Have you ever wondered how ‘formal building infrastructures’ and
‘informal business structures’ within the city are linked? In this post, I will
attempt to demonstrate and formulate a link between the connectedness and the
functionality of both types while discussing the infrastructural types. The
building infrastructure is directly related to the economics of the population
(Pouliquen, 2000). The ‘formal building infrastructure’ will be used to
describe buildings that are enclosed, has regular built infrastructure and the
building is guarded with a door. The ‘informal building infrastructure’ will be
used to refer to the more laid back types of infrastuctrural advances that are
not as enclosed as the formal. They may include street vendors who sell under
tents, umbrellas of under the sidewalk shelter. Both the informal and formal
building infrastructures will be demonstrated below.
Photo showing street vendor's informal building infrastructure, east Port- of- Spain. The vendor is selling nuts from a little caravan that can be easily moved from the pavement.
Photograph of informal building infrastructure, east Port- of- Spain. The vendor sells under a temporary sheltered shed.
Photograph showing informal building infrastructure, east Port- of Spain. the vendor is selling DVDs alongside the pavement.
Photograph of informal infrastructure, west Port- of- Spain. the vendor who appears to be selling tools is located along the pavement.
The
informal building infrastructure is a demonstrator or a representative of the
informal sector. The informal sector refers to the part of the sector that incorporates
all the jobs that are not recognized as normal income sources and taxes are not
paid (Business Dictionary, n.d.). The informal sector in Port- of- Spain is
mainly related to the underclass, most of which are the city residents. The
lower class residents are unable to afford to pay rents for formal buildings.
In some cases, opening an informal business would be the only way for the
underclass to make money to support themselves and their family (The World
Bank, n.d.). The informal infrastructure shows the struggles that the underclass
residents may face as users of the city. Often times these underclass citizens
feel rejected (Wilson, 2010) and it shows in the way that they have to somewhat
“squat” along the roadside to make a living.
On the other hand, the formal sector
is normally representative of the middle and upper classes of society. As
defined earlier, the formal sectors are enclosed and have certain attributes
that require money to upkeep. The formal sector refers to that part of the
sector that includes all jobs with normal hours and regular wages and its
income sources from which taxes are deducted are all recognized (Business
Dictionary, n.d.). As seen above, the formal building infrastructure cannot be
used by the underclass because they underclass are not wealthy enough and do
not have enough power to get places to use within the formal.
It is important to note
that the relationship between the informal and formal is very complex. Photographs
of the relationship between the formal and informal sectors can be seen in the
stream of photos below.
Photograph showing the informal building infrastucture alongside formal building infrastructure located west Port- of- Spain.
The photograph shows of an informal 'snowcone' vendor selling along formal buildings, west Port- of Spain.
Photograph of informal vendors selling under tents alongside formal infrastucture (the building with the black wall), west Port- of- Spain.
In the
analysis of Port- of- Spain urban building infrastructure, the way the building
looks and the way that they are situated are important. It is also important to
note that more of the informal building infrastructure are east Port- of- Spain
(this is where the underclass, as mentioned in a previous post, resides) and
the formal I located west, Port- of- Spain (this is where the upperclass, as
mentioned in a previous post, resides). The link between the two types of
sectors is needed for the economy. It is vital that everyone is able to make a
living. The infrastructures are situated amongst one another so that income can
be shared. When upper class and middle income citizens go to shop, they are
exposed to cheaper goods and services that they would indulge in. Furthermore,
the informal residents are conveniently located in the busy, formal areas so
that they are in a sense assured of income.
(NB.
Although the city is separated based on social class and economics and the main
types of businesses found on the extreme East and West differ, it is important
to note that in the main business district, central of the east and west, the
lower classes and the upper/ middle classes mix and function alongside one
another. These are depicted in the photos that show the landuse relation
between the formal building infrastructure and the informal business structure.)
Although the relationship between
the formal and informal sectors represented by their infrastructures has been
working for some time, the governments in power of Trinidad and Tobago are
constantly trying to decrease the informal sector. The city is trying to move
the informal vendors to places that require a rent to be paid in order to
better the city (Newspower, 2012). To better the city they say? Better for
whom? It is imperative to pay attention to the modest facets of the city such
as the building infrastructure in order to gage information and explore the
city and the way it works.
Remember, the formal and informal infrastructure can be analyzed based
on what they represent. By viewing the both infrastructure, a lot can be told.
The urban building infrastructure may be subject to change with time, but as
long as social polarization and the dual city exists. With these being present,
there will always be an extreme rich and an extreme poor class that would find
great need to use the formal and informal building facilities or build their
own. If you are interested in the learning more about the informal to formal
economy, you can read the following:
In the Caribbean context, it is important to note that there is a huge
amount of poverty still present today. Many of the poor still flee toward the
city/ city- like, busy areas for employment. Without the skills required by the
formal economy and the education that the formal employers want, the poor
people are forced to go into informal businesses to create informal businesses.
Like the Trinidad and Tobago’s government, little is done to reduce the levels
of informal jobs as they support the poorer of their nations. For this reason,
the informal and formal building infrastructure may be present for long periods
of time in the future.
References
Business
Dictionary. (n.d.). Formal Sector.
Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/formal-sector.html.
Business
Dictionary. (n.d.). Informal Sector.
Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/informal-sector.html.
Power
102FM. (2012). Calls By Port- of- Spain
Vendors for Regularizaton of City Vending. Retrieved April, 3, 2015, from http://news.power102fm.com/calls-by-port-of-spain-vendors-for-regularization-of-city-vending-13427.
Pouliquen,
L. (2000). Infrastructure and Poverty.
Retrieved March 5, 2015, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.197.1162&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
The World
Bank. (n.d.). Workers in the Informal
Market. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALPROTECTION/EXTLM/0,,contentMDK:20224904~menuPK:584866~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:390615,00.html.
Wilson, S.
(2010). No Vending on Streets. Trinidad
and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2010/12/17/no-vending-streets.
It would be very useful to have a definition of infrastructure, because there are times when it seems you're referring to generally to the built environment instead of specifically to that which helps cities run e.g. roads, phone lines, cell towers, schools, drains, sewage treatment plants, power lines.
ReplyDeleteIn the article you cite (Pouliquen, 2000), which is very good, they outline how infrastructure affects poor people's access to development gains e.g. if there are no pavements on which to sell one's goods, what are the effects?
I think you need more theoretical and analytical anchoring and depth to contribute to your keen observations.
It's also interesting that you have a combination of informal and formal economic sectors, residents, and building structures that you intersperse in your discussion of infrastructure.
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