INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

There are two major cities in Trinidad which includes Port of Spain and San Fernando. Port of Spain is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located on the Gulf of Paria, on the Northwest coast of the island. The city has a municipal population of 36,963. Within the last decade the city of Port of Spain has undergone a vast amount of developing which includes the establishment of many new high raised buildings and the rebuilding of old deteriorating ones. In these ever-changing zones there is intense competition for space resulting in a lack of room for drastic expansion. This act of “refurbishing” the city is known as Gentrification.

According to Dictionary.com, Gentrification is the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses. These lower income families and small businesses are “pushed” to the outskirts of the city suffering unemployment and social deprivation and the conditions gets worse when the situation continues to go downhill becoming the poorest part of the city and can then be termed the “urban ghetto.”

With respect to this research, the focus is on the gate way into the dynamic capital city, Port of Spain. The area of study is along the Wrightson Road which is the main entrance into the “heart” of the city, linking the Beetham Highway and the Audrey Jeffers Highway via down town Port of Spain.

Throughout this page, problems, challenges, complaints and misfortunes would be highlighted from this said area, which ranges from Sea Lots to the start of the Audrey Jeffers Highway.

 

Satellite image showing area of study