Reflections

the following are some comments on three of our colleagues blogs that we found interesting.

Urban Form and Culture  captured our interest as it share similarities to the Culture in Urban entertainment. Reading the article under the title of Integrating Disabilities Through Infrastructure brought awareness to some of the societal degradation that people with disabilities may face. Infrastructure is also linked to entertainment, as buildings and public spaces are created with architectural designs for our enjoyment and entertainment. Street entertainment can be considered an adopted culture and is vastly enjoyed by the majority of citizens, but as our colleagues stated there is no specific structure allocated for people with a disability to take part in activities that relates to it. It is definitely something that deserves consideration by the government authorities.

The blog on Urban Diversity in Chaguanas allowed for the insight of entertainment within that area via their post titled YOUNG AND HUNGRY . They incorporated globalization as the major influence for the diverse selection of food within the area, which can be linked directly to entertainment in Port of Spain, as these two areas may share this similarities. It allowed for the acculturation of local cuisine and western cuisine, and the adaptation of the western palette by Trinidadians as suggested by the bloggers.  Another blog titled A CARIBBEAN GROVE  by the same authors of the later, reflected upon several services offered to the people were also mentioned as means of entertainment such as the cinemas and malls. 

The blog URBAN ST JAMES, was simple and well designed it reviewed the various activities and land usage within one of the most vibrant and active fringe areas of Port of Spain. It showed activities in time and space and the effects of globalization on local food culture. The blog captured many aspects or elements that affect urban systems such as urban sprawl, culture, social interactions, food culture, Religion and carnival to name a few.  What impressed me with this effort is the effective use of photos to bring across their ideas.  This made the posts easier to read and the delivery of the topics was very effective.  

Although we commented on only three blogs our group found many of the others were very interesting. At first for our group the idea of creating a blog seemed very challenging. however with persistence our task became a reality. Blogging is a skill that has become a fundamental component of social networking and a way to disseminate information. Many established organizations apart from a website also utilize blogs to personalize their customers online experience and share information in an informal way, they are also another way to create an individual presence on the web. Over the past couple of weeks this assignment has challenged our group creative skills and has given us exposure and experience to a new digital communication skill.       

 

Port of Spain Street Entertainment Culture

                                On the Streets of Port of Spain, Street Entertainment

Street entertainment in Port of Spain really comes alive mainly at night. Apart from the annual carnival celebrations through the streets of Port of Spain there is the epic night life along Ariapita Avenue. Street entertainment accounts for at least fifty percent of the entertainments that takes place within the urban area. It provides employment opportunities for persons who are interested in the tourism and hospitality industry; provide opportunities for business development and growth within the entertainment industry and definitely has social and economic values to its stakeholders. I have experienced the night life within this area and can safely blog about it. As for reflecting on course work or text notes is difficult, because with entertainment there is no limit to what people enjoy. Within the urban space entertainment can be derived from walking along the streets viewing the high rise buildings or from jogging in the parks. Entertainment as defined by the Oxford dictionary simply states “it’s the action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment or an event, performance or activity designed to entertain others. For example at the  Savannah in Port of Spain there are joggers that uses the pedestrian walking for jogging with peers or for an evening stroll.  Apart from the joggers around the Savannah there are coconut and snow cone vendors, taking the time to enjoy a cold coconut cut on the spot or an icy treat of snow cone within the business of the city area, allows you to experience the enjoyment of the item and viewing the surrounding area and some of the most architectural designed buildings.  

During the day Ariapita Avenue seems more commercially influenced, by night the street comes alive with the open doors of restaurants that are built along the road. By Thursday night into the weekend the street is filled with the knocking of glasses cheering with friends and colleagues at lounges and restaurants that have open air decks. This gives customers the opportunity to have the option of being seated outside to view and experience the ambiance of the open concept atmosphere.  From these decks miles of Ariapita Avenue can be seen.

