Life In The Fast Lane Begins
The video below depicts the fast-paced life in the city of Singapore
The
city of Port-of-Spain, the capital of Trinidad, is the hub of commerce and
trade, similar to Singapore in the video above. With increasing globalization,
the city has attracted international companies to set base. It's increasing
investment in multinational companies such as BP, Repsol and the Hyatt Hotel,
in addition to fast food chains including KFC and Subway, has created an
environment attractive to residents from all corners of the country. This
agglomeration of people has fostered a lifestyle quite different from the
peripheral regions: a lifestyle on fast- forward, driven by business, commerce
and a quest for power (Abbott, 2012). This has induced implications for stress, bad eating
habits and an overall degradation in health.
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The Water Taxi in Port-of-Spain
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As passengers make their way off the Water Taxi,
life in the urban begins. They are greeted with a torrential downpour and are
forced to seek shelter among the host of people at the nearby bus stop and
water taxi terminal. This sets the pace for the hectic day ahead. The urban
lifestyle for commuters as well as, people residing in the city, is filled with
the hustle and bustle of people from all demographic groups. The urban life is
fast-paced for the single mother, the businessman, the elderly woman, and even
the school children. It excludes no one. As an individual steps foot in the
city, their experience may differ from that of another and as stated by Hall
and Barrett (2012, 13), "this personal experience forms an important
foundation from which to research and theorize about cities." As such, the
fast-paced lifestyle differs with each individual and may raise particular
problems of city life in relation to human lifestyles.
References
Abbott, Alison. (2012). Stress and the city: Urban decay [Electronic
Version]. International weekly journal of
science, 490, 162-164.
Hall, Tim. and Heather Barrett. (2012). Urban Geography 4th edition. London and New York: Routledge.
How the city hurts your brain…And what you can do about it.
(2009). Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/04/how_the_city_hurts_your_brain/
Nice blog and very interesting cases where pace is exemplified by the urban lifestyle. I love the photos which capture candid and unassuming shots of everyday life -- it's a pace that we take for granted, eh. Well done.
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