Reflection/conclusion and GEOG 2016 - course colleagues' blog reviw

Port of Spain skyline

Socio-cultural heterogeneity is a very defining characteristic of urban communities. Urban communities are characterized by diverse peoples, races and cultures. There is great variety with regard to the food habits, dress habits, living conditions, religious beliefs, cultural outlook, customs and traditions of the urban dwellers, all of which have all been used here to showcase the urban side of St. James. Through this blog, St. James is meant to look like an increasingly developed urban area with a large emphasis on culture, entrepreneurship and socialization. This blog has been a tremendous learning experience. As we progressed in our study we found that the functions and various aspects of St. James expanded far beyond what we see on the surface.

Course colleagues' work:

Kristen and Celine gave a very informative view of the urban diversity in Chaguanas. It is seen that Chaguanas exhibits very similar aspects and functions to that of St. James such as entertainment, finance and education. It is very different in the aspects of agriculture and industry as St .James does not offer these functions. Chaguanas does not have a city status whereas St. James is considered as part of the Capital (district). Their blog was an overall good read and provided an re-enforcing view of the urban aspects of Chaguanas both known and unknown. It also may help persons to further understand the reasons behind the urban formations in Trinidad.

Hayden, Mala and Nakita had a very invigorating blog on the entertainment in Trinidad and Tobago. It gives a very unique perspective of many of the social activities that take place in the urban areas. Much of these activities in our opinion is regularly overlooked but thanks to this blog we were able to gain a better understanding of these activities and their causes as well their importance to culture. Our blog has also highlighted similar urban entertainment and culture. Therefore it is very relatable to us and may give a better understanding to the socio-cultural aspects of St. James and the processes behind it.

Paulette and Jonathan's blog about integrating disabilities had a very unusual yet interesting topic. Disabilities were highlighted as an important issue in urban areas. The methods to incorporate persons with disabilities were also investigated. Processes such as social exclusion were explained in depth. This was also mentioned in our blog but in a different context. Overall this blog was very informative about the issue at hand and what could be done to improve the situation but we found it somewhat monotonous at times. From a geographers view, we thought it exhibited an accurate representation of space and place.