An Architect’s View of Port of Spain
The latest issue of the Trinidad Guardian's Building & Construction magazine has an article on downtown beautification by acla:works director Gary Turton. Gary offers a ten-point perspective: [1] improved drainage and underground services, [2] better sidewalks and tree lined streets, [3] mass transit system within city limits (see: Transit Oriented Development), [4] multi-story car parking on perimeter of city, [5] maximise retail shop frontage, [6] green roofs, [7] public art, upgraded museums and a museum of modern art (see: Percent for Art program), [8] preserve and protect built heritage, [9] higher density, mixed-use, mixed income developments, and, [10] planning. Read the article here.
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1 comment so far.
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Great recommendations Mr. Turton! Port of Spain is definitely a diamond in the rough. I particularly love the suggestions of a mass transit system in the city and mixed use development. Perhaps we could look into a street car system. We absolutely need to repopulate POS with residences, as we can only have so much auto-oriented low density sprawl! You are absolutely right about the need for tree-lined streets. The trees will definitely help with shade and in making the pedestrian more comfortable, but I wonder if we need more than that. Do we need to implement design codes that require buildings to overhang the sidewalks on the upper floors (not sure what the architectural term is), to give even more shade. There are great examples of this in downtown POS, particularly in the older buildings. Considering the unbearable heat that we are many times faced with, is this something that would be more suitable? The end goal is to make the city more appealing to pedestrians. I know that other established cities with similar climates have great examples of this as well. Would love to hear what you think. Again, great suggestions!
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Related Project
East Port of Spain Study
An urban renewal study for a devolved area of Trinidad's capital.
