Placecheck of the Central Business District (CBD) and the suburban development of Belmont

In this post I take a moment to delve into the history of Trinidad and zero in on one particular area in the City of Port-of-Spain known as Belmont, from its conception to present day development.

The city of Port-of-Spain, the capital of Trinidad, reflects the epitome of cultural diversity in Trinidad. There are many forces operating in Port-of-Spain that seek to foster a place of functionality and life!  People from all walks of life and all demographic groups assemble in POS particularly, on the Promanade.  The picture below embodies the utilization of space in the CBD, from degradation to creativity. Space in the City is functional as it encompasses the varied activities in operation by different groups in society. Vagrancy,’ liming’, musical art, recreation and leisure are all depicted in the collage below. Walking around and taking these pictures, I gradually found myself developing a sense of pride in my country. The different activities going on simultaneously in one place, made me think about the uniqueness of the people in Trinidad and amidst all the hustle and bustle, I felt a sense of belonging. Where else would one find a woman plaiting another woman’s hair in the center of the City oblivious to passers-by!

Collage 1: Use of Space In the Promenade, Port-of-Spain.

The downside to being in the CBD of Port-of-Spain however, was the continual fear of being attacked or shouted at by one of the many vagrants parading the streets. Associated with this, was the fear of walking past a street corner next to seeming drug lords, as seen in the collage above. The CBD also stinks of pollution at the intersection of almost every street. However, these issues could be improved with careful planning and consideration. More bins could be established along with an increasing number of police officers managing every block to ensure safety.

Towards the periphery of the City lies the community of Belmont, a suburban area whose development and present day structure and extent were influenced by the history of Trinidad.

Trinidad in the Pre-emancipation era went through a series of events beginning with the arrival of the Amerindians to the island. These native people developed their culture and way of live which are evident through the architectural remains. Shortly after, driven by the quest for power, the Europeans came upon the island of Trinidad and meeting with the Amerindians, eventually led to their decimation with small groups surviving and establishing communities. The global North then became interested in the resources such as spice and sugar offered by the island and in their greed, they developed treaties for the ownership of the island. This hunger for power then continued when slavery was introduced whereby people of African descent were shipped from West Africa into Trinidad to work on the sugar plantations owned and run by European overlords. Fast forward to 1838 to the abolition of slavery, Indentureship commenced whereby Indians, Chinese, and Portuguese, migrated to Trinidad to work as contract workers on the sugar plantations. This later led to the development of a multi-cultural society, a melting pot of cultures from all over the world.

The village of Belmont in the outskirts of Port-of-Spain is the first emancipation village in Trinidad. Belmont is prized for its historical, cultural and architectural heritage. With a past rooted in forced labour on plantations, it is home to people of varied races and ethnic groups. It is however, one of the more underdeveloped areas in Port-of-Spain. Following Indentureship, people began to build houses and communities with no sense of planned development. This created a host of problems in Belmont specifically crime and flooding. Belmont is generally a low income area and with both parents working two and three jobs, the children are left at home after school. This has fostered the development of criminal activity due to these idle children with time on their hands. Gangs have developed at lonely street corners further degrading the reputation of Belmont. Secondly, flooding is a major problem due to the lack of proper drainage with culverts and also because of the lack of planned development.
Belmont has however, experienced some degree of development from its colonial buildings and famous "Wash Out Bride" to a place of cultural significance along with the development of the Saint Jude's Home for Girls, displayed in the collage below.

Collage 2: The suburb of Belmont from its historic background to present state

Belmont is home to the rich creative cultural art form of Trinidad with extremely important places such as the Ken Morris Mas Camp; the traditional mas band of Trinidad, which set the foundation for our Carnival culture (see collage above). The village is also laden with colonial style houses of architectural significance around every corner which were built following the conception of Belmont. Additionally, the Trinidad Theatre Workshop which resides in Belmont, was established in 1959, and set the foundation for the theatre arts in Trinidad, with live performances, captivating audiences from all strata of society.

However, the village is in a stage of development and could be enhanced and revitalized with the establishment of parks and community centers, to boost further growth in the area. Also, some of the depressed and dilapidated buildings could be demolished or renovated in order to preserve their historical value.

Urban writer and activist, Jane Jacobs, wrote about different places in the city being centered around the community. She held an optimistic view of the city and saw it as a place of celebration. Jacobs proposed four main principles of good neighbourhoods which can be applied to both the CBD of Port-of-Spain as well as, Belmont. Firstly, the principle of mixed use is related to the CBD in that space is seen as a functional entity, with the operation of various activities simultaneously. This is depicted In collage 1 above whereby space is utilized by people of all demographic groups and economic classes to conduct business activity and recreation. Place is also used for politics, industry, architectural, cultural and historical uses in the CBD. The first principle of functionality does not apply to Belmont to a large extent as the space is mainly utilized for cultural activities such as the Mas Camp and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. The second principle of mixed buildings with different buildings of different ages and conditions, applies specifically to Belmont where colonial style houses line most of the narrow streets, opposite recently constructed buildings, across the street. this is also evident in the CBD with the 'magnificent seven'.  The third principle she proposes, street with short blocks and numerous corners, is specific to Belmont. The lack of proper land use planning following independence, allowed for the construction of relatively short blocks where people in the community can meet and intermingle. This has served to enhance the strong ties developed among community members.  The fourth principle, a dense population is more related to the CBD of Port-of-Spain due the wide functionality of this space. The different activities in operation within the CBD have fostered the concentration of a dense population involved in these activities. as such, based on her four proposed principles of a good neighborhood, the CBD is ranked higher than Belmont as it is a place of celebration, functionality and dense populations.
In my opinion, a successful neighborhood encompasses, provisional services and functionality in addition to historic monuments, along with the preservation of culture through the art form of a country in terms of music, food, dance and heritage. Additionally, a successful neighborhood should have open spaces in the form of parks or recreational areas where people can interact and enjoy other activities.

For further information on Jane Jacobs, feel free to view the video below.

Jane Jacobs: Neighborhoods in Action