T

wentieth century cities have created not only an attractive area for the ambitious young individual pursuing a career, or a central business area; it has also attracted a new and wild population- the vermin. Rising numbers in the population of urban areas has generated more waste material in a limited dumping space. Garbage in some areas, are collected twice for the week, leaving garbage to be stockpiled in local areas. Consequently, this attracts vermin in their numbers and different kinds. Cockroaches, rats, flies, fleas, even stray dogs and cats find meals in the communities’ refuse. These unwanted guests bring with them diseases of all sorts passing them to humans. In a previous blog post I mentioned my exploration of Port of Spain, me and my colleagues noticed many things that would invite vermin. Bins overflowing with garbage, and food items scattered about, perhaps from which a stray dog or cat made a meal. I just couldn’t help but wonder where are all the city corporation cleaners?

L

and reclamation is the processes involved in creating new land from oceans, riverbeds or lakes. It is also known as land fill (not to be confused with landfill). Cities occurring near the coastline (coastal cities) have employed this strategy to expand their cities. The Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre at Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, sits on reclaimed land. Such cities or buildings face threats every day because there is much negativity surrounding this concept; draining of wetlands results in habitat destruction and an imbalance in the ecosystem. In some areas land reclamation is not a legal practice due to environmental laws. Reclaimed land is also susceptible to soil liquefaction during earthquakes which would damage buildings and infrastructure. Additionally it (reclaimed land) is also susceptible to flooding during hurricanes and adverse weather systems. The picture shows an aerial view of an area of reclaimed land in our capital. It shows its vulnerability to the sea. 

                          http://www.udecott.com/images/uploads/invadersbay.jpg

E

xponential urban growth is having a profound negative effect on the urban population. People move into the city cause overcrowding within the area.  Overcrowding becomes a catalyst for diseases and infections as sanitation is compromised. More people existing in the city promote person to person disease transmission. Furthermore, international travel has made cities hubs for business and pleasure for tourists. This also causes the spread of diseases as tourists would bring new and foreign diseases. The pattern of settlement pattern in Trinidad makes it optimum for breakouts of diseases (clustered and lineated). The link takes you to Nairobi, Kenya, an example where the emergence of diseases in the city center has been the study for researchers:

http://www.zoonotic-diseases.org/home/research/urbanzoonoses.

T

he expansion of cities throughout the world has been considered an accomplishment by many countries. Cities boast of how developed or undeveloped a country may be and suggest how progressive the economies are. I mentioned in a previous post, about vagrancy and the homeless however forgot to mention that urbanization also destroys homes. That is destruction of the natural habitat of the flora and fauna. By expanding cities, encroachment into forested areas, hillsides, valleys and even sea areas and has resulted in trees being cut, the loss of habitats, ecosystems, breeding grounds. Consequently indigenous animals are becoming endangered and some even extinct. Here is some proof:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Otter-loses-his-way-227322831.html

U

rban heat island is the term used to describe metropolitan areas with significantly higher temperatures than its surrounding areas due to the effects of human activities. The main cause of this is the modifications of the environment, particularly land surfaces which store shortwave radiation. Heat is also generated by other means for instance vehicles, air conditioning coolers. The area is usually hotter than surrounding areas. The urban heat island causes environmental impacts such as an increased run off rate- thereby increasing the risk of floods; increase in pollutants like dust, smoke, ozone; a decrease in water vapor in the atmosphere because there is a reduction of plants. Furthermore it impacts on the microclimate of the area, hotter than the surrounding areas during the day and warmer at night.

          This is a phenomena occurring in both developed and developing cities. However the developed cities face more severe consequences as they span a larger area than the smaller developing cities. The more harsh consequences is smog which is a mixture of fog and smoke which traps other pollutants like dust particles and ‘hangs’ over urban areas. It is very toxic to humans and can result in sickness, shortened lifespan and death.

http://news.yahoo.com/latest-china-smog-emergency-shuts-city-11-million-055104682.html

Intense urban growth and expansion has lead to overcrowding and another dreadful phenomena-VAGRANCY. In Port of Spain, vagrancy is an issue which is steadily increasing at alarming rates. They are usually the consequences of dangerous drug abuse (cocaine and other narcotics). In my third blog post I made mention of the amounts that were observed in our capital and the disgust that a person would experience. Furthermore the vagrants may be mentally unstable and can spontaneously attack. The picture above shows a vagrant walking on the highway leading into the capital. The presence of the Beetham landfill in such close proximity to the capital is also a contributing factor for the amount of vagrants present. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,148645.html

The picture depicts a traffic pile up going into Ports of Spain. Just like many major cities of the world Port of Spain is not immune to the congestion that comes with urbanization. Commuters face this problem everyday as they make their journey into the capital for work, school, business or pleasure. This traffic is the result of the vast amounts of vehicles from across the island coming into the capital. Also the narrow roadways may not be able to accommodate number of cars moving in and out. Added to this, the amount of traffic lights should be increased to regulate the flow.

Traffic congestion, pile up, whatever it may be called is a major problem in even the so called first world cities and not just confined to our small island city. Check this out: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/05/04/worst-traffic-cities/2127661/