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COLUMN
other species to share the land together
as part of the good practice of biophilic
city design. Aldo Leopold summarized
it well “We abuse land because we
regard it as a commodity belonging to
us. When we see land as a community
to which we belong, we may begin to
use it with love and respect.”
WATER
Another hard truth we face in this 21st
century is the global water crisis. Only
0.3% of the freshwater in the world is
readily accessible surface water. By
2025, 52 countries, with two thirds of
the world’s population, will likely to face
fresh water shortage. Water is the blood
of the Earth. It is a vital to all the organisms
who live on Earth as our blood is
to us. An unhealthy aquatic system
can lead to algal blooms, swimming
closures, weed infestations, fish kills,
waterborne illnesses and contaminated
ground water. A river will be clean only
if nothing fouls it up in the first place.
With the 300,000 tonnes of garbage,
enough to fill 100 Olympic-sized swimming
pools being dumped into our
Malaysian rivers yearly and many other
source of contaminants, what makes
us think that we deserve clean water
after all?
The rules towards a justifiable usage
of water are simple and widely known
but only few or none of us practice
them due to our dirt cheap subsidized
potable water, that does not reflect the
true ecological externality cost. The
fact is the built environment we live
in today sees water as a cheap commodity
so much (or even free!), that we
isolate ourselves from the very much
perceived “contaminated” rainwater
for simple hand washing for example.
Yet, we hear citizens complaining on
the water shortage while free and
clean water is pouring down on their
roofs then. We need to regenerate
our cities and peoples’ mind sets to
celebrate the availability of water by
harvesting precipitation while allowing
ground water replenishment, by
treating greywater and blackwater as a
resource, by enhancing aquatic health,
instead of glorifying our magical water
taps at home. The health of waterways
is important in the health of the entire
ecosystem, including human’s.
ENERGY AND TRANSPORTATION
It is known from Malaysia National
Energy Balance 2012 sheet that the
transportation and building sector
accounts for 37% and 15% of the total
energy usage. The scattered forms
of development that both urban
and rural areas have adopted over
the last 60 years require significant
Good Design: Singapore’s Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park features water playground which offers a different
outdoor learning experience for its surrounding residential community.
Jeffery Lim (Left), the founder of Cycling Kuala Lumpur Bicycle map, leading a group of cyclist over a
one day tour to rediscover the lost spaces of Petaling Jaya.
transportation infrastructure dependent
on a cheap and accessible supply
of energy. Today, we live in an increasingly
mobile world where we expect to
be able to fly or drive outstation over
the weekend. The modes of transport
and the high energy demand environment
we live in require large amounts
of fossil fuel, produce air pollution and
contribute to climate destabilization.
On the contrary on design thought,
how would society and our sense of
place be impacted by reduced mobility
and recreational activities that
occurred closer to home?
Energy and transportation demand
can be reduced by creating beautiful
whole communities. Do people feel less
of a need to escape to the countryside
when they have a strong sense of place
and attachment to their community?
Perhaps there need to be more places
to escape to within the city, this
includes having access to recreation
in natural spaces, quiet sheltered
repose, vibrant street lie and shopping
opportunities among other things. By
designing for integrated communities
with multipurpose infrastructure
and encouraging active mobility such
as walking or cycling, there is huge
earning in the aspect of energy conservation
before we even start talking
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november-december, green+.2014