You Have Space For Me To??

How much more can the Hills take?

The Northern Range Trinidad (Taken from the Highway)

As the needs of the city keep on growing due to increasing amounts and varied uses the boundaries are continuously being pushed back. The city of POS is surrounded by natural landforms on both sides; there is the Northern Range on one side and the ocean on another. The Northern Range is basically on the outskirts of the city and so from the invent of the city very low income houses were near to or on these hills. This assumption related to lower income houses on the outskirts can be related to Burgess’ model of the industrial city. In his model, Burgess stated that early migrants to the city would seek cheap accommodation, which just so happened to be housing just outside the CBD (which in this case is POS). (Barrett and Hall 2012, pg 40)

So the fact that people now reside on these hills can be due to historical factors. However, in the past the number of houses on these hills has been small and has recently gone on a rampant increase. It seems to be rather obvious that the reason people reside here is because of the ease of accessibility it offers to the city and also because other areas close to the city is already occupied or beyond their budget. So yes it is important that people have homes but when is the point where it just becomes too much for that fragile environment to handle?

The Northern Range is a complex ecosystem that is bounded on the north by the coastal strip, on the south by a main road (Eastern Main Road) and on the north by POS. This range contributes freshwater for Trinidad, controls flooding, is said to be a buffer for natural disasters (hurricanes) also it provides recreation, a form of ecotourism, other economic benefits (agriculture, timber) and most importantly it is the home of thousands of different species of flora and fauna. (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005) It can be seen that the Northern Range is indispensable when it comes to the future of Trinidad and Tobago. This ecosystem is very fragile and can easily be disturbed so when trees are removed for homes to be built it obviously affects various species. Also, the noise and different environmental conditions brought along by the fact that humans now reside there also affects and changes the natural environment which in turn may lead to some destruction.

Again I will ask, how much is too much?

Currently the Northern slope has had an increase in urbanization for luxury homes hence, causing degradation of this ecosystem. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago put some legislation in place to slow down some degradation. The legislation states that construction of houses above 300 feet on the hillsides is now prohibited to regulate hillside development and protect the Northern Range.  (Taitt R 2012) This will decrease the possibility of future damage but what about the damage already done? Who will fix that for future generations?

Consider these questions: 

    Will there be any Northern Range for the future generations to enjoy like we do today? 

    Will there be any Northern Range to provide income and protection that it provides us with today?

What can u do to conserve this ecosystem?

Hall and Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. Routledge Publishing. London and New York (page 40).

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. People and the Northern Range Trinidad. http://www.unep.org/maweb/en/SGA.Trinidad.aspx

Taitt, Ria. 2012. Government Move Against Hillside Houses. Trinidad Express Newspapers.