Street Food entertainment is a major attraction to visitors on the avenue including both locals and foreigners. The mixture and variety of cuisine available on the streets is definitely associated with the mixture of culture throughout Trinidad. There is Indian, creole, Mexican, Syrian, Chinese, Asian, American cuisine among the mouthwatering array food. After an upbeat night of clubbing/partying venturing to the avenue is the perfect after party lime to indulge in hot corn soup or perfectly stuffed and wrapped gyros, if not there is always the option of getting a hot bowl of wanton soup or chicken corn soup at the Asian restaurant Me Asia.

Along the street of the Avenue there are tricycle tours of the area and is quite unique to any urban area in Trinidad, you pay 20 dollars for a tour. Once on the street you can 

hear the different beats of music giving a beat to Ariapita Avenue, the street pavements are jamming with crowds of people dancing and enjoying themselves, in Trinidad they call it “painting the town red”. 

                 Food Entertainment on the Street

Like international entertainment we have adopted the Wine and Food Festival that takes place throughout Port of Spain based on the availability of a hosting arena. In 2014 the food Festival was held at Woodbrook Youth Facility and is usually open airs with a couple of hoisted tents to accommodate the number of chefs that is eagerly waiting the event, not to mention the huge crowd that is anticipating. This event brings awareness to food tourism. 

Entertainment on City Shape and Form

This post seeks to investigate the relationship between entertainment on the shape and form of the city of Port of Spain.

Two pictures above showing the general grid structure and road network of the city of Port of Spain. shows how the shape of the city is akin to the adjacent seafront and the position of the green spaces in comparison to the built environment creating a central artery across the heart of the city.   

The growth and development of any city will be dependent on many variables which can range from economic, social, cultural, environmental and political forces.  These forces can be perpetuated through organic unplanned or artificial planned growth.  The shape and form of cites is always evolving and changing as it response to these various variables. 

Urban form constitutes the patterns, designs, shapes and layout of the various structures that create the urban environment.  This can be visually expressed in town plans, building forms, street layouts and land use patterns. So how can entertainment affect this? 

Cites are a construct of tangible and intangible elements some which can be quantified and functional while others are unmeasurable and based on human values and perceptions. As a city such as Port of Spain develops over time, apart from the structural elements that are created, as mentioned before its design and shape can be determined based on social parameters such as the need to express and embody the culture and life styles of those who interact with it through art, leisure and entertainment in its physical form.

Urban areas serve a functional purpose for example Port of Spain location close to the sea facilitated merchant trade and commerce. This was advantageous during the period of colonialism where unorganized capitalism dominated however as industrialization progressed globally it also affected the city scape and land use patterns, today in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world the transition from industrial to postindustrial is also taking its effect on the shape and form of the city. This can be seen on the impact of commercial and private capital on land utilization as capital seeks to exploit vulnerable zones at the expense of urban heritage and culture, example Greyfriars church.   This progression through time left its impact on the shape and form of the urban environment also. So as economic transition occurred it also impacted on how entertainment activities unfolded throughout the city so its form was and is still dependent on the culture and the attitude of the inhabitants which is visibly expressed in our social interactions.  As expressed by Jane Jacobs urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice. All these elements should come together to ideally produce a livable city with entertainment at the heart of the urban construct.

Our vibrant and diverse culture and the various forms of entertainment used to express this have impacted on the form of Port of Spain. Most of the green areas with the largest Queens Park Savannah and the preservation of the many surrounding colonial historical buildings are primarily to serve for tourism, arts, culture and entertainment. Woodford square has a rich history which is beyond this post however one event which shows the importance of this site as an area for social integration and entertainment occurred after the 1808 fire where the rebuilding of the Trinity Cathedral within the square caused such a public outcry that it had to be stopped by the governor at the time (see link below). As described in the Encyclopedia Britannica the geometric patterning of the city streets into distinctive blocks forming a grid pattern with streets parallel to each other allows for easy access and pedestrian flows a feature which is taken advantage of during the many street festivals and parades such as carnival a feature which epitomizes the Jane Jacob ideology. 

overhead view of Queens Park Savannah largest open space in city in relation to surrounding buildings showing how it is part of the urban form. 

