Epilogue- Perspectives, Fear Not of the City, Reflections

From the start of the assignment, Perspectives were key to identifying and analyzing the city. Everyone has differing ideas, opinions and interests, crafted from their environment, upbringing, childhood, economic and other demographic factors. I chose certain blogs to reflect upon, not just due to their context and topic, but on the basis that i knew these fellow students, and their personality, and it was more interesting as a result to see their views because of this. Obviously, someone who lives in Port Of Spain will feel different about it (not necessarily more or less passionately, but just different) than someone who lives in Toco. The blogs upon which i reflect are:

1. Sevastar Ramlogan's Blog- "The Arts Of Trinidad's City" http://urbantriniart.blogspot.com/

            His blog talked about the way that art can be found in numerous places, not just in architecture, but in the processes, relationships and activity that goes on within the urban city.                        More Specifically, his article Art in Architecture http://urbantriniart.blogspot.com/2013/04/art-in-architecture.html which spoke of not just the purpose behind architecture in building construction, but also the expressive nature that symbolizes art and artistry, showcasing the talent and abilities of our builders (foreign and local). Again, perspectives with respect to whether this art is beautiful or not is certainly a shaky concept (think SBCS's construction). He also talked about the way that this beauty and art of architecture transitions from one time to another, just as trends of fashion and music do so.This related very closely to a couple of my posts, but especially the first post that i did, where i attempted to show the influence of builders in architecture, as well as the post on green spaces as themselves a form of artistry and architecture (which i failed to initially pick up upon).

2. Tabeeta Dwarika's Blog- "Urban Unsustainability" http://urbangeographer8.blogspot.com/

She talked about the challenges that cities faced with respect to sustainability and in the ways that they themselves became unsustainable through "development". The "development" is in quotes as quite accurately, she highlighted the negative effects of this development as in fact being the exact opposite of the intended progress. One specific post that was done is: "You Have Space For me Too? http://urbangeographer8.blogspot.com/2013/03/you-have-space-for-me-to.html This was related to my blog post on gentrification, which talked about urban sprawl. Her perspective was a little different, but just as important, as it outlined how the Northern Range has been dragged into, and negatively affected by this same urban sprawl. At what point does housing (see also the post on homelessness) take priority over the detriment of the environment and its resources?



3. Nirvana Hanooman's Blog - "City Dwellings"--http://citydwellingstt.blogspot.com

She spoke about the different types of dwellings, and apart from having fantastic pictures, also represented inequality, as well as those who have and do not have their own dwellings. For some, a dwelling is simply a house, while for others it is a home. This has to do with each person's satisfaction with their position in the urban scape.
Her post: Homelessness, Nowhere to Go, http://citydwellingstt.blogspot.com/2013/03/homelessness-no-where-to-go.html reflected the sentiment of my post, Homeless: Sweep them under the rug, while also highlighting the frustration that these homeless persons feel. We can sympathize with them all we want, but unless we make an effort to assist them, they will forever be in such an unfortunate and definitely unfair situation. Her Photo of the Homeless man outside of the bank was quite telling and severely ironic.

All in all, it was fun to do such a creative assignment, and i tried my best to make up little stories, poems and calypsos to counter the equally important theory and offer some entertainment. The entire class had extremely good blogs and it was interesting to see everybody's passion and viewpoint! Thanks for visiting and following! :)

Escuchela..la cuidad respirando

Listen to it- The city is breathing.

Teeming with life of all forms, like a sort of built up, constructed reef, and we, the colourful fishes which swim in and out of its crevices, interacting with the landscape, with each other, with all things. Some of us will be predators, looking to take advantage of one another to fill our own bellies. Others will be mutualistic, trying to benefit each other. Whatever our purpose, whatever our perspective, the Urbanization of Trinidad is inevitable. As citizens of this country, which has as its cultural, economic, social, recreational center the Capital City, we must make a conscious effort to embrace the urban, to revel in its positives and to condemn and right its negatives.

Wherever we go in the urban city, we will see some example of different urban processes. Too often we afford them too little thought, caught up in our own business. Hopefully, with these blogs, you can get a sense of why the Urban is more than the skyscrapers, green spaces, slums and garbage. Hopefully you can see beyond these things to the undermining processes and activity which play a huge role in their conception. See buildings not just as this structure, but as an artist's canvas by which numerous expressions are made.

