves walk the streets of Urban Trinidad.   

A city is characterize by its population size, economic base, administrative criteria and functional definitions, as well as its social and cultural milieu. There are urban places that feel like a city but are not, as they lack the administrative criteria i.e. it is not legally defined as a city. The three urban areas to be examined consist of Port-of-Spain (which fulfills the administrative criteria)  and Chaguanas which does not. On the other hand, the city lifestyle is present alongside service provision and the population in which these services are made available to. By administration Chaguanas, in which is central in its locale, is a borough.

Homelessness is very much evident in the urban setting.It is integrated into the socio-economic workings of the society.The homeless are a body that cannot be excluded when analyzing a metropolitan place.The homeless, like several other socio-economic groups flock to such spaces in an attempt to survive.Hence in  representing Survival in Urban Trinidad, the homeless cannot be eliminated.They are a quintessential element in what it means to truly surviving the urban place.