    

As with many urban areas a combination of developmental approaches are used to maintain a sense of harmony, equilibrium and controlled growth are required to meet the various needs of government, public and private interests in a cordial and collaborative way. The Port of Spain Regional Cooperation in its overall long term design for the city has developed a frame work document through Public Private consultation outlining their and by extension the government’s holistic plans for the economic, environmental and social rehabilitation of the city (see link below). One of the areas of the report is the creation of as the report says an Inclusive city through the design and enhancing of public spaces also the creation of more green open spaces and the cities conversion into a cultural hub. It also highlighted the intent to build social infrastructure and community facilities in specific areas within the city scape.  This confirms the fact that whatever the future shape and form of the city that entertainment will be an integral component of the design.

We end this post with a video showing an aerial view of the western side of Port of Spain. it gives an idea of the shape and form of the built environment and the recently developed skyline, please note the green areas in particular the Queens Park Savannah in the background and the gridded shape of the city blocks.    

   

Links:

History of Port of Spain: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/470934/Port-of-Spain

History of Woodford square: https://thinkinginsomniac.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/woodford-square-in-port-of-spain-trinidad-negative/

Port of Spain Regional Cooperation Draft Development Plan: http://www.localgov.gov.tt/~/media/Resource%20Library/Spatial%20Development%20Plans%20Per%20Corporation/Port%20of%20Spain%20City%20Corporation%20Spatial%20Development%20Plan.ashx

Reference:

“Port of Spain National Capital of Trinidad and Tobago." Encyclopædia Britannica. April 24, 2014. Accessed April 9, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/470934/Port-of-Spain.

Entertainment in Port of Spain vs San Fernando

Entertainment in Port of Spain VS San Fernando 

                                       

The View of the San Fernando From San Fernando Hills 

Port of Spain and San Fernando are both characterized as cities in Trinidad and Tobago. Through time, clubs, bars, casinos, restaurants, and other things considered as entertainment has developed along some of the most popular streets increasing the amount of land use that takes place within the urban center thus demanding intervention within the realms of urban planning and development. Bannerjee 2001 “Future of the Public Space” suggested that …shopping malls, corporate plazas, arcades, galleries and many such contrived themed settings create more of an illusion of public spaces from which the uncertainties of everyday life are carefully edited out (pg.5).He also mentioned the “analogous city” put forth by Trevor Boddy, which suggest that the poor and undesirables are kept out of the public space. In comparison to entertainment within the public space there are public areas that are open to all citizens whereas the more private public spaces (privatization of public spaces) come with a cost of entry and may attract a particular social group. Further into this debate in comparing the both cities we will be able to acknowledge the similarities and differences with urban entertainment.

Panoramic View of Port of Spain From Fort George

Entertainment within the urban area does not only involve up beat and vibrancy of the night life or dining at fine restaurants, there is also the natural aspects to entertainment and enjoyment of the natural landscape. From the hill tops, to the clubs, to the casinos, football matches, cricket matches, restaurants, street food/entertainment, you name it, we got it all. Port of Spain and San Fernando may differ in certain aspects, but entertainment exist in both cities and may vary but it’s all for the enjoyment and pleasure of citizens. Port of Spain urban entertainment activities range from exhibition entertainment to live entertainment to street entertainment. In comparison with other region or countries it ranges from day too night entertainment and are for both children and adults.

DAY ENTERTAINMENT IN THE CITY

National Museum Service Royal Victoria Institute 

Exhibition entertainment in POS consists of museum displays at the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago. The National Museum were established by the Royal Victorian Institute in 1892 and have a collection of over 10,000 items and are displayed in seven of the major galleries; Art, Social history, Natural history, Economic History, Petroleum and Geology. At this institution one can experience the efforts that were placed into preservation and conversation of the artifacts that adorn the walls and shelves. Some of the monuments stored are in different sizes of glass cases allowing the public to view the item on the inside, whereas the marvelous and picturesque paintings and covered in amazing hues of colors that seem to add character to the room. These are among many other things that you can view at the museum. The location of the museum allows for interested persons to have easy access to it as it is located around the Savanna and cannot be missed by its huge structure and architectural design which is definitely a design of the 80’s but is preserved in the present. It is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and gives an insight to the Victorian and Dutch influence to its design. As for San Fernando you may not find a National Museum but there are certainly art exhibitions on a smaller scale and the pieces are usually for sale. http://www.nmag.gov.tt/content/national-museum-trinidad-tobago-0  

