Urban sprawl, although not a popular topic in debate, it is indeed affecting Trinidad

How it began and how it evolved in Trinidad.

                                        Introduction Video (specific to North America)

                                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT_A9PFOY18

HOW IT BEGAN -

               Urban sprawl began with the onset of urbanisation; the movement of persons from the rural area to urban areas. These behaviours are often due to the preconceived notions of more opportunities economically, socially and culturally and a better standard of living available in urban districts. The patterns however were geographically specific as the histories of the locations often differed. Typically, the average person did not know what the approaching future entailed but the desire and will-power to persevere until an improved criterion of subsisting was obtained, was the main goal of the migrants.

http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20110111/z.hashemi20110111174130390.jpg



With all the current advancements of technologies, complex series of innovation and rise of modern cites and post-modern cities (Hall and Barrett 2012, 39) one would think that urban migration is a recent phenomenon however the process began in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century in American cities and much earlier in European counterparts in the decades prior. So as with most origins of development and as with almost all geographical models, patterns for sprawl exists in antiquity but the earliest model was based on that of the capital of England (Hornstein 2005).

In London the wealthiest class had access to more resources such as modes of transportation (Waugh 1995, 251). This made the long commutes from early suburban areas into the city possible. The influx of the rich into the city continued until transportation, roads, and availability of municipal resources improved. When this occurred the relatively affluent people, all of a sudden began building residences outside of the city and as these demographics moved out, less affluent people moved in, causing city centres to be increasingly populated by lower-income individuals.                http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-120896605/stock-photo-london-oct-london-sightseeing-bus-on-october-london-uk-open-top-tour-bus-with.html

 http://yakkersy12geo.blogspot.com/2008/09/hoyts-sector-model.html

What cause this dramatic shift in residence in both London and cities in America? This can be explained by use of the Hoyt’s Sector Model. He suggested that the city grew in a series of sectors or 'wedges' along traditional communication routes. In developing this model Hoyt perceived that it was customary for low-income family institutions to be adjacent to railroad lines, and profitable institutions to be along business pathways (Waugh 1994, 258). Identifying that the transportation routes into an urban area, including railroads, sea ports, and others, represented greater access, Hoyt hypothesised that metropolises have a tendency to grow in wedge-shaped patterns or sectors radiating from the CBD or central business district and centred on major transportation routes.

With these trends, by the mid-twentieth century, Europe, Japan and North America had a mainly urban population, while most people in South America, Africa and Asia worked in agriculture, and lived in rural settlements close to farmland. At that time, the world’s largest cities were London and New York. Since then, people worldwide have moved to towns and cities, in the hope of new opportunities and the Caribbean was not oblivious to this movement. Caribbean settlements followed the same outline of urban growth, with different patterns of course, due to the discrepancies of histories.
 

EVOLUTION IN TRINIDAD -

In Trinidad there are many CBDs but the main CBD is the capital, Port-of-Spain. In the mid-twentieth century there was an influx of persons seeking residence in the capital also searching for better or enhanced opportunities. Later that century persons who had climbed to escalator or wealth soon began moving out of the CBD away from the noise, hustle and bustle of the working class population. The prosperous followed the main transport routes and colonised attractive areas outside of the CBD.

            I saw these houses, accesoried with step-in pool, spiral staircases, large gates and atleast

2 cars and as I admired them I  thought to myself "Wait, isn't Maraval outside or on the rims of the CBD, why does this area drastically contrast that of Lavantille?"    


It was in that instant I decided to look at the origin of sprawls to find out how it evolved in Trinidad and then I saw how the Hoyt's Sector model delinated settlement patterns around POS. Though I could not do a photoshoot of these private houses (though I wish I could have) it truly got me thinking about this phenomena and what cause these types of patterns along the East and West of the CBD.

 

Firstly, lower class began inhabiting the CBD until it became so highly populated the urban landscapes began spreading to underdeveloped areas surrounding. This is where urban sprawl around the world began. There was a greater need for space as overpopulation, in relation to persons and resources had met its carrying capacity. Urban sprawl, the development of urban activities on underdeveloped areas, in Trinidad became a problem especially sprawl that had no system of structure to them. Its negative connotation is the generally understood as the “ill effect” of unregulated development that early real estate advisors and developers with an interest in land ethics and city planning were trying to avoid.

                 Picture showing the shift from agriculture (sugarcane production) to service (Hilton Hotel on the Northern Range)

At this time employment shifted from agriculture to services and manufacturing and many live in areas of manicured landscapes on the very fringe of nature, near agricultural businesses or immediate to lower class residents. These environments have thus had to endure encroachment on their lands without much avail as the population in the sprawls continued to augment. Internationally, some cities have larger populations than the whole of the CARICOM. Most of the largest and fastest growing cities are in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Wilson 2005, 68).

Urban sprawl began subsequent to the globalisation of urbanisation. It is evidently not recent as it has been common to every city from the beginning of “urban history”. It has exploded as an area of focus in urban geography in recent years, with researchers citing the automobile, governmental single-use zoning laws, accessible mortgages, and housing subsidies as necessary indicators for the present-day version of the phenomenon (Bruegmann 2005). Urban sprawl would continue to impact all corners of the world as most immigrants settle in or around the hob of business to reduce excess expenditure, particularly on transport.

 

 

References

Bruegmann, Robert. 2005. Sprawl: a Compact History. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago   Press.

Hall, T. and H. Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. 4th ed. London/ New York: Routledge.

Hornstein, Jeffrey M. 2005. A Nation of Realtors®: A Cultural History of the Twentieth-Century American Middle Class. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Waugh, David. 1995. Geography: An Integrated Approach. 2^nd ed. London:  Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.

Wilson, Mark. 2005. The Caribbean Environment: For CXC Geography. London: Oxford University Press.