INFORMAL SECTOR

Photo taken by Kimara Dyer             - Kennedy Avenue, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica

With direct attention on the first building in green and yellow, the picture portrays the home of two popular men on the street of downtown Kennedy Avenue. The type of architectural design is found in and around the city of Roseau. Material found in the surrounding environment is used to build the home. The structure and organization of the homes represent a communal setting. As seen, a combination of homes is situated toward the back of the first house. The homes are made of material such as different types of woods as well as galvanize for the roofing and the base. Like many of the homes in the city area, there is a combination of wood and concrete.

What is unique about this particular location is the popularity of the area. The owners are self employed in the shoe making industry. The close proximity to a number of business places provides a constant flow of production to the individuals. This depicts the city space as people make every effort to make a living and to improve their lifestyle. It is common to see people creating their business from home and majority of the time business have flourished. People continuously in the city support small local businesses. This is an example of the pull factors within the urban space, the availability of resources and the cliental for small local businesses. People with the central business district start of small to earn a living in the hopes of reaching great prosperity. “The theory relating to the informal sector to urban space is less clear”. The author continues to say that, “The augment appears to be that workers in the informal sector jobs require few, if any skills and so there is no need opportunity for specific on-the-job training that could lead to good higher paid jobs” (Teilhet 1983). This can relate to the local business where the men engage in shoe making outside their homes in an informal way with little modern equipment. On-the job training may not be present due to the early age of knowing the trade which would be passed on to that individual over generations.

REFERENCE

Teilhet-Waldorf, Saral, and William H. Waldorf. 1983. "Earnings of self-employed in an informal sector: a case study of Bangkok." Economic Development and Cultural Change 31, no. 3: 587-607.