I'm captured Siobhans Blog on urban housing in Trinidad, there are some great pictures that encourage you to read the blog. Some of her entries related to my my blog entries on dilapidated buildings in Port of Spain, the development of gated communities and homeless housing. Her blog posts are very informative and interesting, giving a bit of history and insight into some of the types of housing.
Shalisa Ali created a blog on urban congestion which coincides with my posts on traffic congestion and inefficient transport systems. I could relate to her blog entry; Rush Hour - Leaving the city, I have experienced that first hand. I think she has highlighted some of the major aspects of urban congestion.
Chelsea Rogers blog entry on Urban pollution (smog) was eye opening, I hadn't seen any photos of the smog over the city before so this was a first for me, it also relates to my blog-post on pollution. I haven't seen any other posts in the blog but I'm sure it would be interesting.
Friday, 11 April 2014
Multiplied Economic Losses: A result of an inefficient city.
This post encapsulates some of my previous posts into what I would call multiplied economic losses due to our inefficiencies as a country to properly govern our capital city of Port of Spain. Within this post linkages would be made to traffic congestion, poor transport, rampant pollution, increasing crime and an unhealthy lifestyle all with a connection to economic loss.
We are all aware that everyday hours of productivity are waited out in traffic and poor transport services coming into the city. This has a triple effect on economic losses. Firstly. is the direct loss of productive time, leading to frustrated workers who are less productive during the day. After a hectic day workers line up in traffic to get home, unable to rest fully for the next days work, resulting in recurring under-productivity and economic loss.
Pollution also plays into economic losses as it causes flooding, increases cleanup costs and is a deterrent to tourists. Dumping of rubbish in waterways cause flooding throughout the city, causing a hault in many economic activities and spoiling many goods. It also causes illness and increases sick leave applications as a result. pollution clean up in general is expensive and after flooding these costs go up. Pollution is also an eye-sore to tourists and may discourage them from visiting or revisiting our island. Therefore pollution is linked to economic loss.
Increased crime results in murders and economic loss. Population movement out of the city into gated communities cause traffic and wasted productive time during the morning hours as mentioned before. An unhealthy lifestyle contributes to reduced productivity and increased medical expenses, both of which contribute to economic losses, to the government/private organizations and the citizens respectively.
All of these variables link to one another in some way. Poor transport services and heavy traffic go hand in hand, pollution and unhealthy lifestyles can have a crippling effect on productivity as people get sick, while crime is linked to the move out of the city which can cause increased traffic. There is definitely a multiplied economic loss when all these variables are connected. Although much effort might be put into the running of the city , there are still a lot of inefficiencies to be dealt with.
We are all aware that everyday hours of productivity are waited out in traffic and poor transport services coming into the city. This has a triple effect on economic losses. Firstly. is the direct loss of productive time, leading to frustrated workers who are less productive during the day. After a hectic day workers line up in traffic to get home, unable to rest fully for the next days work, resulting in recurring under-productivity and economic loss.
Pollution also plays into economic losses as it causes flooding, increases cleanup costs and is a deterrent to tourists. Dumping of rubbish in waterways cause flooding throughout the city, causing a hault in many economic activities and spoiling many goods. It also causes illness and increases sick leave applications as a result. pollution clean up in general is expensive and after flooding these costs go up. Pollution is also an eye-sore to tourists and may discourage them from visiting or revisiting our island. Therefore pollution is linked to economic loss.Increased crime results in murders and economic loss. Population movement out of the city into gated communities cause traffic and wasted productive time during the morning hours as mentioned before. An unhealthy lifestyle contributes to reduced productivity and increased medical expenses, both of which contribute to economic losses, to the government/private organizations and the citizens respectively.
All of these variables link to one another in some way. Poor transport services and heavy traffic go hand in hand, pollution and unhealthy lifestyles can have a crippling effect on productivity as people get sick, while crime is linked to the move out of the city which can cause increased traffic. There is definitely a multiplied economic loss when all these variables are connected. Although much effort might be put into the running of the city , there are still a lot of inefficiencies to be dealt with.
City pollution; crime or culture? Why have we become so inefficient in our disposal of rubbish?
The inhabitants of the city contribute to an inefficient
disposal of garbage. Roadside trash has become so associated with developed
areas such as the Port of Spain that I think it has become part of the norm of the city. Although there are measures in place to eradicate the problem, it still
persists.According to the Numbeo website, visitors into Port of Spain over the last two years have perceived the garbage disposal as very low (15/100). Improper disposal of garbage is exacerbated by the poor enforcement of pollution laws and the untimely removal of trash from designated pick up zones. Trash is normally placed in front of businesses at the end of the work day to be collected at night. Many times some trash remains on the sidewalk for days, even weeks. In the photo above you could see what appears to be trash, boxed and placed on the pavement. Litter wardens are rarely on patrol and there is no clear system of waste management in practice.
This is a poor excuse for waste management in the city, inefficiency, poor management and lack of pollution law enforcement plague our capital city.
Link to website:
Inefficient Transport System.
For those of us who have to travel into and out of the city of Port of Spain during peak hours we realize how inefficient the transport systems can be. Lets have a look at the three main forms of transport to and from the city, which are; privately run taxis, PTSC buses and the Water Taxi.
First and in my view the worst form of public transport is the private taxis. These taxis charge excessive amounts of money to transport from San Fernando to Port of Spain. Taxis charge TT$16, which is more than the cost of a water taxi ticket (TT$15), and over twice that of the PTSC service. Not only do these taxis operate at high prices, they also drive recklessly on the nations roads.
