Featuring Urban Planner Renelle Sarjeant and Chromatics master mind Richard Rajkumar

Revitalizing urban spaces Urban Planner, Renelle Sargeant is interested in how we develop our spaces. She comments that Trinidad and Tobago can revitalize our cities, towns and villages by re-designing our urban spaces so they became welcoming spaces for men, women and children. In order to measure the effective use of a space we need to observe if the space is being well used and who uses it. Is the space free and designed for general use? Was the space designed with women in mind? These answers will give an indication of the extent to which the space is user friendly. Design solutions Urban planning is about more than the development of plans and programmes for the use of land but more about how community is created for citizens to thrive. Our country has focussed on heavy engineering solutions and maybe the time has come for us to lean into people centred design solutions. Renelle comments that our public spaces are our hidden wealth and Urban Planners can help us get closer to designing the smart cities of the future. Chromatics Music At 18:28 … Richard Rajkumar (Chromatics) shares his journey from a “Hip Hop” artist, through “Calypso” to “New Age Rapso” and the other genres which spoke to him. In referencing “Kisskadee Karavan” he commented that that opportunity to perform inspired his contemporaries to take a greater interest in local music. Recording Studio Richard is completely dedicated to music and culture as his way of living and in addition to performances he manages a recording studio and rehearsal room for performers across all genres and generations. From his recording studio, he has moved to capitalizing on various streaming platforms which allows him to understand his musical reach and count his return on investment. Prior to this use of technology he would not have understood the span of his own music footprint which now includes Europe, Africa, Japan and the US. Future Vison He future vision is one where artists operate with signed contracts outlining roles and responsibilities. On the national landscape his wish is for the realization of the concept of Festival Tourism which will stimulate participation by the public and performers and open our doors for the world to experience our rich culture.