The somewhat gradual, almost slow pace of urbanization can pose a threat at times, in that the changes are not often stark enough to call for immediate analysis and rectification.Trinidadians have been described as inactive/passive, but this is not true, as we are a passionate and driven people. The problem however is that the voices of those negatively affected by urbanization are often ignored or disregarded. If we as citizens who might just be passing through and who would not therefore feel the full negative effects can now stop and analyze our urban environment, we can then lend our voices to the call for change. 

The city is bigger than us. And we are bigger than the city. " I can feel the city breathin, Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening"

Creeping Upon Us: Where dat Building Come Out From?

Urbanization is a gradual process, which we often take for granted. Whether the effects of this process is positive or negative lies wholly in the position of the person involved; i.e. perceptions can and will differ due to numerous factors shaping actors. The idea of the urban as a "creep" can be presented, slow and steady at times, and at other times we might ask ourselves, "Since when dat build up so?!". This expansion of sorts is a key component in urbanization, and concerns both Urban Sprawl, as well as Gentrification. The former describes the tendency of urban communities not to remain within a specified boundary, but to expand over time aided by wealth creation, roadways, infrastructure and other catalysts. The latter, Gentrification, is described by Hall and Barrett as  how urbanization can convert working-class or vacant land within an already urban city, into urban features of middle class and/or commercial use . Eventually, the promise of wealth creation, coupled with the potential that such land would have, will cause the land to be "urbanized" for whatever means. Agents of Gentrification or pioneer gentrifiers can be represented by a "hip" generation that make these initial non-urban areas seem more and more attractive and often romantic (think coffee-shops, cozy areas).

Urban Sprawl is depicted within these pictures, and is indicative of not just the capital city Port of Spain, but also areas which are fast becoming centers of commerce and activity such as Chaguanas and San-Fernando. The houses on the hillside are a common feature and could be both squatter and also higher income persons, depending on the type of housing and structure of the houses. Squatters reside on the outskirts of urban hotspots such as hills, while the "rich elite" choose to construct on the hillside to potentially improve security and privacy. In addition, with prices of land at a premium within the city, it may be more cost effective to build on its outskirts. With this theory in mind, we can see how urbanization will cause an area to constantly expand, and also somewhat reflects components of Burgess' Model as well as the Sector Model, where a transitional movement of residents to the outer part of an urban commercial center is desirable and attractive. Imagine that there will ALWAYS be an outer area, obviously, and so there will be multiple outer areas over time, if that makes any sense. Lets say you build-up exactly on the boundary line, and then someone builds up behind you, outside the line. As a result of this, the line shifts and your neighbour becomes the outer. And then this process continues. This is also part of the reason why urban space in general is almost impossible to define within a boundary; it is ever shifting.

Pioneer Gentrifier at My Own Expense

We rented the old apartment for cheap change, 
At the time being run-down was all the rage
Seemed so hip, so cool , to invite all our friends
To paint on the walls, smoke joints, to live life like it would never end
The coffee shop down the road, it felt the same as home
Finally a reason to slow down our roam

The place became transformed, of romance and art
Then "they" came to tear us apart
Dollars in their eyes, New apartments reaching up to the skies
Rent on the rise,   What a surprise!
We started this revolution, changed perception,
Improved opinion and  Cultural recogniton
Now we've been forced out, the rent too high
The Urbanites take over,  They've come in on the sly

Pioneer Gentrifier at my own expense
Now they keep us out with cold bars and iron fences

Homeless: Sweep Them Under The Rug?

