Reflection of Three Collegues Blogs

Reflection 1

Urban development has a lot to do with urban livelihood. It is urban development that influences the capabilities, assets, income and activities required to sustain the necessities of life within urban towns and cities. The link posted below will direct you to the blogs of a colleague of mine. His blog was done on Gasparillo; a town located in central Trinidad. Aspects of his work are similar to Port of Spain but on a different scale.

http://ubanblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-03-23T09:03:00-07:00&max-results=7

The town of Gasparillo previously consisted of a Plantation type society. Gasparillo now consists of an urban center where there is a high concentration of business activities and operates similar to that of a small scale city.

Development of the area has shaped it to what it has become today. In the process it has so influenced the activities by by which people partake in to earn a living. Due to the occurrence of urban development over the decades aspects such as traffic congestion in the 'heart' of the Gasparillo, pollution; make shift garbage dumps and the development of commercial centers has become part of the livelihood of persons who reside in the town of Gasparillo and its environs. The issues presented in the blog link above are quite similar to what was discussed in my urban livelihood blog.

Do have a look and tell me what you think....... Urban livelihood in Port of Spain vs Urban Livelihood in Gasparillo.

Reflection 2


‘Urbanization in Trinidad has fueled a new lifestyle, an urban lifestyle where trinis are no longer apart of the city, but rather the city has become the creation of our expression……With our fast pace lives evolving from urbanization, the way we eat has also altered with an increasing intake of fast food. We are seeing the emergence of "an urban diet".’

The excerpt above was taken from the blog of a colleague of mine. Her blog speaks about urban diet and its evolution in Trinidad and Tobago. Within recent times the culture of food has changed drastically. With urbanization taking its course, it is affecting the type of foods that we consume. It has been altered to accommodate an Urban Livelihood. In this little Caribbean island it’s no long what it used to be, it is now centered on convenience than taste.

In my opinion improved and resilient livelihoods needs to be promoted so that children, families and communities at large can experience fullness of life. Issues such as the production of food creating an ecological footprint should not be something that we take for granted. There should be sustainable strategies developed to improve the livelihood means involving food.

Based on you means of livelihood, do you think your consumption of food negatively impacts on the environment? Have you ever thought about that?

Click on the link to the blog to find out more about URBAN DIETS

http://anurbandiet.blogspot.com/

Reflection 3 

Illusions of an Urban Paradise, the title for this blog is quite fitting as the blog brings forward the relevant issues concerning urban development in the city of Port of Spain. It informs the reader of the pros and cons; the negative and positive consequences of urban development. Similar to the first reflection done I think that urban livelihood has a lot to do with the development of the city. It goes hand in hand. The livelihoods of urban residents are dynamic and as it changes it influences urban development decisions.

Issues such as land reclamation and ecosystem destruction, flooding, marginalization of green spaces, traffic and degradation are all consequences of development which occurred due to changes and demands of livelihood. In most instances the environment pays the toll for human actions. How much longer can the environment be the victim of out action? This blog addresses such concerns.

It’s very interesting and worth taking a look at. Click below for more.

http://theurbanparadise.blogspot.com/