The Run-Down

Taken by T'marah Forbes in the 6th April 2015.

The above picture shows the building that was formerly the San Fernando Fire Station. It is located in the city of San Fernando which stands as the second largest city in Trinidad. This building is located on Lady Hailes Avenue, in San Fernando, and as it stands, has been abandoned, and most likely been occupied by some interesting characters (remind you of anyone?) 

The above building may be a symbol of urban decay, albeit on a very small scale. Urban decay involves the deterioration of buildings and their surroundings in an area (Charles Sturt University, 2015). This can be as a consequence of changes in the economic structure of the city, or may be a indication of the socio-economic status of the area. This is also a similiar situation to what is happening in Port-of-Spain, which is the capital city of Trinidad. Port-of-Spain is said the be a 'dying city' (Doughty, 2014), with poverty and poor infrastructure being among some of the factors that are contributing to this phenomenon.  

According to the UNHabitat.org, Trinidad has developed slums and the like because of ongoing occurrences of urban decay. But, does one abandoned building falling into disrepair constitute urban decay? 

Taken by T'marah Forbes on the 6th, April, 2015.

The above photo shows the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) King's Wharf Water Trucking Facility. This building is located across the road from the abandoned fire station. Furthermore, if you look at the background of the first photograph, near the top left hand corner, is a glimpse of a seemingly high rise, new building. The building in the background is the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, which cost $750 million to construct (Ctntworld.com), and was opened on the 6th of February, 2014. 

The teaching hospital and the WASA facility are both surrounding the abandoned building. The building was abandoned in November 2012 after fire officers were disturbed by health and safety issues (Webb, 2013), which left persons in the surrounding area feeling vulnerable. There were common slum characteristics that occurred in this building, including poor quality in terms of durability, and non-adherence to buildings codes, which possibly led to the abandonment of the building. This building is an anomaly when compared to its surroundings, because it seems to have been built at quite a lower standard as compared to the other buildings. 

Also, most buildings around that abandoned building seems to be newly built. This can be a sign of the development of the San Fernando area, which seems to be occurring at a sporadic times and occurring without any set plan; pockets of development occurring. However, most of the buildings are still old buildings, but the fact that some are new and some are being refurbished and rebuilt means that development is happening. 

This building was chosen because of it being abandoned in an area where it felt out of place. 

References 

Charles Sturt University. (2015). HSC Online - Urban Dynamics. Hsc.csu.edu.au. Retrieved 10 April 2015, from http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/geography/urban/urban/4370/urban_change.htm

Ctntworld.com,. (2015). San Fernando Teaching Hospital opens. Retrieved 10 April 2015, from http://www.ctntworld.com/cnews2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8266:san-fernando-teaching-hospital-opens&catid=137&Itemid=707

Mirror.unhabitat.org,. (2015). UN-HABITAT.:. Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme | PSUP Countries | Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 10 April 2015, from http://mirror.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=11012&catid=592&typeid=79

Doughty, M. (2014). Port-of-Spain a dying city. Trinidad And Tobago Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-04-06/%E2%80%98port-spain-dying-city%E2%80%99

Webb, Y. (2013). Businesses on removal of fire station: Southern city exposed to danger. Trinidad And Tobago Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-07/businesses-removal-fire-station-southern-city-exposed-danger