Exclusive: Conceptual Urban Model - The Dynamic Temporal Model of Port of Spain

Figure [if supportFields]><span style='font-size:11.0pt; line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]1[if supportFields]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><span style='mso-element:field-end'><![endif]: The Dynamic Temporal Model of Port of Spain

Figure [if supportFields]><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]2[if supportFields]><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><![endif]: Different land uses in Port of Spain at different time periods. Determining the land use in each time period was found through intensive research - from journals, books and websites -as there were no actual maps showing land uses at these times (with the exception of Modern Era Port of Spain).

THE DYNAMIC TEMPORAL MODEL

The Dynamic Temporal Model of Port of Spain was based off the concept of the Sectoral Model devised by Hoyt in 1939, which uses the themes of residential and commercial zones within a city. These zones are organized into sectors, all radiating out of a central concentric ring representing the Central Business District (CBD). The Dynamic Temporal Model however, as suggested by its name, shows the changes of the city structure through time.

To make the analysis of the model simpler, 4 major time periods or eras were developed. These are the “Colonial” Era (1592-1838), the Post Emancipation Era (1838-1900), the Pre Industrial Era (1900-1970) and the Modern Era (1970-2016). The Colonial Era spans from 1952, when a proper structure for Port of Spain was first implemented, to 1838, when slavery ended. “Colonial” is in inverted commas because colonialism officially ended in 1962, but the colonial period highlighted in this model is only until 1838: this is where we found the effects of colonialism to be most dominant. In order to show all the time periods in comparison to one another, and still maintain some form of visual aesthetic appeal, each sectoral interpretation of the city at a particular time period was incorporated into a “slice”. There are four slices: one for each era. When put together, they all form part of a larger whole- an entire circle showing the development of Port of Spain throughout history. This layout makes it easy to identify and track the changes which occurred.

Port of Spain (POS) is the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the major retail and commercial centre, the seat of government and administration offices, the centre for national cultural events, a national transport and an international transhipment port. Historical and cultural events and the global economy, as well as political systems have influenced the development of the city (Waldron 2005).

“COLONIAL” ERA: 1592-1838

Figure 3: City grid and Dynamic Temporal Model for the “Colonial” Era.

In 1592 Port of Spain was an Amerindian fishing village with a few Spanish traders (Steward 1998). Colonization of Trinidad and Tobago by the Spanish, led to the development of the city of Port-of-Spain, which still shows major characteristics from its initial developmental plans. The ideology of similar city structures was discussed in an article entitled “Notions Concerning the Nature of World Urbanization” by Portugali in 1996. The concept under analysis is a phrase termed “The City of Wittgenstein”, which relates cities based on family resemblance. According to Portugali (1996), this concept explains that two cities have similar properties during different time periods following a similar pattern. Therefore, the implementation of the Spanish grid models created a family resemblance between the colonies. The aim of the formulated plan of Port-of-Spain in 1782 was the removal of housing settlements along the coast for commercial development including buildings such as customs house (Customs House), government house (Treasury) and the barracks (Newson 1976). This grid structure aided in defence, agricultural and colonial settlement and defining urban space parcels (Steward 1998) which can be identified as the Spanish colonization period in Trinidad.

According to Rojas (1989), the Plantopolis Model was developed between the 18th and 20th century. This is where the formative stage of the settlement structure took shape. Towns were eventually developed for main export and rural areas which were now uniquely distinguishable. There was also the development of the service and economic sector which was now considered the main urban area similar to Port of Spain. The combined effect of geographical, historic and economic factors has brought about a distinctive pattern of spatial organization in the human settlements of the Eastern Caribbean. This pattern corresponds to Port-of-Spain where there’s a highly integrated structure of settlements in which all the communities are almost completely dependent on the services provided by the main urban centre.

In 1784, the Spanish Governor diverted the St Ann’s river from its original course on the western side of the emerging city, to the eastern region of the foothills of Laventille Hills (Steward 1998), to aid any potential grid extensions to the north or western side of downtown Port-of-Spain. According to Steward (1998), the British captured Trinidad and Tobago in 1797, and therefore their colonial system would then determine any future development of the city’s structure.

Under the British the grid system remained the same but it expanded in a North-western direction (Steward 1998), facilitating the growth of similar smaller grids, each holding its unique spatial identity. Under the British rule, the major grid of downtown as well as the newly sprouted areas such as Woodbrook, from 1813 – 1838 led to the development of the city structure. These grids of downtown created linkages throughout the city. According to Steward (1998), these gridded extensions expanded the city westward and northward, meeting the Maraval River.

Information on the location of the lower class during this time period was not found: as such, to justify the absence of a lower class, we decided to draw upon conclusions made from Sjoberg’s 1960 model. Sjoberg’s model of a pre-industrial city indicated that lower class citizens resided within the elite concentric ring of a city, mainly as domestic servants to the various estates that existed in the city.

POST EMANCIPATION ERA: 1838 – 1900

Figure 4: City grid and Dynamic Temporal Model for the Post Emancipation Era

In the period immediately after the conquest of Trinidad by the British in 1797, the Cabildo passed regulations for the extension of Marine Square (now Independence Square) southwards. Sea Lots became available to the public. The first reclamation began in 1803 under the governor Sir Thomas Picton, and was completed after emancipation. The area of reclaimed land is visible in the Post-Emancipation city grid above, south of Marine Square.

