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.
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.
