Financial Aspect

photo 1: showing RBC Royal Bank on the corner of Bournes Road and the Western Main Road early morning on  a weekday. 

photo 2: showing Scotiabank on the Western Main Road. Opposite to this bank there is a roti shop. This shows a very mixed land use.

photo 3: showing CLICO, another financial institution along the Western Main road in St. James

There was a very serious financial crisis that occurred recently with CLICO in which the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had to bail out this company. Details can be seen in the Newsday reference below.

These three financial institutions are each one of many branches of its kind across the country. They are shown here in order to depict the urban sprawl of Port of Spain. Financial and corporate institutions are characteristic of urban areas and cities. One can therefore say that this assimilation zone of St. James is adopting a major urban characteristic from the capital i.e. a financial sector. this is because St. James was once only residential but now it exhibits financial functions to its residents.

The Central Business District (CBD) is usually found in the city centre and contains major shops, government buildings and headquarters of financial services. Although St. James is not considered a part of the CBD, it emulates certain characteristics of one such as the financial institutions that are present. If one were to conceptualize St. James as its own little city, one may say that the Main Road would be considered the CBD due to (in part) the existence of these institutions. Banks are a very import part of the national and communal economy as they promote investment and therefore development thus creating more urbanization!

References:

Broek, Jan O. M. 1953. 'THE FUNCTIONS OF URBAN AREAS'. The Professional Geographer 5 (6): 2-5. doi:10.1111/j.0033-0124.1953.056_2.x.

Newsday,. 2015. 'Following Is A Timeline Of The Development Of The Financial Crisis Facing CL Financial'. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,94786.html.

Skoool.ie,. 2015. 'Skoool.Ie :: Homework Zone'. http://www.skoool.ie/skoool/homeworkzone.asp?id=1910.

Society, National, and National Society. 2015. 'Urban Area'. Education.Nationalgeographic.Com. http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/urban-area/?ar_a=1.