Assalamualaikum and hi to everyone!
My name is Amirul Ashraf and this is my blog, dedicated for the sustainable matters. this is a part of my RPK 538 : Sustainable Development Planning. This class is coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Dr Nurwati , which has been with us since my final year of undergraduate study.
According to a template handed over to me in the first class, the objective of this course is :
"This course presents city-regions as the hub of spatial, economic, social, cultural, political and technological processes and transformations. it examines the nature of change midst world world climatic and environmental changes; and their implications on the demography, economic, financial, and political structure. spatial comparisons highlights the differentiating factors and influences. this sustainable development planning course emphasizes the management of change in development through smart collaborations among government agencies, private sectors, non-governmental organizations, and the local community across cultural boundaries"
From my point of view, we, as a future planner cannot take this sustainable issue lightly as our world now changing rapidly since the past decades. I said like that because we cannot simply thinking that all development problem can be solved by the standard yet typical planning guidelines.
For an example, when we plan for new township, we may think conventionally by assuming that we need to provide the better infrastructures or services such as roads as wide as possible, a huge number of shops, and shopping mall that high as the KLCC that MAY help this town to sustain for maybe the next 100 years. But little are known to us that what is the most crucial thing in developing a new township, that besides we provide the infrastructure and so on, what are the sustainable way that we designed or created to make this town more sustainable?
I choose a simple example; PARKING SPACE. Planners might enforce the new town or even any developments must have an appropriate numbers of parking space to meet the demands. But we didn't realize that by enforcing such a simple regulation like parking space requirement will make a huge impact in the future. Let say, when we have enforced a mandatory for a town to have at least 1,000 parking lots for different usage (commercial, office & park), what would happen? : It would encourage people to depend on their cars! People will less depending on the public transport even though the service is better and reliable as they think that what point the government or the city council providing the parking space without being used?
From this situation, we can then relate with the future of our city, where more and even more people will depend on their car because of our conventional method of planning. Yes, we must follow the guidelines because it has been prepared by the expertise for the last 200 years (for example). I don't know whether it is still relevant for us, the planner to just following the guidelines that have been here since the British Empire become the only superpower in the late 18th century, OR just simply adapting the planning rules and guidelines in the wake of information technology, where the technology and sustainability is the key for the development balance.
Maybe my opinion is just a radical and cannot be accepted by everyone, but from my stand of view, if we want to become relevance in the future, we must change our self first. Sustainability in planning development is not a new issues, yet the way we handle the situation regarding this matter showing how old is our mind are.
=)
For an example, when we plan for new township, we may think conventionally by assuming that we need to provide the better infrastructures or services such as roads as wide as possible, a huge number of shops, and shopping mall that high as the KLCC that MAY help this town to sustain for maybe the next 100 years. But little are known to us that what is the most crucial thing in developing a new township, that besides we provide the infrastructure and so on, what are the sustainable way that we designed or created to make this town more sustainable?
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| Parking space issues. |
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| Can we apply this? =) |
From this situation, we can then relate with the future of our city, where more and even more people will depend on their car because of our conventional method of planning. Yes, we must follow the guidelines because it has been prepared by the expertise for the last 200 years (for example). I don't know whether it is still relevant for us, the planner to just following the guidelines that have been here since the British Empire become the only superpower in the late 18th century, OR just simply adapting the planning rules and guidelines in the wake of information technology, where the technology and sustainability is the key for the development balance.
Maybe my opinion is just a radical and cannot be accepted by everyone, but from my stand of view, if we want to become relevance in the future, we must change our self first. Sustainability in planning development is not a new issues, yet the way we handle the situation regarding this matter showing how old is our mind are.
=)
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