The first thing that comes to mind when I think of city centers are
streets upon streets lined with tall majestic building as well as smaller
stores creating a nest like feature intertwining its
activities and services to form what we call commercial zones. According to
K.Ishwaran the city is the center for urban living and here is where commercial
activities are located (Brill 1984). Therefore, commercial zones
are the staple of urban areas or cities as they allow for its day to day
functioning. Likewise, the city allows
for the continuing success of these commercial businesses.
 |
| Depicted here is one of the busiest commercial streets in the urban city of Arima. It illustrates a multiplicity of business activties typically found in city centers. |
In today’s society, especially in Trinidad, the distribution of
commercial activities is very important to the functioning of a city as it
influences the trade transactions in an area. In other words commercial
zones are responsible for generating revenue in city areas. They are present to satisfy the needs and
wants of the persons in that area or in the wider community (Akrani 2011). This area provides
the consumers of Arima with a wide assortment of goods for purchase, including
clothing and pharmaceuticals.
In addition, commercial
zones have various essential purposes. These include: acting as medium through which
consumers and producers are able to form linkages, increasing the standard of
living of the people, generating employment opportunities as well as several
others (Akrani 2011). The
following link explains the meaning of commerce as well as its importance to a nation:
Although it should be noted that there are in fact some drawbacks of
these zones being located in the city center. For example due to the inclusion
of “comfort amenities” in urban centers the prices of many goods and services
increase drastically. This is as there is a certain pride that comes with
owning goods of a certain brand and bought from a specific area. This tends to
marginalize the poor persons in the cities as they cannot afford these items. This
in turn can lead to crime and juvenile delinquency in city centers and thus
affects the sensation of urban areas and urban lifestyles. In addition, as more
and more business wish to open up operation in commercial zones the area
becomes crowded and leads to various types of environmental problems.
To me, commercial zones like the one represented
here expresses the essence of city culture which in other words mean to spend…spend….spend
and spend even more! However, I cannot deny the benefits of these zones as I
too find pleasure partaking in its materialistic subsistence. At the same time I
recognize there are problems associated with the presence of these zones. Hence
in this blog I will delve into how these centers are affecting the urban areas
of Trinidad.
References
Akrani, Gaurav. 2011."What is
Commerce ? Meaning and Importance of Commerce." Kalyan City Life 3/06/2011.
http://kalyan-city.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-is-commerce-meaning-and-importance.html
(accessed 7 Feb 2014).
Iverson, Noel. 1984. Urbanism and
urbanization. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
