A peak of Development in the City Region!

A peak of development in the city region!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above photos are hilltop views of the city of San Fernando, the bottom a picture taken at Chaguaramas portraying the development in the background view.

 

“There are fashions in building. Behind the fashions lie economic and technological reasons, and these fashions exclude all but a few genuinely different possibilities in city dwelling construction at any one time.” Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. This is the case in the San Fernando region, there are alot of new buildings being constructed all in the aim of providing economic and technological influences on the city. As in the case of Chaguramas the area is prone to tourism and is continuously being developed so as to better establish its purpose. I believe that we are who we are and the actions that we do everyday influence the way the city may be portrayed at a later date.

 

An aerial view of South Trinidad, potential area for development?

Trinidad as we know it today is a country that focuses on development "per say" but more on the Port of Spain "Urban area" and other major city dwellings. The picture above was taken by myself during a tour of Southern Trinidad on a helicopter a few months ago. This area represents a school isolated within a developing village of San Pedro the area in which I live. Living in this area we all are faced with isolation and the closest city to us is Rio Claro (Some 5-8Km away). I believe there is potential for development that would one day enhance the lives of many in my community and make the area a better place, one that could be of good quality housing and social facilities and enforces social mixing which would build a better community and place to live. “In great cities, spaces as well as places are designed and built: walking, witnessing, being in public, are as much part of the design and purpose as is being inside to eat, sleep, make shoes or love or music. The word citizen has to do with cities, and the ideal city is organized around citizenship -- around participation in public life.” Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking.

The picture above also illustrates the area but at a higher elivation level to show the settlement parterns in the area.

Development Sustainable or Not?

According to the Ministry of Planning And Development the 2011 population and housing census preliminary count has revealed that there are 1, 324,699 people living in Trinidad and Tobago. Compared to the last census which was conducted in 2000, the population’s figure was 1,262,366. This represents a 4.9 per cent increase in the population. This therefore calls for a bigger and brighter future in terms of sustainable development in Trinidad and Tobago.

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.(Bruntland Report 1987). There are three pillers to sustainable development these include economic and social development and environmental protection.

As a Small island Developing State (SIDS): our natural resources are limited and we are vulnerable to external environmental and economic shocks.Over the decades, our economic path to development has resulted in severe environmental degradationHowever the government recognises that all plans for national development must incorporate the concept of sustainability as it pertains to resource allocation and utilisation, in order to ensure equitable, long- term economic, social and environmental stability. The increase in population size calls for increases in jobs, health, education and an array of ammenities to combat the growing population size. Likewise the environment is a major concern as waste material increases in the general area of triidad. The following video expresses some of the issues and also addresses action with

                                                                                               respect to managing the situation, this is in  conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).