Blog Summary and Wrap-Up

The purpose of this blog was to chronicle the process of early urban development in an area which has not yet become Urbanised. I also tried to prove my theory that Urban Areas grew out of specialisation in some sort of centralised commercial activity or activities. This serves as an attraction to residents (through jobs) and services (through commerce) to set up in and around these particular activities. This would initially be an extractive (primary) commercial activity, and will eventually move to a manufacturing (secondary) commercial activity, while finally becoming service-orientated (tertiary). It is of note that these industries may grow as a result of the other, with the primary industry attracting secondary industries and service industries as well.

With Gasparillo a trend is clearly seen to support this, The town originally set up as a result of the sugar industry, with plantations being present all over (extractive industry). Then the plantations attracted a secondary industry to the area in the form of a (now demolished) sugar factory. This was quickly replaced by an oil refinery. These industries then attracted goods and services to the area with the town eventually becoming a focal point for these services to set up. Urban commercial activity is examined by my collegue in her blog on urban commercialisation: http://commercialzonesintrinidad.blogspot.com/
The town initially appeared to develop along a linear patter of settlement but is now slowly starting to move toward a nucleated pattern of settlement. 

As for Urban models, the only model that is applicable to Gaparillo is Dear and Flusty's post modern model of urbanisation. While there are some planned parts of the town, such as the new industrial park, and some of the residential areas, the majority of the town has developed along mostly an unplanned style of urbanisation, similar to what was observed in Belmont. There are no set location for commerce, or residential  structures or green spaces. Many of the older buildings are actually of mixed use in the central part of the town, with owners dwelling on the upper floor of their buildings while having a business place on the ground floor. One such theory as to why this occurred was that as the nearby industries such as the refinery expanded, they attracted new, wealthier residents to the area. This drove up the value of property and created a demand for services, leading to many of the once purely residential buildings being partially or fully transformed into commercial buildings. A classic example of gentrification.
Additionally, many of the the problems associated with urban areas were observed in Gasparillo. Pollution from industrial activities, homelessness and improper waste disposal. Port-of-Spain also exhibited many of the same traits except on a larger scale. My colleague has looked at these problems in detail in his blog:http://theurbansword.blogspot.com/. Litter was by far the most prominent problem. My colleague has also looked at the phenomena in more detail in San Fernando on his blog: http://urbanpollutiontt.blogspot.com/

If this pace of expansion and urbanisation continues, there is no doubt in my mind that Gasparillo will one day become a major urban centre.