Port of Spain Field Excursion

Place check Findings and Reflection

Place Check: St. Clair

St. Clair is a North Western community in the city of Port of Spain. It is bounded by Tragerete Road on the South, Maraval Road on the East, Long Circular Road on the North and the Maraval River on the West. St. Clair houses some of the city’s most prized mansions and is home to diplomatic missionaries. In addition to that it is the home to exquisite hotels, restaurants, and popular socializing spots. It is the perfect definition of a very elitist, upscale, residential community on the outskirts of the town. Whilst walking through the streets of St. Clair the luxurious, extravagant lifestyles were clearly evident.  The photo below depicts what the streets of St. Clair looks like. 

The architecture of the area is a mixture of colonial and modern. Houses were large and spacious; most of them were built on more than one lot of land. There were swimming pools and yards that were beautifully landscaped to adorn the homes of residents. The streets were wide, shady and tree lined indicating that proper planning went into the development of the community. The entire environment was clean; there were no signs of littering or the dumping of rubbish, Public walls were adored with paintings of Caribbean arts and culture. There were lots of sporting facilities and ground with ample facilities. During our walk through the town there areas were being used to its fully capacity. St. Claire appeared to me as being the ideal environment for living.

In accessing the design and architecture of St. Clair I noticed that as part of every home it was the norm to have high walls and fences; excessive use of barriers and security and safety mechanisms. There was no sense of community felt throughout the neighborhood. With the exception of the parks, there were little to no persons seen outside their homes or walking the streets or socializing within the community itself.

The historical buildings and houses within the community need to be preserved as they are prized possessions of the city. For example, the RC Archbishop’s Residence, Mill Fleur and Whitehall just to name a few. There are vast amounts of facilities and activities available for youths and adults to partake; there is the YMCA Association, King George V Park, the Islamic Academy and Queens Royal College just to name a few.

Jane Jacobs’s four preconditions for the creation and preservation of vibrant and diverse cities are evident in St. Clair. Within the St. Clair area there are:

 1) High densities of population and activities; it is a high density residential area saturated with both business and entertainment/ leisure activities.

 2) Mixtures of primary uses; St Clair serves more than just one primary function, it provides housing settlements, government and diplomatic activities and public and private support services . Each street contributes towards providing different functions and is not dominate by only one single activity.

 3) Pedestrian friendly blocks and streets; the St. Clair neighborhood is very pedestrian friendly as well as its streets that border squares, grounds and parks. The streets are also wide enough to accommodate the free flow of two way vehicular traffic, with parking along one side. There are also proper provisions that have been made for pedestrians via pavements and easy access ramps.

4) Retaining old buildings mixed with the new; throughout St. Claire there are old historical buildings (Mill Fleur, QRC, RC Archbishop Home, and Whitehall) that have been preserved to date for a variety of reasons. They exist amongst new buildings such as the Office of the Prime Minister and RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) and Briar Place. The historical buildings seek to provide visual and emotional landmarks that link the neighborhood with time and space.

http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1199&context=ealr 

Place Check: Belmont (Free Town)

Belmont is located on the North-Eastern electoral district of the City of Port of Spain. It is found to be bounded by Port of Spain ‘proper’ and Lavantille and the Northern Range. Belmont is the City of Port of Spain’s oldest suburb. The name Belmont was given to the area by Governor Hislop, the name meant nothing to the people of the area. Belmont previous known as Free Town was established by formerly enslaved Africans in the 1800’s who worked on coco and coffee estates at Belmont It also included may free African rescued from slaves ships after 1807.To this day it is inhabited by generations of the emancipated ex-slaves. It is an area rich in Trinidadian cultural heritage.

Belmont is a close knit community where neighbors are involved in the lives of others. It is a community where ‘a village raises a child.’ Along the different streets throughout Belmont there is sense friendliness and an active neighborhood setting; lots of interaction between people. While walking through the streets there are passers-by along streets and at corner shops. The setting of the Belmont community is in stark contrast to what was observed and experienced in St. Clair.  The Belmont area is said to have the highest concentration of schools in Trinidad and Tobago. Belmont is home to world class cricketers (Ian Bishop), footballers, singers (David Rudder, The Mighty Shadow), entertainers (Tommy Joseph), former presidents and authors. It is also where the earliest forms of carnival begun; the area is concentrated with mas camps and pan yards.

The heritage of and culture of the people and neighbor of Belmont needs to be preserved along with the few houses and buildings of late Victorian architecture that was noticed during my visit. Institutions such as St. Jude’s Home for the Girls and St Francois RC Church are important artifacts concerning architectural and cultural heritage. The photo below shows a typical street in the town of Belmont. 

Trinidad Theater Workshop is a community outreach venture program founded by Derek Walcott in 1959. It is housed in Belmont but does not only include Belmont participants. The organization lack government support but should be promoted in every way possible as it an important means by which the culture is passed from one generation to the next.

In addition to that the Rada compound needs to be maintained and preserved as it is of cultural importance to the Belmont area. The Rada compound was founded by Jean Antoine (Papa Nannee). It comprised those who were freed from Portuguese slave ships from Benin West Africa. The compound consists of a Church (Vodunkwe), Rada burial grounds and residential housing. Radaism which is the concept of seeing spirituality in every aspect of life and always seeking to be righteous is the practice of the people of the Rada community. Attempts should be made to make people more aware and educated about the lifestyle and nature of Radaism. During the field session it was the first time that I encountered the concept of Radaism and think that others will be delighted to learn about it as well.

There are heavily polluted areas in and around the neighborhoods; street side dumping of rubbish is evident along streets. The houses are not widely spaced they are more or less cramped for space. The streets are narrow and along most of the streets there are no pavements as well as graffiti can be found throughout the neighborhood.  The layout and structure of the town indicates that little to no planning was done before the town developed. Consequently this is a result of the history of Belmont.

One such issue that is getting worse is the crime issue in the area. Residents do not feel safe walking the streets at night or leaving their homes open as they once did. An interview with a Belmont resident said that one such reason for the increase in crime in the area is due to the lack of activities for Belmont’s young children to participate in.

The lack of sporting facilities is also an issue that needs to be addressed. Whilst St. Clair has multiple parks and squares the entire community of Belmont has one Savannah to meet the needs of the entire area.

Based on my days experience I was able to see two extremes; St. Clair and Belmont. They are nothing like each other but both have historical experiences which shapes them to what it is today, some (Belmont) had more cultural influences and heritage than the other. I think that Belmont needs to become a bit more developed in its efforts to portray its rich cultural heritage but at the same time the essence of Belmont and how it became what it is must not be lost.

“The success of cities depends on successful neighborhoods-physical areas within which people organize their lives.’ (Power, 2000 cited in Sandhu, 2006)

I agree 100 % with this quote. It is indeed neighborhoods that determine whether or not a city is successful. Belmont has some work to do in terms of making Belmont what it needs to be to truly represent its heritage and culture. In my opinion it is not impossible, we just need the right people and resources to make it happen.