Port-of-Spain can become the creative city of the English-speaking Caribbean. The transformation has already began with areas such as Ariapita Avenue evolving into a commercial and social hot spot. This is the view of Dr Keith Nurse, an economist and social scientist who has embarked on a wide area of study, which includes culture, economy, gender, globalisation, jobs and trade. Nurse said what is happening at Ariapita Avenue is a small representation of how other cities in other countries have evolved and should be welcomed. Nurse described this transformation as the new way in which people interact, work and socialise, calling it the new cutting-edge of middle-class entrepreneurship. Creative cities, he said, are a magnet for this new of entrepreneur who has moved beyond the bricks and mortar type of establishment, drawing reference to the construction and manufacturing areas. "We are now attracting people whose income are generally generated from intellectual property and services, and this includes everything from media, advertising and software engineering to restaurants and culinary services."
He said the quality of entertainment services was an important factor in this creative style of development. "Conducting business and meetings no longer occurs in offices, it's in places like coffee bars and restaurants, so the concept of the office is a virtual one," Nurse said. Port-of-Spain's competitive edge Nurse stated that Ariapita was a small segment of that development and the focus should be on the bigger picture: Port-of-Spain. "A creative city speaks about offering a wide range of services and it's one of Port-of-Spain's strengths. This is what makes it a competitive city in the region, except that the Government and people of T&T don't know this." It has a niche competitive and comparative advantage, but needs a proper strategy instead of it happening by circumstance, Nurse said. He said T&T needs to be clearer about its strategy for development and consistent in its implementation.
He said because world economies have shifted with new businesses being generated by people who generate intellectual property, creative people, among them academics and engineers. These people are different from the industrial, rigid-type economy who traditionally wear suit and tie. They now wear jeans and T-shirt. "That is your cutting edge and competitiveness and that is what we need to convert PoS into because their entertainment is a magnet to those people." Nurse believed that the Government should be creating work spaces, Wi-Fi, incubator for these type of business to operate. He stated that T&T needs to facilitate more trading activities that actually generate the new cadre of these young people who start up these social type of businesses, which rely on the services sector, with food and entertainment being one component in the supply chain.
Quoting from the late economist Dennis Pantin, Nurse said it's the lime factor that gives T&T its competitive advantage. The global middle-class, he said, chooses places like the Avenue to lime and work. Nurse said Trinbagonians wrongly perceive liming as unproductive. "Contrary, it's the most productive thing we do: it breaks barriers, creates trust and generates creativity and that is what we need to be emphasising. He thinks that the Government should partner with business owners and create a virtual cloud: Wi-Fi technology and create incubators spaces for businesses to set up in the capital. "We need to introduce new ways of thinking rather than holding fast to the old concept of trying to attract direct foreign investment. "Therefore, once a holistic framework and strategy is implemented and sustained in to transforming Port-of-Spain as a creative capital of the Caribbean, we can easily sell that to the rest of the world."