URBAN AXIOM!!

Improved built environment, Tunapuna

What intersts me most about this photo is the fact that I am trying my best to imagine what structure was in its place before but .. . I  can not. Urban change is dynamic. The form of cities changes at different rates and are associated links between the socio-economic and cultural and political forces that shape the city; its form and structure. These links and what constitutes them have been observed to a great extent by mapping the streetscape along the Eastern Main road from in Tunapuna. Measuring from this, the major land uses were identified and the structure of the buildings. 

The main urban form recognized, and to a great extent that is in the Tunapuna area from a street or eye level view is one that is associated with post modern societies. Such societies are outlined as having three main characteristics; a fragmented ‘patchwork’ form, a post –suburban area with edge city developments and increased socio-economic polarization and ‘fortress’ landscapes    (Hall et al., 2010). From my observation however, it can be seen that this description can be contested as the area does not follow every characteristic ideally. For example, the Tunapuna area has all the defining characteristics except the increased socio economic polarization. Although it may not appear so to the onlooker such as myself, does it truly mean that it is not indeed present?  Is the politics of the authorities in the area geared towards trying to preserve a particular light of the city?

To me, even before I did the research,it was evedient that the area has been promoted as an attraction for tourists; those domestically (who would come from the southern part of the country), regionally and internationally.  It has especially been made easy for those wanting to avoid the hustle and bustle of the main city Port of Spain. Improvements in the physical environment through having planted trees being incorporated along with the built environment has significantly improved the image of the area. It has promoted sustainability and thus better living and working quality environment.

These, they mark the city edge. The area is therefore a contrasting representation of the majority of building and environment that further east in Tunapuna along the Eastern Main Road. This building along with those four building blocks further up the street where it is increasingly mixed commercial and institutional and some of the newest sets of buildings  mark the regenerated area.  It is therefore self-evident truth that this area is urban!

Reference:
Hall and Barrett,2012. Urban Geography. 4^th Edition. London and New York: Routledge Publishing.(pages 282-301 ).

 http://www.google.tt/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFUQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Flibrary.queensu.ca%2Fojs%2Findex.php%2Fsurveillance-and-society%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F3327%2F3289&ei=NFVuUYGnMKrJ0wHkzIDwBw&usg=AFQjCNFKxnS6Xv0c3qXsR3kom1cCnFtnoQ&sig2=rVYA4pLaEA42yX-Awg9cMQ
 

GLAMORIZED HEIGHTS!

Tall buildings, Tunapuna


 I look up! Tall buildings play a major role in defining the identity of the urban as they form the city’s skyline and its form. Discussing these matters involves raising issues such as urban space, scale and skyline. The city’s planners have sought the benefits that city revitalization and renovation can bring; in the capacity of local city infrastructure. In this post, the height of the building makes me want to  speak as a town representative ( smiles). SO I CARRY ON.

In Tunapuna, the tall buildings on the lower Westward end of the Eastern Main Road; the edge of the city, dominate the entire urban fabric of the area. These buildings are concentrated in clusters and thus highlight specific city fabric and the contextualization of the urban. The clustering allows for flexibility in building composition. The morphology of the urban therefore is not totally dependent on the individual buildings or their locations. These new clustered tall buildings have collaborated with a loss in the historical image of how the city was.

The corroboration of tall buildings in Tunapuna is a visible creative element of the socioeconomic building considerations that have gone into it. Although this building is tall, it relatively low compared to those high rise buildings in the main city Port of Spain. This may be due to building regulations regarding skyline and built spaces in Trinidad. In particular, this building creates a very famous public space for people within a certain taste and within a particular age group (Hall et al., 2012). For example, the first floor caters to children and the second floor caters to fitness personnel.

This building, among others in the cluster, is a marker of financial stronghold of the city. It is one that is aggressive and powerful in terms of whom it allows on the inside. As a result, this building is very keen on security; it has iron bars on the first floor and dark glass windows on the second.

These buildings being on the edge of the city means several ramifications. For example, an economic challenge would be an increase the cost of land and infrastructure on the city edge ( Train, 2003). It would also mean that there would be morphological / physical consequences; changes in the urban fabric and spatial shaping. Studying the urban form and the process of their formation and transformation seek to further help us to understand the spatial structure and character of a by examining the patterns of its component parts and the process of its development in the Tunapuna area.

