"Get in loser, we're going shopping".
The picture above is of Price Plaza, which is a shopping centre that is an illustration or a symbol of the contemporary lifestyle as it stands within the core of the urban centre of Chaguanas. Chaguanas was named a borough in 1990. However, due to its rapid expansion over the years, plans are being implemented toward achieving city status (Wayow, 2014). Urbanization is depicted here as Price Plaza is one of the largest, most recently developed shopping centres within the Chaguanas area. Its location along the Solomon Hochoy Highway provides easy access to consumers along with its centred location between north and south Trinidad.
Shopping centres have become a recent trend in urban cities mainly due to the increased demand by consumers as they facilitate shopping, leisurely and entertainment services. As seen from the pictures above, Price Plaza provides a variety of stores, restaurants including Pizza Hut and TGI Fridays as well as the Pricesmart shopping centre. Its large and spacious car park that runs from the northern end to the southern end of the complex also aids with accessibility for consumers.
According to Ferrell 2005, people who live in and around urban areas tend to spend longer periods of time at these shopping plazas as they are located in areas of high accessibility and efficient road networks. As such, this set of buildings was chosen due to its significance to the borough of Chaguanas as it contributes to its social, economic and cultural development.
Price Plaza is one of a few sprawling shopping complexes that have been developed in Trinidad, and are continuing to be developed in Trinidad. Another example of the would be Grand Bazaar, a shopping centre aptly called "The City of Grand Bazaar", which is located in Valsayn. There is also the development of another branch of PriceSmart, the Pricesmart Complex in La Romaine. This is indicative of a very prominent shift in Trinidad to consumerism, which is the concept that speaks to persons in a society who seek to acquire things they don't really need (Stearns, 2001). This begets the question, are all these shopping complexes really needed?
This culture of consumerism is also seen as one that is foreign, that is influenced by the Western world. It is one which does not originate in the Caribbean, but is quickly becoming part of 'Trini' culture as the development of Trinidad seeks to mimic Western development. This is seen with the development of many American fast food outlets that have been cropping up in Trinidad, such as McDonald's and Chuck E. Cheese. This is also seen in the spending of Trinbagonians, who spent over 1 billion USD between the years 2013-2014 (Ramdass, 2014).
Thus, this Plaza can be a symbol of our development, but also our very apparent shift to Western culture and living.
References
Ramdass, A. (2014). $hopaholics. Trinidad Express Newspapers. Retrieved from http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Shipping-companies-overwhelmed-286431051.html
Sciencedirect.com,. (2015). Shopping online and/or in-store? A structural equation model of the relationships between e-shopping and in-store shopping. Retrieved 7 April 2015, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856406000267
Stearns, P. (2001). Consumerism in world history. New York: Routledge.
Trinidad Express Newspaper,. (2015). Talks on Chaguanas city status. Retrieved 7 April 2015, from http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business/Talks-on-Chaguanas-city-status-267095051.html
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