The Private Hospital

Taken February 16th, by T'marah Forbes

Urbanization simply refers to the movement of persons from rural areas to urban areas, and urbanization is occurring all over the world and this is reflective of the worldwide shift from agriculture to services and technology. Howard (1996) predicts that there will be 52% of the population living in urban areas at the turn of the next century. 

With an increasing number of persons living in urban areas, there is also an increase in competition for services and resources. This is where privatization can occur. The above photograph is of the Gulf View Medical Centre, located in San Fernando. It's location is very significant, as it is located across the street from Gulf City Mall, and is within Gulf View, which is an area that is known to be for upper and middle class persons. It is very reminiscent of the American Horror Story : Asylum building, which also housed ill persons on the show. 

Privatization can occur for a myriad of reasons; among these are dissatisfaction with public services, and overall better performance of providers of private services, and competition (Albreht, 2009). With larger amounts of people moving into urban areas, there is an increase on competition, and as such, privatization occurs. However, this service is only available to persons who are able to afford it, and because of this, privatization is seen as a process that may cause healthcare for the population to become more unequal than before (Price, 1988). 

With this photo, we wanted to convey one possible consequence of urbanization. We also wanted to convey how integrated this privatization can be, as this particular hospital is in the middle of the city, and not in the fringes, etc. It is located opposite to a mall, which is definitely very integrated.   

References :
Albreht, T. (2009). Privatization processes in health care in Europe--a move in the right direction, a 'trendy' option, or a step back?. The European Journal Of Public Health, 19(5), 448-450. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckp146

Howard, G. (1996). Urbanisation, sanitation and environmental health. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

Price, M. (1988). The consequences of health service privatisation for equality and equity in health care in South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 27(7), 703-716. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(87)90330-3

The Hotel

                                                             Taken Saturday 28th, February by Ariel Mahabirsingh

The picture above illustrates the Hyatt hotel located in downtown Port-of-Spain. It is one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels available in Trinidad, let's just hope it's not got a Room 1408! It is a true representation of the urban lifestyle as Port-of - Spain is the capital and also the largest city in Trinidad with over 66,000 people. It is the most populated city as much of the people not only live here but also commute in and out of the area on a daily basis for work and leisure purposes.

 It is a newly designed structure that is located along the Waterfront and right in the centre of the administrative area. The colour of this set of buildings is in conjunction with the ocean nearby, this is explained by the "Blue Urbanism" theory (Beatley, 2010) where he states that while cities aim at the green initiative, they must also integrate the marine environments into the modelling of urban lifestyles. It is seen from the picture below that the hotel depicts urban design due to the tall modern complexity of the building. Its location is significant as it plays a role in the development of the major city by contributing to revenue generated from employees, to tourists and locals.

 Taken Saturday 28th, February by Ariel Mahabirsingh

According to Snak 2003, the development of the tourism sector is conditioned by the existence of  structures designed to facilitate guests.This is evident here as Hyatt along with several other hotels are located within the city to promote tourism and development. Its sophisticated and classic urban design aids with its popularity as it comprises of a restaurant, bar, pool and gym that demonstrate the urban lifestyle. 

With these photos, we wanted to convey the idea of the modern and contemporary design of hotels and show how their location plays a major role in the re-structuring of cities.

References:

Bareford, K. (2014). Blue Urbanism: Exploring Connections Between Cities & Oceans , by Timothy Beatley. Journal Of The American Planning Association, 80(4), 447-448. 

Rahovan, A. (2012). The individualization of the hotel as tourist attraction in the urban area of Transylvania. Fg, XI(Suppl. 1), 59-65. 

The Mall

Taken February 16th, 2015 by T'marah Forbes

"Let's go to the mall!" - Robin Sparkles (How I Met Your Mother)

The building depicted above represents a symbol of the contemporary lifestyle as it stands within the core of the the urban center, Gulf View, located in the major city of San Fernando. San Fernando is the second largest city in Trinidad (Triniview, 2015). Urbanization is demonstrated here as the the the Gulf City Mall is one of the largest and most attractive shopping centers in the country and its location and accessibility promotes its continuous development. According to Xu, 2001, there is an inherent correlation between the growth and sustenance of a shopping centre and its proximity to an urbanized area. This is reflective of the lifestyle of persons living within this urban centre. 

Shopping centres emerged with the development of urban areas as a sign of convenience and entertainment, and also also with a rise in technology (Henderson, 1997). This technology came in the form of air conditioning, lighting and elevators, which now allow sprawling areas of and that need not have windows to the outside. 

Taken February 16th, 2015 by T'marah Forbes : Side view of Gulf City Mall

This building was chosen due to the innovative architecture on the outside with its three levels of  comfort and design on the inside. It provides a variety of shopping ranging from clothing, technology and book stores to fast food and dessert outlets. The compound also houses a multi-level car pack that acts as an advantage to facilitate the increasing amount of daily customers. On the left of the building there is the Ruby Tuesday restaurant while on the right, there is the Carnival City Ultra Lounge.These two places contribute to social culture and the culture of consumption (Zukin, 1998) that this entire complex caters to. 

Taken February 16th, 2015 by T'marah Forbes : Rear View of Gulf City Mall

With this particular photo, we wanted to convey or show the modernity or a contemporary aspect of urban buildings. This building is a textbook example of urbanization, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. 

References :
Fryman, P., Thomas, C., & Bays, C. (2006). Slap Bet. In How I Met Your Mother. Los Angeles: CBS.

Xu, W. A. N. G. (2001). Suburbanization and the Rise of Shopping Mall in Urban America [J]. Journal of Historical Science, 2, 018.

Triniview.com,. (2015). TriniView.com - Articles - A Brief History of San Fernando. Retrieved 25 February 2015, from http://www.triniview.com/san_fernando/040507.html

Henderson, D. (1997). Urbanization of rural America. Commack, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers.

Zukin, Sharon. "Urban lifestyles: diversity and standardisation in spaces of consumption." Urban studies 35, no. 5-6 (1998): 825-839.