City Presents Urban City as Public Third Room

We have finished it in 24 locations and 24 other locations are still on progress

The Jakarta Provincial Government continues to present various urban parks in Jakarta. The public infrastructure development that is still being ongoing in the past two years proves they are fully committed to presenting a public third room that is comfortable for its citizens. This is certainly not out of the role of the public and it is in accordance with the concept of City 4.0 (the Government as a collaborator).

Within Two Years, Anies Accelerates Urban Park Construction to Realize the Third Place for Citizens

In the Media Update activity, Jakarta Forestry Agency Head Zuzi Marsitawati explained its development has been realized in seven locations last year. While this year, 51 parks are targeted to be built this year.

"We have finished it in 24 locations and 24 other locations are still on progress. In 2020, similar action will be done in 51 locations and 200 parks are targeted in 2020," she expressed, in the room of Jakarta Communication, Informatics and Statistic Agency, Block F on the second floor, at City Hall, Thursday (10/17), as quoted by Jakarta PPID's press release.

She explained Taman Maju Bersama (TMB) has a different paradigm than other parks, namely RPTRA. Despite they are classified as green open space (RTH), the TMB is more varied, thematic, adapted to the characteristics and size of the land, and is built collaboratively with the community.

"Why is it called TMB? Because we make it together with the community. So, before we do the planning, we first do a focus group discussion (FGD). We do this in three stages," he explained.

As the initial stage, it starts with social and environmental mapping to get a comprehensive mapping. Then it is continued with the second phase of FGD by offering the design concept to the community.

While the last is the final design is the result of discussion and describes it what the park will be like. It is hoped that the need for open space for interaction can be met and take part in assisting during development. After the park is done, it will be continued with activation of activities in the park by cooperating with communities around the park.

There is also the revitalization of Grande Park this year that is still under development process in Puring and Mataram parks. As for the other four parks that have been designed are Tugu Tani Park, Tebet Park, Langsat Park and Cempaka Park. It is carried out by paying attention to the green and blue networks as a connector and amplifier of the ecological shaft.

"We also use a deep disaster approach in the context of the issue of priority floods and fires as well as other issues such as earthquake, land subsidence and air pollution. This is consistent with the function of green open space park, which is to maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem, increase the carrying capacity of the land, create thermal comfort, water conservation area, disaster mitigation space, improve the quality of urban health, increase the city's aesthetic and can increase economic value," she explained.

It emphasizes the revitalization of large-scale parks while remaining land for water retention. The concept is Fun Transit Park, which is a convenient transit place for pedestrians as it is integrated with public transportation and also support for the ecological (Green Open Space), the existence of playful facilities and can be accessed by anyone, including those with disabilities (inclusive).

"Talk about TMB, we make it from land acquisition. But the Grande Park, we build from an existing park. So, we'll improve the quality of the 4 parks and will be continued next year. After that we do a quick auction in December," she told.

The city will arrange various types of parks or other green spaces to bring the Public Third Room in Jakarta. The sidewalk arrangement along Jalan Sudirman - MH Thamrin is carried out along with the Jakarta Bina Marga Agency and Jakarta Forestry Agency.

Trees that block the sidewalk for pedestrians can be relocated to other green space locations, thus the location can be replanted with the appropriate trees. Besides as aesthetic and ecological, it is also a pathway for bird migration. So, it is also expected to act as a counterweight to ecosystems.

"We also plan to intensively make a rain garden which is already ongoing in Kasablanka area in line with pedestrian arrangement through Bina Marga Agency. It is a place to store water. We also another plan to make a vertical garden. That is one way to get the green open space," he told.

Aside that, the forestry agency also arranges the tomb like a park to eliminate the creepy impression, like in Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery (TPU).

"Urban forests will be built next year, we are improving the quality of Srengseng Forest Park which is now under planning. We are also slated to arrange tombs gradually in 17 TPUs," she explained.

At the same time, the Jakarta Women's Empowerment, Family Planning and Child Protection Agency (PPAPP) Head Tuty Kusumawati expressed that the urban city is also a playground and study place for kids. That is why the city needs to needs to do arrangement in RPTRAs in order to support the realization of a decent and child-friendly city.

Other opinions also come from a Garden Practitioner/Architect Farrizky Putra. He said, the public third room is the terrace of the city. It has a City Park whose context is more greening with minimal buildings. It is very good and can be continuously improved in the future.