The Forsaken Buildings

Photo 8 shows a dilapidated building in Burnette Street, Scarborough .

The Forsaken Buildings

The degree to which certain types of buildings are conserved depends on various factors. Buildings are conserved on the basis of intellectual, psychological and financial importance. However, the intellectual tradition remains the main purpose for conservation because of its ability to define the cultural achievement of a society (Hall and Barrett 2012, 144). Therefore, particular structures such as religious, monument and homes of the ruling elite are examples of conserved structures within urban areas because of their importance to cultural tradition to society. On the other hand, structures of the minority groups and local population are not likely to be conserved. According to Graham et al (2000), such is the politics of heritage, where the use of the past in the present is a highly contested process bound up the production of individual and collective identifies. The photograph above shows an ideal example of a dilapidated building in Burnette Street, Scarborough that was owned by a minority group. Unlike the Scarborough Methodist Church and other historical buildings, the dilapidated building is not given the same recognition to be conserved.

References

Graham, B, Ashworth, G.J. and Tunbridge, J.E. 2000. “The Geography of Heritage: Power, Culture and Economy.” In Urban Geography 4^th edition, edited by Hall, Tim and Heather Barrett, 144. London and New York: Routledge.

Hall, Tim and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4^th edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Lack of affordable houses in Port of Spain

Photo 7 shows one of the few housing stock designated for low income persons within Nelson Street, Port of Spain.

Lack of Affordable Houses

According to Trinidad and Tobago’s 2011 demographic report, the city of Port of Spain has 307 persons who are street dwellers. This gives evidence of the manifestation of housing affordability problems in Port of Spain (Hall and Barrett 2012, 276). The adequate provision of low income houses in Port of Spain remains a key challenge for the local state, private sector and community in general. Majority of the locals within the city are either unemployed or have low paying jobs. Therefore, it is very difficult for many to access affordable houses and even some of these houses (shown in photo 7) that are provided by the local state because of their financial status. As a result, some have responded to the situation by living in the streets or squatting.

Another reason for the lack of affordable houses in many urban areas can be explained by the changing role of the state in housing supply (Hall and Barrett 2012, 275). In recent time, there has been a diminishing role in the government providing houses. As a result, the private sector has caused the prices of houses and apartments to escalate drastically and thus increased the number of people who cannot afford houses, such as middle-income persons.

As mentioned earlier providing adequate affordable houses for local residents is a challenge. However, if financially feasible, a greater involvement of the local state is needed in order to reduce the cost of house prices so that the least of the urban dweller can benefit. Also, the involvement of more charitable organizations should be encouraged to aid with the responsibility of providing low income houses in Port of Spain and the wider urban areas of the nation.

References

Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4^th edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development. 2012. “Trinidad and Tobago 2011 Population and Housing Census Demographic Report.” Accessed 24, 2013. http://www.cso.gov.tt.

The marginalized of Port of Spain

Photo 6 shows a disabled man being rejected by motorists in Duke Street , Port of Spain.

Marginalization

Many disabled people in Port of Spain are faced with the hardship of accessing certain spaces around the city. The photograph at Duke Street shows a disabled and probably homeless man having great difficulty to hire transportation for his next destination.  Unfortunately, disabled people are made up of a portion of those people who are generally marginalized in the city. People tend to ignore or even scorn such people in the city. This sort of marginalization has led to other social problems in the city.  For instance, inequality has heightened among people in the city because of the lack of attention paid towards the disadvantage. Moreover, it should be noted from a geographical contextualization that disabled people or bodies are also defined along the lines as one of a number of 'special populations', including the poor, the ill and homeless, which suffer the common social fact of 'disadvantage' (Golledge 1990).  According to Hall and Barrett (2012, 247), disabled bodies are physically excluded from some urban spaces and also the social pressures that make disabled bodies feel ‘out of place’ in some locations, for example, those of leisure, consumption and even education.

Situation such as marginalization or discrimination in the city could be reduced by ensuring that urban politics in all three realms such as the state, private business and community residents play an active role. Religious and social outreach groups are some of the most effective organizations of breaking the stigma that disabled people faced in the city.

References

Golledge, R. 1990. “Special Populations in Contemporary Urban Region.” In ‘A Geography for Disabled People’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, edited by Gleeson, B. J. Vol. 21, No. 2 (1996), 387-396. Accessed March 16, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/622488?origin=JSTOR-pdf.

Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4^th edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Land Pollution in Port of Spain

Photo 5 shows improper disposal of garbage in George Street, Port of Spain.

Land Pollution

Land pollution remains an important issue in the city of Port of Spain as depicted by the photograph above. Many streets on the eastern side of Port of Spain are generally filled with improper disposal of garbage by residents (East Port of Spain Development Company Limited 2013). The ramifications of such acts are detrimental to the city’s sustainability. For instance, there is the possibility of many health diseases arising with respect to such improper disposal of trash.  Epidemic situations are common in cities due to the high concentration of people which make it easier for communicable diseases such as cholera, typhoid, viral infections, hepatitis and others to spread. Also, the city is likely to lose financial profits since tourists may see the city as unappealing to reside within because of the high level of insanitation. In addition, private investors could refrain from investing in business activities in such areas since consumers may find the environment unsuitable for engaging in shopping, especially among high-income customers.  According to Hall and Barrett (2012, 309), the generation of poverty in cities is inextricably associated with the generation of environmental degradation. This is probably the reason why so many garbage adorn the streets on the east of Port of Spain since high levels of poverty is an issue in the area (East Port of Spain Development Company Limited 2013).

Solving the issue of improper disposal of garbage in Port of Spain would require complete participation from the community residents and local state officials. The community must be educated on the importance of disposing garbage in order to prevent health risks within the city. The local state officials must ensure that such areas are cleaned daily by their respective environmental authority corporations. Also, environmental laws should be enforced within the city at a higher level in order to deter people from committing such insensible acts.

References

East Port of Spain Development Company Limited. 2013. "Summary of Development Issues." Accessed March 15, 2013. http://eposdctt.com/default.asp?id=54.

Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4^th edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Air Pollution in the City

Photo 4 shows a power plant that is a source of air pollution in Port-of-Spain.

Air Pollution

The picture shows a major power generating plant that is located in the core of Port-of-Spain. Cities contribute to global environmental problems including pollution, resource depletion and land take (Hall and Barrett 2012, 306). Industrial activities in urban spaces are one of the main contributors of pollution, with regards to the atmosphere. In Port-of-Spain, power generating plants are contributing at a significant rate to the degrading atmospheric condition of the city. There are both short and long term consequences to such acts occurring within the city. For instance, local temperature and respiratory diseases are likely to increase within the urban space. Also, these effects are more likely to be felt on the global scale since cities are becoming more interconnected within the twenty first century.

Solutions to atmospheric pollution in the Global South could prove to be very difficult to implement since they are likely to be very costly. On the other hand, the Global South countries might argue that regulations are unfair measures to prevent their development by the Global North (Hall and Barrett 2012, 310). Nevertheless, sustainable development is needed to confront issues such as air pollution in Port-of-Spain.

References

Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4^th edition. London and New York: Routledge.