360 Degrees - Reflections, Comparisons, Conclusions

My Picture Blog: Facets of Urban Life

"The city is a fact in nature, like a cave, a run of mackerel or an ant-heap.

But it is also a conscious work of art, and it holds within its communal framework many simpler and more personal forms of art.

Mind takes form in the city; and in turn, urban forms condition mind.”

Lewis Mumford

                So this is it, the last entry in my journey through the many Facets of Urban Life. As you know, this blog was an assignment given by my Urban Geography professor in hopes of broadening the dialogue of urban geography debates, opinions and general information coming from not only the Caribbean but (as much as I hate this term) the Global South. It has truly been a journey for me, not only in taking and interpreting original photography but in exploring and rediscovering my writing skills. I believe the pen (or in this case the keyboard) is such a strong medium to use in expression oneself and I’m thankful to my professor for not only inspiring me to use my words again -- a passion I had long forgotten in the monotony of academia -- but to explore and value the urban space around me. It is  startling to know how much an entity I gave little to no thought about has impacted my way of thinking, broadened my appreciation for what is around me and most importantly has given my words confidence again.

This assignment involved my entire "GEOG2007" class, and in closing I’d like to draw on 3 of my peers’ blogs which have touched on slightly more focused topics than mine. In this blog I haven’t spoken about homelessness in the city, transportation or urban attitudes as much as I wanted to. To compensate for this I’d like to draw reference to:

• Tamara Atwaroo’s Blog: “I am not Homeless!” http://sincasa-tnt.blogspot.com/
•  Avinash Narine’s Blog: “Mobility in Cities” http://urbanmobility17.blogspot.com/
•  Arielle Maynard’s Blog: “Hustle and Bustle of Urban Life” http://myfasturbanlife.blogspot.com/

Each of these blogs gave different perspectives to urban life touched on concepts of urban geography that I did not. In choosing my theme “Facets of Urban Life” I wanted to give as wide a range as I could on concepts pertaining to urban geography as outlines by the textbook Urban Geography by Hall and Barrett. My colleagues however filled in the gaps where I could not.

Briefly put:

•  Tamara outlined the idea of what it means to be homeless and the many dimensions of homeless people in our cities
• Avinash spoke of different facets of urban transport also highlighting the many problems he has faced personally in the public transport systems while also pointing out the good aspects of mass and personal modes transit and lastly,
• Arielle with her beautiful and poetic writing touched on the personal side of urban life, the interaction of people, the everyday ups and downs of urban life and the idea of religion and community within cities.

All these are important aspects of urban life and are all thought provoking in their content. I hope that you’ll take a look at these blogs, as well as others they would have cited in their final blog entry.

Thanks to everyone who has read, commented and supported this brief yet insightful journey through the many facets of urban life. It has truly been a passionate journey for me. Stay tuned for future blogs and I intend to continue my writing to the best of my ability.

Yours in writing,

Hannah Sundari Sammy