By 1845, Port-of-Spain proper went through many changes again, where the city expanded east of St. Ann’s river and into the Uptown district. In the late 1800s, St. Clair was an upper class residential area, Woodbrook an upper and middle class residential area, Uptown, Downtown, Tranquility and Southeast Woodbrook was deemed a commercial district with some housing and Eastern Port-of-Spain was the working class residential area. Poorer urbanites and immigrants from rural areas settled to the east of the city in the 19th Century in high-density residential areas where the uncontrolled development of former small coffee and cocoa estates continued into the 20th Century.

Belmont is one of the oldest settlement of POS with its beginning generated by Emancipation in 1838 when freed slaves moved from the plantations to eastern POS (Waldron 2005). Wanting to move away from their former masters, they settled towards the eastern end of the city, by the foothills of the Northern Range, thus creating a lower class settlement. This can be seen on the model, with the inclusion of a yellow zone in this time period.

PRE INDUSTRIAL ERA: 1900s – 1970s

Figure 5: City grid and Dynamic Temporal Model for the Pre Industrial Era

By the early 1900s Port-of-Spain became the major commercial city in Trinidad. In 1911, the St James district was acquired from its former usage as an estate, and many indentured East Indians settled here. This is visible in the city grid diagram, which now includes St. James as a lower to middle class residential area. As there were both middle and upper classes residing in Woodbrook, there is no division between the two on the Dynamic Temporal Model: the green residential zone overlaps the blue. However, on the city grid, Woodbrook was generalized as upper class for simplification. The harbour was further developed between 1935 and 1939 which facilitated the development of Port-of-Spain on a whole (Stewart 1998). In 1940, new houses were built replacing the old ones.

Domestic agriculture, emphasized during World War II, shrank after the war as import markets opened up again. Export agriculture also began to face problems, which came to the forefront in the 1970s. There was limited vertical growth of Port of Spain (Waldron 2005). The discovery and export of oil launched the demise of the agricultural sector, the rise of the construction and the service industry and led into the eventual domination of manufacturing, construction and oil and petroleum products on the nation’s economy in the 1970s. This era did see an increase in the suburbs that surrounded the city and there was a decrease of population density within the city limits (Waldron 2005).

MODERN ERA: 1970S - PRESENT:

Figure 6: City grid and Dynamic Temporal Model for the Modern Era

In the figure above, there is an expansion of the commercial zones, with areas of reclaimed land towards the western end of Port of Spain now containing hotels (such as the Marriott Hotel), entertainment structures (Movie Towne), and other businesses. The former residential area of Woodbrook now became more commercialized due to influences such as globalization and the rise of the service sector. Although Woodbrook still contains some residences, it is more commercialized, and many of the residences are remnants of old architecture from the post emancipation times. There is an overall trend of encroaching commercial zones upon residential zones: as the commercial sector grows, the middle and upper class residential areas are slowly pushed away from the CBD. As noted by Hoyt, those with the economic capacity to afford mobility have the luxury of commuting comfortably, and hence do not need to live as near to the CBD as the lower class. He claimed that it is unlikely that high class residential housing would be located near to the factories or lower income zones. His model suggests a clear distinction between the rich and the poor. As can be seen in the model developed, St. Clair, the high class residential area is located away from the lower-middle class working population in Belmont and Eastern Port-of-Spain.

In the 21st century, Downtown POS and the Port area were seen as the Central Business District with the highest establishment of businesses. Eastern Port-of-Spain, Newtown and Woodbrook were in transition and the other districts were categorized as residential areas, with Eastern Port of Spain having the highest population densities. Woodbrook had the second highest business activity followed by St. James (CSO 2000). Eastern Port-of-Spain had the highest population density per hectare and the highest household density, followed by Newtown, St. James, Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain proper and St. Clair respectively. The boundary of Port-of-Spain changed in 2000 to include the areas of Federation Park, Ellerslie Park, Long Circular, Diego Martin, Dibe, Maraval, St. Anns, Morvant and San Juan (CSO 2000).

Another addition to the model at this time period was the inclusion of the industrial zones of Port of Spain, which includes light manufacturing such as the National Flour Mill. These zones are highlighted in purple, and are mainly found nearer to the CBD and the port.

Research by Jameel Smith, Rana Sundar, Kaaria Quash, Renata Ramoutar and Shariel Yarsien

REFERENCES

Anthony, M. 2004. The Mapping of Port of Spain. Paria Publishing Co.

Besson, G. 2011. “Reclamation of the foreshore at ‘Conquerabia’ and the lighthouse”. The Caribbean History Archives. Accessed March 29, 2016. http://caribbeanhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2011/08/reclamation-of-foreshore-at-conquerabia.html

Central Statistical Office. 2000. “Trinidad & Tobago 2000 Housing and Population Census”. Accessed on March 30, 2016. http://cso.gov.tt/census/2000-census-data/.

Portugali, J. 1996. Notions Concerning the Nature of World Urbanization. 145-148

Rojas, E. 1998. Human Settlements of Eastern Caribbean. 243-258

Stewart, Randee Cheryl. 1998. An Urban Design Study for the City of Port of Spain. ProQuest Dissertations Theses: 8-120

Waldron, Carla. 2005. Development as Destruction; Geographic Analysis of Land Use Changes in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Thesis. Georgia State University. Accessed March 30, 2016. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses/4

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