Port of Spain and San Fernando seems to share one particular similarity via the highest points within the city. In Port of Spain the highest point is known as Fort George and in San Fernando the highest point is called San-Fernando Hills. Fort George has a lot of historical components attached to its existences and its popularity throughout Trinidad. Just as San Fernando Hills it is a major adventurous tourist attraction. This area was built in the 1804 during the term of the British Governor Sir Thomas Hislop. This area was one of the main defensive areas in Port of Spain. During that time cannon ball were loaded into the cannons and shot out at sea. Currently here is a little historical chamber that treasures the artifacts of the historical aspects of Fort George. The ambience is as tranquil as it can get on the highest point, where the hassle and bustle of the city seems to be just a spec in the distance as it freezes time and allows you to experience the surreal scenery and intake the crisp high altitude air. Compared to San Fernando Hills there are no ceremonies and parties but it’s the perfect place for photos and spending quality time with your loved ones. Dayne Reece a blogger also posted his experience visiting Fort George. http://daynereece.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-george.html?fb_action_ids=10155200877800467&fb_action_types=og.shares

San-Fernando hill was historically known as Naparima Hills and is used for recreational entertainment, reception area for outdoor weddings and indoors and high end parties, family reunions and high school reunions. During each season throughout the years there are activities that are held for the participation of the surrounding population, there is also the adoring of the hills for Diwali and Christmas by the lighting of an ornament to represent the occasion. This highlights the hills for miles beyond and can be seen from areas surround the San- Fernando Hills.

Visiting the zoo: A little boy is patiently awaiting for his ticket
to enter the zoo to view the two most recent addition of Bengal
baby cubs. 

The Emperor Valley Zoo is another main attraction into Port of Spain. Its location allows for it to be easily accessible from the Lady Young or for those who are familiar with the streets of Port of Spain will find other routes for their convenience. Adjacent to the Emperor Valley Zoo is the Royal Botanic Gardens. After a long walk in the zoo one can venture to this garden atmosphere for a bit of relaxation and for lunch with their family or love ones.

Apart from a visit to the Museum, zoo, or Fort George there is the always a number of sports entertainment activities that takes place at the Queen Park Oval, Hasely Crawford Stadium and at the Savannah. The Queens park oval attracts mainly the national and international cricket matches whereas the Hasely Crawford attracts Football. These sporting activities vary with time and can be held during the day or at night. The Savannah is used for sporting activities for children and practice matches for football players around the area and for exercise activities. There is also the grand kite flying competition that takes place during Easter.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/entertainment/2015-03-03/festival-music-students

In the city of San-Fernando sporting activities are limited to local and regional, Skinners Park allow for the residents of the southern hemisphere to have access for recreational purposes. Adjacent to the park is SAPA (Southern Academy for the Performing Arts) and both facilities are used throughout the year for entertainment purposes, such as comedy festivals, local singing concerts and other local competitions.

Food is a dominant part of our culture. Fine dining during the day are among one of the “brain cooler” away from work on lunch breaks at the many restaurants and lounges in Port of Spain. The Cuisine in the urban area have a vast selection of mouth waters dishes that can take you across the world only to realize that it is influences by the mixture of culture and races within our rainbow country. There is a selection of local foods from the local restaurants; paleu, calallo, provisions, stew and curried dishes just to name a few. There is also the international cuisine that can be bought from the fine dining restaurants such as Texas de Brazil, More Vino, The Waterfront Restaurant, Rassams, and Golden Bell Korean Restaurant among many others. Some of the international restaurants have been influenced by the migration of people from other countries to Trinidad with the venture of establishing businesses within the entertainment sector, most of which were successful. Even though it’s a part of entertainment during the day, fine dining have seem to draw a larger portion of the population during weekends and at night and is a booming industry in Trinidad as the city never sleeps at night. In San Fernando the most recent and very popular fine dining restaurant is Krave.

NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

Street entertainments at night seem to be a thing of the present and a trend for “limers” and entertainment seekers. Certainly an influence of modern times as entertainment has become diversified throughout the years. Street entertainment is mostly popular on Aripita Avenue and in the Woodbrook area, whereas the later are ranked as an area for high income earners. The Avenue comes to life at night with many street vendors and lounges that made accommodation for their customer’s as close to the street as possible. Among night entertainments, journeying to the Movies or Cinema have always been among the most popular, from outdoor open air screens to the more modern indoor cozy cinemas such as Movie Town and Digicel IMAX. Even though common during the day viewing a movie at night just seems to be the prefect entertainment selection for relaxation.

New development for entertainment is taking a new direction in the area of San Fernando on entrance to the city in the vicinity of the Tarouba Link Road, with the development of South Park Caribbean Cinemas 10. Recently opened for southerners, it is the latest entertainment center that comprises ten auditoriums, stadium seating for 1000 people, giants screens four with 3D technology, an arcade game room, two party rooms and a concession and deli café. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business/Sando-gets-cineplex-271471861.html

Ten minutes away there is the development of the second entertainment project by the Movie Town Management, creating competition at adding to the development of the adjacent areas to the city, bringing forth urban land use theories and practices. These projects have been influenced by the growing population in the south region of Trinidad creating employment opportunities and growth and development of the area. This increases the value of land and empty spaces that surrounds the city.     

 Theater entertainment which includes drama shows based on local life and comedy festivals have seem to grow and is one of the many events that the locals look forward to. Not quite internationally publicized and advertised but the market for genres in local drama have seemed to be drawing a lot of local actors. A major producer of these shows is Randy Glasgow Productions and is creating avenues for development and growth. These shows are usually held at the National Academy For the performing Arts and Queens Hall in Port of Spain. Whereas in San Fernando its held at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts and at the Naparima Bowl. 

Casinos are popular gambling joints from around the world, both in Port of Spain and San Fernando several can be found and are visited by many high end income earners to medium income earners. It’s an entertainment that one can get addicted to and becomes part of a regime. Casablanca, Players on the Avenue, Ma Pau are some of the casinos in Port of Spain, in San Fernando there is also Ma Pau one of the most popular, Club Monte Carlo and Club Regal. For those who are seeking a more upbeat and party vibes entertainment usually venture to find the best of the night clubs that plays a variety of the local Soca and Chutney music with a mixture of international songs. Clubs are usually at its peak of explosion around 11 pm until 3-4 am the next morning. Trinidad is one of the best places to experience a social life with an epic party atmosphere. Club entertainment became a part of the urban lifestyle and culture as it varies to the rural areas with small scale bars for small gathering and “hang out spots” and is considered to be less casual than the city. The club in the Port of Spain area attracts citizens from around the country who wants to experience the culture of night life. Hence the cost of food and drinks are very pricey when compared to night life entertainment at clubs in the city of San-Fernando. It brings people of different races and cultural background together for enjoyment purposes.

In conclusion entertainment within the city take the form of my activities more so than what have been described in the blog above. After describing entertainment on both cities we can conclude that there are more similarities than differences. Where both places attract people from surrounding areas and even further. Access to some entertainment centers are based on gross income and one’s financial ability to afford such. Social status and ranks in society influences social stratification even when it comes to entertainment and are at a high percentage in the city. One particular example is at a night club in Port of Spain, is segmented into different levels according to what people can afford. Whereas in “free” public spaces, income, races, religion does not matter, it’s accessible to all citizens for relaxation and enjoy.

Other Urban entertainment includes:

Ø  the national waterfront

Ø  Party Cruises (both Port of Spain and most recently at San Fernando King’s Warf)

Ø  Usage of Public parks for entertainment by children and adults.

Ø  Street entertainment; to be discussed in another post.

