The image of towering glass edifices situated down-town and clustered pockets of shanty-town houses on the outskirts often become etched in
the minds of city dwellers and daily commuters, raising thoughts of the
inequalities of planning and development.
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| Planned and Unplanned Development Photo Courtesy: Gopiechand Boodhan and Shalisa Ali |
A city of commerce like Port-of-Spain developed around the
port facilitating import and export activities. Christaller’s Central Place
Theory (1933), attempts to explain the settlement patterns as a function of the
associated concentration of essential resources within our local CBD (Central Business
District).
To learn more about CBD’s, please visit:
Demographic factors work hand in hand with the socio-economic
status of society in that increasing threshold of higher income groups circulate
the centre of the city, where there is a multiplex of activities in close proximity
such as West Moorings. Contrast to that, the Beetham Gardens receives less investment
due to the standard upheld in the area. These squatter zones are as a result of
restricted finances as well as the guilt of violating city ordinances. Despite
the fact that easy commute is essential for the working class of the city, and
as a result may be located close the CBD, there is a clear distinction to the
level of planning and development when compared to residence of planned
developments of Port-of-Spain.
Driving through the city, I was astonished by the variation
in the type of buildings found within different segments of the city, and how
they are agglomerated into one melting pot of urban-ness. As function of
economics, the city eventhough one, seems to be a host of different types of development,
each separated from the other. While planned developments such as the Hyatt,
displays a classy appearance as a reflection of the concentration of revenue, unplanned
developments such as squatter settlements on the hillside shows the inability
to attract investment.
Be sure to take a look at the video below as it sheds light as to why many people have no choice in resorting to Squatter settlements.
Rössler M,
1989, "Applied geography and area research in Nazi society: central place
theory and planning, 1933 to 1945" Environment
and Planning D: Society and Space 7(4)
419 – 431. PDF.
Von Böventer, E. (1969), Walter Christaller’s Central Places and
Peripheral Areas: The Central Place Theory in Retrospect. Journal of Regional
Science, 9: 117–124. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9787.1969.tb01447.x
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