Prof. Lawrence Vale: in Developing a New Capital City, There must be an Awareness of Climate Resilience
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id— Lawrence Vale, professor of Urban Design and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology was a speaker at the MIT-ITB Research Partnership in the discussion of global perspectives and key issues on National Capital City Relocation and Resilience, Tuesday (09/28/2021). As stated by him, in building urban settlements that are resilient to the climate, it is necessary to pay attention to all design expertise in the holistic development of cities.
He explained various precedents for the new capital city constructions all over the world, such as Washington DC, Brasilia, Abuja, Putrajaya, and others. There are many reasons behind the transfer of capital cities in the world, such as security, economy, capitalization, and political pressure. He highlighted the lack of a climate resilience approach in the government’s planning of the nation’s capital.
Prof. Vale observes the condition of Indonesia which is starting to administrate IKN executively and judicially through the fact that various facilities are starting to be built, such as trains to the airport. There are similarities between IKN and Putrajaya, a city in Malaysia. Both cities were developed from forests.
He thought that with this origin, there are important lessons that can be implemented as an effort to take responsibility for the environment of the IKN area that will change more or less. Serious political planning and analysis are needed. Efforts made in the past in designing and developing areas often become the key dimensions.
He explained four principles to achieve a fair regional planning and development process and awareness of climate resilience, which are the focus on urban environmental design to avoid passing land carrying capacity, support for community structures, the need for community economic empowerment, and security guarantees and fair and legal city approaches. On the other hand, programs developed within IKN must maintain eco-friendly environmental design and planning.
He continued, government urgency as a policyholder and a party that can intervene is needed to maintain protected areas, including green open spaces, while providing a sense of security for people who will live in IKN. On the other hand, collective solidarity is needed between communities. The informal community base also needs to be considered in the planning of the capital of this country, considering that cities with aspects of informality are still a big task that has to be completed in other regions.
The sustainability of fair urban 'resilience' is related to the government's efforts to regulate the area and the people in it. The design of the capital should be made more holistic with a focus on the allocation of major national government facilities in certain zones.
"We need to consider cities holistically using empathy so that the benefits of development can be felt fairly. We also need to reflect our professional identity, as students, professors, or officials in emphasizing climate sustainability issues in urban planning by reducing environmental vulnerabilities and producing quality and participatory public spaces," said Prof. Vale.
Reporter: Mirmanti Cinahya Winursita (Perencanaan Wilayah dan Kota, 2019)
Translator: Aghisna Syifa R
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