Now everyday that I walk outta my building,
I see homeless people sleeping and chillin' on the steps to the apartment that I live in.
I'm not saying everyone is a victim, but the people that I live would treat em more like villains then actual citizens.
I walk past a man laying in his own vomit, who gets his food and his garments by digging in the garbage-     ....
Now every face tells a different story, a different message.
Now how can we judge the book when we don't know the beginning.
We don't know what turned 'em to the bottle, or started injectin',
We just see dirty clothes and another bum beggin'
                                       
-                 Macklemore

Some of us would know Macklemore as the extremely popular rapper who popularized Thrift Shopping. However, in his song City Don't Sleep, the lyrics do describe quite accurately how urban dwellers perceive the homeless, especially without regard for them as human beings and all the while cultivating a misconception that all of the "vagrants, beggars and bums" have placed themselves in this position, and many of them deserve to be/ or are accountable for their own position. Lets face it, the common vision is that these people have become a nuisance, an eyesore and quite frankly should be removed. More emphasis is placed on sweeping them under the rug, or just simply transferring them to some type of special housing (often "Mad-housing" scheme), which in itself creates problems, stress and often does not provide any concrete solution to the actual issues faced by these homeless. When i was initially choosing a topic to do my blog, much thought was given to doing the entirety of the blog on the plight of the homeless, and in also obtaining viewpoints from other actors in urban space who interact with them. 

Concrete Bench, Cardboard Box, Newspapers

Frank awoke to the sound of pigeons, coo-cooing as they pattered around ungainly, pecking at specks of leftover chicken from the burst garbage bag that lay on the floor. The contents of the bag had been rifled through, rapidly and hungrily by the man that now lay there, aching and cold, with the sun finally providing some warmth, its rays directly prodding him in the face and urging him to get a move on before the homeowners saw him in front of their three story "summer" home. He stretched, yawning, breath as rancid as it could possibly get, and rolled off his back, throwing off the makeshift blanket of old newspapers. His once white vest, after weeks of being worn without removal, had a tinge of newspaper ink, coupled with various random food stains and something that vaguely looked and smelled like dog urine. "This was the life eh!", he thought sarcastically. What had gone wrong? Imagine he was once a rising star! Not of the Digicel kind, but a hotshot business-man who had completed his UWI degree with ease. Now riddled with holes from the needle, initially he was looked at with sympathy by his family, then as he became more distant they saw him with scorn, as a disgrace, and finally shunned by both those that he knew and now even people who did not know him, who only passed him as they commuted back and forth in the busy city. Never mind them, things were looking up! Mr. Moto, who had only just come to Trinidad, was giving him a fridge box, complete with all the amenities of bubble wrap and Styrofoam packaging (would make a real bess pillow!). Picture that as the height of luxury for this man; Sounds far-fetched, but such is the life of many of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Next thing Frank knew, he was being carted off to a institute constructed to help him mentally, against his will and surely ignoring the fact that he was completely and utterly sound of mind. A summit was to be held. Swept under the rug like some rubble; or more realistically swept into a straight jacket and "rehabilitated". 

This picture can be related to the previous post on security, with its extremely high walls and gate designed to protect inhabitants from the "other". The shopping cart, most likely stolen, does little to improve the image of this man and homeless persons in general; which is already quite bad to begin with. We must ask ourselves, how do these persons become like this? Is it through their own choice? What circumstances, financial, mental, physical, social, family, employment, previous housing etc. drives them to this point? The multiplicity definitely presents a major challenge which undermines an overarching question of whether housing is a right (personally, yes it is) and how such housing should be received and distributed. My viewpoint is that urbanization can serve to destabilize and steamroll a large number of inhabitants, and the conditions which it imposes further serve to exacerbate and create problems in housing, especially from a financial standpoint (how much better is living in urban slums? At least it affords SOME type of shelter and stability). Therefore, proponents of urban systems and construction need to address homelessness within urban areas not as an eyesore, but as something which was potentially and quite possibly created BY urban systems and hence must be properly cured by them, and not seen as something to be simply swept under the rug.