Ø  Shopping/window shopping

Triggers of Urbanization on Entertainment

This post seeks to understand and quantify the effects of the triggers of urban growth on entertainment.  But before we start, what do we mean by triggers of urbanization? These are the processes that initiate or act as a catalyst to spur the concentration of activities that creates the physical and perceived urban environment. Consider the triggers as a force that releases, propels, shapes, molds and helps to perpetuate urban growth.

          So there are basically seven triggers: Environmental, Economic, Political, Social, Cultural, Technological and Demographic. Each affects urban growth in its own unique way, however they do not operate in isolation, they are interlinked as one force can accelerate another. 

Structures within the city that are iconic with the different facets of entertainment, all have been developed and preserved through some interaction between public private partnerships, they are a combination of the cities heritage and postmodern ideology all within  the states intent to turn Port of Spain into a Cultural and entertainment hub of the Caribbean.  

The Economic trigger has the most effect on urbanization, varying economic phases in time from lazier fare to unorganized capitalist systems. All have concentrated activity in and around the urban realm. As mentioned before in earlier posts entertainment has evolved into a formal industry and contributes to economic growth. Through public private partnerships this industry has been targeted as a means of diversifying and tapping into the natural human energies to create economic gain. Entertainment is now considered by stakeholders as one of the pillars of sustainable growth which is being organized, and manufactured to take advantage of the creative human capital. Just as in the contemporary space our economies are geared towards a postmodern knowledge based economic systems to concentrate in niche markets the creative intellectual industry seeks to produce a presence as a formidable contributor to economic growth and development. All this has been concentrated in the urban space as it has the various systems and structures to take advantage of this opportunity. We can consider entertainment as a specialized subset of overall economic system.

Technology, the use of telecommunications, multimedia, Internet and the conglomeration of mass media creates an interconnected world. In the entertainment realm developments such as satellite communication, global cinema, music industry and the ability to access these systems almost instantaneously via mobile devices which have penetrated all levels of society have propelled entertainment to new levels. Our cellphone culture tied with social media have created a new wave and form of entertainment this accessibility and need to be always connected is used as a marketing tool, access to free internet (Wi-Fi) in many shopping malls and other places of high human traffic. Today’s technology has created entertainment at different scales from the micro scale the ability to capture informal events and share it to other persons and to stay interconnected with each other across time and space to the use of technology to broadcast carnival and it subsidiary events which are concentrated in the city to viewers beyond our national boundaries in real time.

Demography, this refers to the characteristics of the urban population and their influence and effects on urban change. Entertainment caters to a diverse range of ages, sex, gender and races that converge in the urban realm. This creates spatial variations in the location of structures that facilitate entertainment each catering for a specific niche from the retires converging on Woodford square to socialize and talk about current affairs to the modernist clubs and bars of Ariapita Avenue for the younger population.

Politics, cities reflect the political ideology of their society (Pacione, 2005) this implies that the city shape, design and form is influenced by the politics of the day. If we look through history many of the green open spaces in Port of Spain where preserved and able to persist through time due to the direct intervention of the various political powers examples would be Woodford square, Brian Lara Promenade and Queens park Savannah. Politics can also influence the function and design of the built environment, for example in Port of Spain governments desire to promote the city as a center for the arts and culture have designed facilities to perpetuate this like NAPA and the national library center.

Brian Lara Promenade East: pictures showing past and present views, these two pictures confirms that the general area has not changed over the many years of the cities existence. 

Society and Culture these two forces are interrelated as our culture will have a direct impact on societal values. Port of Spain is a city that caters for a diverse population. Various societal values will impact on the functionality of the city, the growing professional class of the postmodern era has impacted on the shape and form of the city and the type of entertainment they demand. The growth of sub urbanism and gated life style is a brand of living that requires specially built multifunctional structures to perpetuate this lifestyle. Even carnival is being shifted away from the traditional city center because of the perceived societal fairs of segments of the population this has caused a dimensional shift in the carnival flows into Port of Spain. Spatial variations in culture will affect how various segments interact in the built environment from the socioeconomically depressed areas of east Port of Spain with its vibrant street culture and informal entertainment systems, to the capital intensive multiplex arenas and exclusive clubs of West Port Of Spain and Ariapita Avenue.

