Green Infrastructure and Construction as a Public Means

Public Space & Playground

July 12, 2019

Fresh air is an invaluable treasure if we live in a big city like Jakarta. Trees that are increasingly rarely found plus pollution from vehicles have made many elements of society start thinking about how a city can provide infrastructure and construction facilities that are environmentally friendly and also become lungs for the city.

One of the interesting concepts is to make trees part of infrastructure or public construction facilities. An American think-tank called The Nature Conservancy (TNC) suggests that the government should begin to consider cities as part of an important public facility. Because, the presence of trees is not only to decorate the city but also as the lungs of the city. TNC is supported by data from various weather and climate studies trying to convince local governments in various cities in America to make tree planting a priority for their urban planning.

So far, many city governments in various countries, including America, only see trees as city decorations, so they will prioritize tree planting in central areas such as the center of government and perhaps the city's vital objects. Because usually the city government does not want to spend too large a budget for secondary infrastructure such as planting this tree.

To answer the problem of infrastructure costs associated with tree planting, TNC suggests using public health funds, which are also usually included in local budgets. Because according to research in 2013 it found that the presence of trees in several cities that have implemented the concept of trees as infrastructure can save public expenditure in the health sector as much as 60 million dollars per year. This can be drawn as a conclusion that the presence of trees in cities makes people healthier in general.

The concept of tree infrastructure and environmentally friendly construction is definitely very suitable to be applied in a country like Indonesia. 

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