Reflection

By doing this blog it has opened our eyes to the vast urban culture of the Chaguanas area, where there is a multitude of services offered to all the needs of a person. We first examined the nucleus of the area which was Chaguanas Main Road which proved to be very diverse. As we moved forward with our study we found that the functions of the main road expanded beyond what we previously knew. We found that services offered spans political, social, economic and cultural aspects of urban lifestyle and contributes to the urban livability of the area. It offers education and health services which are imperative to the livability of the Chaguanas area as well as religious requirements of the suburban population. We also found that Chaguanas comprises all classes of society and there is even a growing industrial sector along the highway. While Chaguanas is now considered a borough by the government there are efforts being made to grant it "city status", as was note by several newspaper articles that we found: Talks on Chaguanas City Status, Chaguanas ready for city status, and Transitioning of Chaguanas from "borough to city" status. 

A picture of Chaguanas Main Road from the Uriah Butler Highway

We visited other blogs done by our course colleagues and found that some displayed similar themes to ours but regarding other areas of the country including Port-of-Spain and St. James. These blogs are:

(1) Urbanization of Port-of-Spain -  Lisa-Marie and Aziel had several sub-themes of their blog that are relatable to ours, for example, the themes of how urbanization has culturally and historicallly affected housing, food, security and entertainment in Port-of-Spain. These posts were similar to the themes we covered, however they had a greater focus on the historical aspect. This would have been easier to discuss than for Chaguanas, as the urban area of Port-of-Spain has been developing for a much longer period of time than that of Chaguanas, which has only recently begun to develop on a larger scale. 

(2) Urban St. James - Johnathan and Menesheh had a blog theme that was parallel to our own, but focused on the urban area of St. James, Port-of-Spain. St. James, much like Chaguanas, is not recognized as a city, but can still be considered as an "urban area." They had posts that were similar to our own, for example the one about religion, where they examined the religious diversity of the area, illustrated through places of worship for Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike. We found that Chaguanas was very much like this, where there are places of worship for persons of all religions. This was a very refreshing post to read, as it provides new insights to the St. James area, to which we did not have previously. 

(3) Urban Life - Shivanie and Amy also had a blog with sub-themes similar to our own, including food, entertainment, and the administrative services. For instance, their post, "Food for long tiring days," touches on the globalization of Port-of-Spain, with respect to food places, where KFC was noticed to be majorly frequented, at all times of the day as it is open 24/7. This creates a parallel, to our point, of the dominance of foreign food outlets as opposed to that of the local. It indicates how foreign food brands are spreading throughout the urban areas of Trinidad. 

We hope you enjoy our blog as we have enjoyed doing it! We also hope it expands your knowledge on the urban area of Chaguanas, Trinidad.

Celine and Kristen :)

References

A Picture Of Chaguanas Main Road From The Uriah Butler Highway. 2015. Image. Accessed April 10. https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2238/2237138265_87c1315dd9.jpg.

Economic Development Board Trinidad & Tobago,. 2014. 'Transitioning Of Chaguanas From “Borough To City” Status - Economic Development Board Trinidad & Tobago'. http://edb.planning.gov.tt/edbcci-e-forum/2014/07/24/transitioning-chaguanas-borough-city-status/.

Wayow, Sue-Ann. 2012. 'Chaguanas Mayor Wants City Status'. Trinidad Express Newspapers. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Chaguanas_mayor_wants_city_status-175178381.html.

Wayow, Sue-Ann. 2014. 'Talks On Chaguanas City Status'. Trinidad Express Newspapers. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business/Talks-on-Chaguanas-city-status-267095051.html.

Wayow, Sue-Ann. 2014. 'Chaguanas Ready For City Status'. Trinidad Express Newpapers. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business-magazine/Chaguanas-ready-for-city-status-286042141.html.