“The life of the party”

Apart from commercial activities such as clothing stores, food outlets and markets there are other activities located in the commercial zone. Many of these activates serve other purposes than just providing a good or a service but instead they promote relaxation and leisure. These activities are seen to be entertainment activities in the commercial zone. 

As you walk along the urban sidewalk, you’re greeted by tons and tons of sales items and you think to yourself this is what urban areas are about. But as you continue along your path, you come across a strange area. 

An area……where they sell something different, an area…….where someone isn't trying to get you to purchase something that you may or may not need on bargain…….

an area……a place…. a space….so relaxing…..filled with social interactions and human communication….a space where you can let it all go…a place…. a place…a place….a place like no other

….a place where the music pounds to the beats of your heart beat…..a place where you can feel the togetherness and warm of people….a place where you can just let go and be you…a place that entertains you….

Illustrated in the image is a local bar in the urban city center of Arima. It serves the purpose of being a form of entertainment to the wider public.

Entertainment activities in commercial zones led to the formation of communities. A community is this case refers to a group of people who know each other and share similar interests, goals, hobbies as well as cultural traditions and norms (Community toolbox 2014).These communities then form social places where persons are able to interact with each other on a day to day basis. This mainly involves social interaction which is seen to be very important as it involves the exchange of opinions on varying topics and thus represents real communication. 

Good places for social interactions can be defined as a common area where persons of varying backgrounds and communities can meet naturally and communicate with each other comfortably for either pleasure purposes or to gain access to activities and services in the commercial zones. 

Good examples of places in the commercial zone where these communities are formed due to social interaction are:

•   Open areas
•       Streets
• Side walks
• Taxi stands
•       In lines waiting to purchase something
• Food outlets
•  Markets
•   Outside stores 

Why are entertainments or social interaction facilities important?

According to the Community toolbox website, these spaces include four major characteristic as follows:

1.      It provides a reason for people to visit a specific area

2.      It creates incentive for persons to stay at the place when they visit it for the first time and want to go back on more occasions

3.      It  create a space that is safe and comfortable

4.      It forms a space that is very welcoming and accepts everyone equally. 

Benefits of social interactions or entertainment spaces:

1.      They help persons to develop a sense of “community pride and ownership” .

2.      Commonalities between persons of varying histories, assumptions, religious affiliations as well as racial and ethical backgrounds are formed.

3.      Persons gain new knowledge about varying cultures when they interact in these areas with different persons

Entertainment and social interaction facilities as urban tourism:

According to Garrette Nagle, in urban areas especially the city centers where commercial zones are located there is no clear distinction between leisure, tourism and recreation (1999). He notes that each facility being offered by the zone serves varying purposed based the group of people. This means that entertainment facilities would serve as a destination for the tourist, but only provide leisure and recreation to the residential persons (Nagle 1999) as well as everyday visitors to the commercial zone.  

In urbanized areas such as the commercial zone urban entertainment as well as leisure activities are becoming more and more dominant. This is to facilitate the increasing growth of the city as well as to provide this for the increasing amount of persons visiting the commercial zones every day. This is evident in Trinidad, where in every city center that you visit there is a wide variety of entertainment facilities such as bars, pubs, cafes, casinos and sometimes even clubs.

Conclusion:

Cities are growing  in Trinidad. With this growth comes the demand for more activities, both in quantity and the variety. As a result, there are more and more entertainment facilities being constructed. These may be termed into urban tourism due to its close link with leisure and recreational activities in the commercial zone.  

Entertainment zones create communities of shared perceptions. This allows for enhanced social interactions between persons of varying backgrounds and as communication grows, the relationships strengthen and thus the community is made more stable.

To me these community centers are a very essential aspect of commercial zones as well as in the city centers. On a daily basis, I realize that persons make any comfortable spot their “community”. As persons stop to talk on the side of walkway, this becomes their “community”, as they meet friends in the grocery, as their kids play together in the parks even as source bathrooms together. Communities are a dominant aspect of local culture that entertainment facilities promote and enhance and thus it is a very very very vital part to city development. 

References:

'Main Section | Community Tool Box'. 2014. Ctb.Ku.Edu. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/phsyical-social-environment/places-for-interaction/main.

Nagle, Garrett. 1999. Tourism, Leisure And Recreation. 1st ed. Nelson, Thomas & Sons.