How Urbanization has Culturally and Historically Affected the Environment in Port Of Spain.

Human beings are quickly becoming an environmental problem, over the past 10000 years. This first started with the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution all culminating in the 21st century where one of the major anthropogenic problem facing the environment is that of urbanization, where more and more persons are moving from rural areas to urban. While the world's population is said to be doubling the rate of uran growth is tripling (Torrey 2004). In closer looking we will look at the cultural and historical impact of urbanization on the environment this on the city of Port of Spain.


Urbanization fosters a greater interaction between people and the environment as they consume more food, energy, water and land resulting in larger amounts of waste. The general culture of persons in  Port of Spain in respect to the environment is one of  complete disregard where persons litter leaving the city with polluted waterways and drains, where waste is almost never recycled and where trees has been cut to provide much needed land.

One negative aspect of urbanization is that of the reclamation of the natural environmental land which is then converted to land used for the urban. The port authority of Trinidad and Tobago embarked in a historic undertaking to deepen the Port of Spain harbor from its draft of 9.75metres to 12 metres which  would involve reclaiming much of a nearby mangrove in order to facilitate the growth of the city. Much of a nearby mangrove or marshland was reclaimed in the name of development (Gupta 2007)

Image showing land reclamation over time within Port of Spain
Thompson 2012

Another negative aspect of urbanization is that of the channel capacity of the East Dry River which is adequate for the amount of water it carries but a large volume of sediments, garbage and debris in the channel reduces the capacity of the channel to accommodate large amounts of water hence leading to flooding (Cropper Foundation 2009).

Photograph 1 showing garbage and debris accumulation along the channel of East Dry River
Quashie 2015

References
1. Cropper Foundation 2015. " POS Port of Spain." Accessed on April 9, 2015.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19552480/Port-of-Spain-Case-Study#scribd

2. Gupta.K. R 2007. Global Environmental: Problems and Policies Volume 1

3. Thompson, Yvonne 2012 Flickr Accessed on April 9, 2015
https://www.flickr.com/photos/yvonnert/8003292694/