Kemang set to have city's first 'green map'

Kemang set to have city's first 'green map'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta has become notorious for its poor city planning. The
City Planning Agency, with many excuses, has been violating its
own urban plan, causing much skepticism among residents.

The most recent example was the announcement last December of
the Jakarta Administration's plan to establish a dumping site in
the Marunda area, North Jakarta, following a dispute with the
Bekasi mayoralty over the Bantar Gebang dump, the current
destination for the city's garbage.

Of course, Marunda residents were upset by the announcement
and soon after staged a rally opposing the administration's plan.
Their anger is understandable, as in the 1980s the agency itself
designated the Marunda area as a residential neighborhood.

Unfortunately, as had happened before, the administration
decided to change its earlier policy on Marunda without even
bothering to consult with residents.

Public participation is not yet a factor in the
administration's management of the city.

One way of improving public participation in city planning,
and reducing the administration's current dominant role, is to
apply the "green map" system.

Green mapping is a system that encourages local residents to
make a map of their own neighborhood in order to identify,
promote and link environmental and social resources within a
city.

The green map system was first established in the United
States in 1994, and has now been adopted by 156 cities around the
world.

A green map differs from more traditional map-making
techniques, in the sense that it is put together by ordinary
residents and comes complete with their description of important
sites in the local neighborhood.

Residents are expected to identify different kinds of sites in
their area using a set of icons. The system enables residents to
debate the criteria and priorities that should be applied in
deciding which sites to include in the map.

"Residents could apply a green map as an advocacy tool in
urban planning," he told The Jakarta Post, after a discussion on
the system on Friday evening.

Information contained in a green map could help the
administration broaden its views on city planning.

The system would impose an obligation on the administration
not to change the city plan without a reasonable explanation, as
local residents would have a "counter plan". In the future, the
administration must also include public participation in its city
planning mechanisms.

In Indonesia, the system was initiated by Marco Kusumawijaya
and aikon! foundation two weeks ago. They plan to launch it
publicly in early February.

Currently, Marco and aikon! are still mapping the Kemang area
in South Jakarta, the first place in the city to undergo the
green map method.

"We chose Kemang as it is currently at a critical stage. We
want to reveal that Kemang has more potential than just
business," Marco said.

According to Marco, the administration has been planning to
convert Kemang into a tourism area, even though the agency had
earlier classified it as a residential zone. It used to be a
village inhabited by Betawi people (native Jakartans).

Since the 1990s, the face of Kemang has been transformed.
Galleries and nightspots have been mushrooming.

"The administration must consider Kemang's environment before
changing the area into a tourism spot," Marco said, adding that
not many people were aware that biawak (monitor lizards) lived in
some of the rivers in Kemang, which is now better known as a cafe
lover's paradise.