 

Reference:

Hall and Barrett,2012. Urban Geography. 4^th Edition. London and New York: Routledge Publishing.(pages 282-301 ).

 

Train K. (2003) Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

http://guardian.co.tt/sport/2013-03-21/expect-fireworks-starlight-stakes

 

 

 

IS THIS CRUNCHED FOR SPACE?

Closely-knitted buildings, Eastern Main Road Tunapuna

From the street along the Eastern Main Road in Tunapuna, close to  where I can find the cheapest of fresh produce to purchase. I paused to view the opposite side of the road and .. there it was. Dwellers, urban dwellers everywhere, buildings everywhere!  Buildings without  walking paths to separate them. So  pressed for space, both vehicles and buildings and humans are sucked into the finite 20 meter space between  the  poles. Yet so  comfortable!

 It does to a great extent conform to rules of the traditional city . Traditional urban theories look into how an urban area such as this develop and grow through out the course of  these kinds of interactions;co-locating and what they it can offer to  economies and the society. These stores, are designed public spaces; a place where public consumption  of goods was intended. Just  on the outside of them, that is the street corner, or the edges, they  have been places of  undetermined intention. Personally, public has made it; these blocks  of street a heterogeneous mix , renovated for their own place-making.

The layout of the buildings clearly does not show full state or urban-planning control intervention. It is typical of a neighborhood with such mixing of the different fabric. That is, the density, the interfacing of the buildings and the way the buildings interface with the streets all warmed against the intimate use by the city  dwellers. The make use of these spaces just outside the stores as additional as temporary  stores. They  build tents and hang sale items outside in their quest to  interact and attract more of the public. It therefore reiterates the fact that making these pseudoblocks is just conducive to its dwellers. To add, this reemphasizes the  fact that cites have never evolved block by block. (Mehaffy et al, 2010).

Simply put, these  street fronts ( the sidewalks in front of the store) can keep growing and if so as a result of the influence of the dweller-organised street  front, the density of buildings along this section of the street and  can significantly increase with time. 

Why should  many  not choose to build upward? 

Now is it even  possible to reconstruct that complex happening  altogether?

Reference:
  

Mehaffy, Michael; Porta, Sergio; Rofe, Yodan & Salingaros, Nikos (2010). "Urban nuclei and the geometry of streets: The 'emergent neighborhoods' model". Urban Design International 15 (1): 22–46 [p. 45]. doi:10.1057/udi.2009.26.

http://www.urbanspace.com/

http://guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-24/street-vendors-blamed-slow-sales-south

DEVEOPMENT EN ROUTE?

Photo taken along Priority Bus Route , Tunapuna

I travel along the Bus route, the order,  the speed, the business-like manner strikes me at all times.Most times I think  i am going to be knocked down ( some move like jets). The modern passerby on the Priority Bus Route in the Tunapuna area passes mainly super-sized structures; these long  buildings, that can extend for almost  30 to 40 meters and those do not conform to this are about 3 stories high. This transportation route makes for a good site for business establishment. The route is one of the major roads along the East-West Corridor which once served the purpose of being a train track. It allows ease of access and minimizes congestion and increases mobility in Trinidad. What then attracted such  development  in Tunapuna? It is clear that business owners must have been attracted by an incentive! They  have decided to set up along routes such as these so that supplies can be easily accessibly to them and they (businesses) can be easily accessible to their consumers. This  photo has captured me from the onset. For me, it  especially stirs up the fact that businesses in the urban area are where they are for the main goal of maximizing profit ( Hall, 2012).

Reference:

Hall and Barrett,2012. Urban Geography. 4^th Edition. London and New York: Routledge Publishing.(pages 282-301 ).


http://transport.flemingeurope.com/urban-transport-mobility-europe


http://guardian.co.tt/business/2012-12-24/brazilian-improve-sustainable-urban-mobility-us125m-idb

THINK ON THE SCENE

 

 Hi, my name is Jahnell Rayn and I am from the Land of the Blessed; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I am an Urban Geography student and as such, I plan to take you my viewers on a journey along and within Tunapuna! Have you ever wondered why the heights of the buildings differed along the different roads, their sizes? What effects would this have on you if you were a passerby? What thoughts would race through your mind? I am baffled by the ongoing changes that have been taking place here in this small region along the East- West corridor. Much more can be done I must say! Enjoy this experience with me along this path of the Corridor.