Environmental, the physical environment and environmental change can also shape and impact entertainment in the city. The physical location of Port of Spain bounded by the Gulf of Paria has affected its physical design. In contemporary time the sea scape has been transformed to create the waterfront complex part being a semi opened area taking advantage of the marine aesthetics to form a multi functional area. Things that we may have taken for granted such as seasonal variations in precipitation which define the dry from the wet season and the seasonal winds have structured and facilitated Easter kite flying at the Queens Park savannah and sports such as cricket with an upsurge during the favorable conditions of the dry season which results in a commensurate increase in the usage of the designated open green areas in Port of Spain.

Taking advantage of favorable conditions to fly kites and play cricket in the Queens Park Savannah 

I hope this brief explanation of the triggers of urbanization in terms of their effect on entertainment has increased your knowledge and understanding of these important forces in the shaping and forming of cities.

References:

Pacione, Michael. Urban Geography Second Edition a Global Perspective. New York: Routledge 270 Madison Ave, , NY 10016, 2005.

Effects of globalization on entertainment

WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?

Globalization is the “intensification of world scale flows and processes as the negation of local identities and autonomic, the city has been ‘rediscovered’ as the powerhouse of the globalized economy” (Amin & Graham, 1997).

Because of globalization today we are able to achieve something’s that would normally take days/ months to complete but we are able to it in a matter of minutes. For example instead of traveling all the way to China or India from Trinidad to visit relatives which would take a long period of time, we are able to communicate with them by just the push of a button on a computer which allows us to talk with them on programs such as Skype and Facebook. Although there are many positive effects to globalization on entertainment, there are also many negative effects. 

It shows one of the KFC franchise in Trinidad.

Food is one of our main forms of entertainment in our country. By going out to dinner or a restaurant we are able to socialize with one another and have a good time. However due to the conglomerates we are phasing out our local foods and dishes in order to adapt to the changes which are occurring in contemporary society today.  

Picture of Frederick Street, Port in 1950 

Fredrick Street, Port of Spain in 2012  

From looking at both pictures of Fredrick Street it can clearly be seen that time has affected the location. Due to globalization, technology has changed in a major way. For example the vehicles of transportation have evolved from what it was. Also over time building structures have changed and become more modern. Also technology has advanced. The clothes that is worn has also been changed over time and space to a more modern style due to society. This could lead to  Cultural Erasure, which is the process where because of globalization one culture begins to neglect parts of their own culture to follow another one. 

Native cultures are usually seen as old fashion by visitors to a country and because some countries such as those of the Caribbean depend on tourism, parts of their culture are neglected or minimized to make it more viewer friendly. In the Caribbean cultures such as: Chinese in Jamaica, Karifuna of Dominica, Gujaratis of Barbados and the Amerindians of Guyana are all being over looked by the people who claim to be committed to development.

Tourism is becoming more and more promoted by people in the Caribbean. However when visiting a country not all tourist are open minded. They may usually just come for one aspect of a country in the case of the Caribbean sun, sea and sand. Local cuisine may not always appeal to the tourist. Globalization leads to hotels providing a more Western cooking style. However if this is still not able to please them there a brands such as McDonalds and KFC which they are accustomed to.

Music- because of social media anyone can sing, post the videos and become famous, this could earn them a good living. Music also influences the behaviors’ of our society today.

Music has always proven to be a powerful thing. It is the most powerful form of expression which is accepted worldwide. Music can show a lot about the culture of a country. For example Jamaica is commonly associated with reggae because of Bob Marley who through music expressed his feelings of oppression. However because of globalization Caribbean countries are moving away from their roots and beginning to follow a more Western culture because the world views it as “better”.     .

REFERENCES

link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8023241569/in/set-72157630713859304/

link:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick_Street_C_IMG_2725.JPG# filehistory

Amin, A., & Graham, S. (1997). The Ordinary City. Transaction of the institute of British GeoGraphers, New Series, Vol. 22, No. 4 (1994), pp. 411-429, 411-429.

Ottley, J., Gentles, M., & Dawson, V. (2013). Cape Caribbean Studies. England: Pearson Education Limited.