*Thx Niri

De Bandit Mentality- Us and the Other

            Take a good long look at this picture*. It certainly seems bleak doesn't it, with the dilapidated buildings taking the forefront, and the promise of majestic high rise buildings behind showing promise of development. This picture* encompasses many different facets of urban cities, most of which is inequality. However, what i wanted to describe is something that may have escaped your look from the start, and which would be a key concept in the construction of the we vs. them, us vs. the other mentality which is fueled by vast inequalities in urban conditions. The FENCE. Often we take such things as security for granted, view it as a necessity, to protect us from a whole number of things. In Trinidad and Tobago, urbanites alike will echo the same sentiment, "We protect what is ours". Just by taking a walk in wealthy urban areas such as St. Joseph will exemplify the lengths to which we as human beings who need security go about to achieve it. I have personally seen houses with more burglar proofing than walls (will try to get a picture), and the variety of security measures abound (think broken glass atop walls, fences, fences with barbed wire, walls higher than the house, house with windows that cannot open because of burglar proof, with windows that show nothing because burglar proof block it up completely, video cameras, watch-dogs, watch-cats, watch-parrots etc. etc.). How many of us have seen huge " Bad dog keep out signs" on gates, when we know by experience that the old tanty there never once petted a dog much less to have one as a deterrent to the criminal element.

       Certainly, crime is everywhere, and consequent crime fighting measures are everywhere. Barrett and Hall describe and outline gated cities which are formulated with a primary focus on ensuring the safety of the inhabitants.  However, in urban cities, such a phenomenon is exacerbated, and often romanticized. The idea of a criminal element is one which is perceived by higher status and  higher income urban dwellers to be of a certain type of person (often homeless) , regardless of that person's back story or true motives. Homeless people have been subjected to a wide variety of counter homeless security measures (broken glass, fences, cameras, spotlights, curved benches etc.) just to stop their very presence in an area. So much fuss is made about the other and keeping the other out that we tend to forget the one nation mentality and focus more not on assisting these people (who are often forced into these "abnormalities" by conditions imposed over history) but instead on making absolutely sure they do not affect or threaten us.


     Therefore, even as security is becoming a necessity (sometimes not to deter direct threats but instead to offer some piece of mind), we cannot allow the security measures that we put in place override fixing the actual criminal element within urban areas. What are we to do; Live in a bunker as crime increases, or instead make an attempt to solve the crime situation for the better? Surely some of us must have heard about "back in the days" when doors were left open during the night; maybe impractical but it represents a type of security (i.e. no security) which was afforded to persons. With the dawn of urbanization and the affluence attributed to urbanization, urban buildings and the inhabitants, it has become a problem as these areas are specifically targeted, but is increased security the solution? If we continue to think it is, the time will come when we as actors in this play of who has what and who wants what, will be hindered and negatively affected by the strict security measures that will have to be imposed.

Security of Mind 

Jane closed her car door, and stepped into the porch of her newly bought house. She fidgeted with her jacket pocket, trembling, fingers grasping the keys numerous times and releasing them in nervous bouts. A noise, "tick tock" from behind,  caused her to produce the keys in an instant, with a hurried glance back at the supposed bandit, her mind racing,  a feverish nightmare of dread. The key slipped as it found itself slowly towards the first lock of the burglar-proof, her hand growing sweaty, breath coming in quick bursts as the noise grew in tone, as the footsteps fell nearer and nearer to her. Finally! The click as the burglar proof gave way, swinging open and offering a welcome reprieve. "Who in their right mind told her to buy a house here?", she thought. A grand house, in the middle of an urban slum, surrounded by thieves, ruffians, bandits and badjohns! Jane had never once met these people, never even so much of a glance, but in her heart, she knew, knew that these others were up to no good, and they presented a threat to both herself and her possessions. That was why she had insisted on the burglar proof, which cost as much as a computer to install, never mind the security cameras, which dotted the house and captured every angle. So much money, but all for a worthy cause. She rushed into the space between the burglar proof gate and the door, swinging and shutting the burglar proof behind her. "Idiot! Now i'm trapped like a bird in a cage, i've still to open the door!". The man approached with a cautious tap on the iron monstrosity, "Good day madam, We as the neighbourhood association welcome you with a gift of a tasty cake!". Her breathing slowed, from a feverish pitch to something in between that and normality, and her cheeks showed her embarrassment. Surely this was a plot to get entrance to her home? But no, it was not, for with all the security of mind that her house promised, it served to only exacerbate her fears; She realized:

"Too much security can be a bad thing, as it restricts persons from experiencing the world in its entirety, and can construct perceptions and fears about people that are completely irrational and unfounded. Caution, yes, but with rationality"











*Thanks Hannah.