Second and again i order of inefficiency is the PTSC bus service. If someone, leaves work at four, there is a line up for buses to south which take between half hour to an hour and a half for you to board the bus. Once on the bus, the journey takes about three hours to get to our destination. Therefore on average, you can leave work at four in the evening and reach south at eight at night. The bus system is highly time inefficient. However there is the coach service which is a bit more expensive but I think it is a more efficient system and is a good addition to the services.
Finally, the water taxi service, I believe is the most efficient to the consumers, of all the transport services. However although they provide a good service, they do so at a loss. This makes this service inefficient, as it is a burden to the economy rather than a gain.
Transport systems have not been adequately developed, the transport system is still inefficiently managed.
First and in my view the worst form of public transport is the private taxis. These taxis charge excessive amounts of money to transport from San Fernando to Port of Spain. Taxis charge TT$16, which is more than the cost of a water taxi ticket (TT$15), and over twice that of the PTSC service. Not only do these taxis operate at high prices, they also drive recklessly on the nations roads.
Second and again i order of inefficiency is the PTSC bus service. If someone, leaves work at four, there is a line up for buses to south which take between half hour to an hour and a half for you to board the bus. Once on the bus, the journey takes about three hours to get to our destination. Therefore on average, you can leave work at four in the evening and reach south at eight at night. The bus system is highly time inefficient. However there is the coach service which is a bit more expensive but I think it is a more efficient system and is a good addition to the services.Finally, the water taxi service, I believe is the most efficient to the consumers, of all the transport services. However although they provide a good service, they do so at a loss. This makes this service inefficient, as it is a burden to the economy rather than a gain.
Transport systems have not been adequately developed, the transport system is still inefficiently managed.
Dilapidated buildings in the Heart of our city. Why not gentrify them?
While walking through the city I realized that many of the buildings are dilapidated. I could not believe that along every road and around almost all corners I could see an old building. It occurred to me that these buildings could be gentrified and if they haven't why not.Gentrification refers to adding value to old buildings situated in urban areas by reinventing the buildings 'personality' and sometimes changing its use. Gentrification would also add aesthetics to the city. However issues of financing, politics and race affect the use of space (Lees 2001), which may have resulted in these buildings remaining dilapidated. Gentrification may also result in the displacement of the middle class as they sell their property to persons interested in gentrification. It may also be the case that owners of these dilapidated buildings may hold the buildings with the expectation for increased property values in the future. I believe it is an inefficient use of the limited space in our Capital city. People should revitalize these eye sores in the city, adding value to our culture and vibe in the city.
Reference:
Lees, Loretta. 2001. A Reappraisal of Gentrification: Towards a 'geography of gentrification'. Progress in Human Geography.
Is Inefficient control on crime leading to Development of Gated communities?
The Trinidad and Tobago Express newspaper writes that the city of Port of Spain is the most murderous district in the country over last five years with 657 people being murdered, crime statistics have revealed. Although there are many attempts, rather many talks about attempts, there is still no efficient way of dealing with crime and violence in the City. Crime not only has a primary economic effect of loss of property and life, but it also goes further. the social loss of security leads to the desire to exclude yourself from the crime hot-spots while being able to go to work and return home safely.
According to an article written by Fernando Luiz Lara in the Journal of Urban design , Gated Communities are presented as the solution to Urban problems, of which crime stood out. The author stated that with high violence and crime in the cities, gated communities are a viable means of exclusion. Areas such as Chaguanas are seeing the development of gated communities, adding to those there before.
Are we seeing the ill effects of the inefficient control of crime in our countries Urban areas? I believe people move out of the city and into gated communities to protect themselves from crime.
References:
Lara, L. Fernando. 2011. New (Sub) Urbanism and Old Inequalities In Brazilian Gated Communities. Journal of Urban Design.
Simon, Akile. Port of Spain most murderous district. Trinidad Express Newspapers.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/99814929.html
According to an article written by Fernando Luiz Lara in the Journal of Urban design , Gated Communities are presented as the solution to Urban problems, of which crime stood out. The author stated that with high violence and crime in the cities, gated communities are a viable means of exclusion. Areas such as Chaguanas are seeing the development of gated communities, adding to those there before.
Are we seeing the ill effects of the inefficient control of crime in our countries Urban areas? I believe people move out of the city and into gated communities to protect themselves from crime.
References:
Lara, L. Fernando. 2011. New (Sub) Urbanism and Old Inequalities In Brazilian Gated Communities. Journal of Urban Design.
Simon, Akile. Port of Spain most murderous district. Trinidad Express Newspapers.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/99814929.html
What about our Road Traffic problem?
Urban sprawl is used to
describe everything bad about urban growth today (Peiser, 2001). According to
Peiser, sprawl is a world-wide phenomenon, leading to many ills within and
surrounding the city. Controlling urban sprawl may turn this unwanted
development into something good, but, urban development in Trinidad’s capital
city of Port-of-Spain has not capitalised on this occurrence. One major impact
of urban sprawl is the increased traffic to get into the city. As communities
developed outside of the city, the population spread outwards. With increased
travelling population, huge influxes of people need to move into the city and
out of it during the work hours of the day. This has led to hours of traffic to
get in and out of the city.
Have a look at this
article (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/letters/Simply_too_many_cars_on_the_nation_s_roads-170861001.html)
written by the Trinidad Newsday, which blames the frequent traffic pile-ups on
the increased number of vehicles on our nation’s roadways.
Although this
inefficiency can be associated with poor traffic planning and management, urban
sprawl is also an influencing factor. Our inefficient use of urban sprawl and
poor traffic management has led to our traffic congestion we face today.
Reference:
Peiser, Richard. 2001. Decomposing Urban Sprawl. The Town Planning Review, Vol. 72, No. 3
pp. 275-298
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