Sustainable Governance is defined as a method for dealing with a broad range of conflicts to achieve mutually satisfactory and binding agreements through negotiations and cooperation. This method includes the creation and implementation of rules and for the establishment of different levels of institutions and organizations that regulate and enforce collective activities within given jurisdictions. Sustainable governance provides an effective way to deal with the broad ranging issues of sustainable development. (World Centre for Sustainable Development, 2010)
1. Economic governance function in making economic decision processes that affect country economic and others economic related activities such as citizens poverty and quality of life.
2. Political governance function in making political related decision processes to formulate country policy
3. Administrative governance is responsible in implementing the country policy.
By mixed all three legs, the sustainable governance is the process and structure that guided the relationship of the political, social and economic together.
1. Everyone have equal chance in voicing up their opinion and participate in the decision making process regardless of skin colours, gender and so on.
2. Public is free accessible in getting transparent, clearer and enough information.
3. Government is accountability and responsible about the public welfare and issues.
4. Government is effective and efficiency in meeting public needs with making a good decisions and wisely use of resource.
5. Everyone have equal chance in improving their quality of life and well-being.
6. Promotes fairness in complying the rule of law especially law on human right.
7. Government is responsible in serving all stakeholders.
8. Government leaders and public both have a broad and long term strategic vision on the country governance and human growth in towards sustainable way.
9. Government have a consensus orientation in reaching the best interests for the group particular on a policies and procedures.
The important thing is the sustainable governance must able in making sure that political, social and economic priorities are served all while the vulnerable group such as the poorest, women and children have power in participating the decision making processes.
Penang able in achieving as a sustainable governance?
Today
I came across Penang Forum 5 and found out a presentation A Current View of
Penang’s Development: Rhetoric & Reality by MPPP Councillor and Dr. Lim Mah
Hui. It is all about the current view of development in Penang city. I am glad
enough that I, as a future planner, did not miss it.
The
Penang Blueprint listed some definition of livable city where these can be
defined in broad terms as:
- people centred with emphasis on
well-being of their residents
- strengthening of community
relationship
- increasing
civic engagement and building environment facilitating human interactions
- need for well-functioning public
realm for meetings and encounters
- public
places must be appropriately human scaled
- liveable
cities characterised by short travelling distances achieved with
- pedestrian
network, bicycle networks, efficient transport system
The
presentation questioned if the current development in Penang moves towards the
achievement of liveable city. And critically critiqued, it has made me a great
period of brainstorming. Personally, I strongly believe that a real sustainable
liveable city has to be people-centered development design.
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| Figure 1: Do planner listen what was human needed? Source: http://www.plan-eu.org/youthcorner/child-rights/ |
Mark
my word, “people-centered development”; it is focuses on the real needs of
local communities for the necessities of life. This concept will know how
people perceive the surrounding changes and how they interact with the changes
to their needs and priorities. As a planner, we should interact and knowing the
reality or to be more specifically understand the world of real people so that
we can plan according to their needs and aspirations. Besides that, Mathur 1990
stated that concept of "people-centered development per-supposes
first-hand knowledge of the people concerned".
It
is meaningless to only consider the rich society’s access to the great provided
facilities such as private hospitals, gated communities with integrated sport
facilities and even private parks, international school for them to send their
children over there. Such planning would not be enough liveable for the lower
categories of society such as for a low income industrial worker, it could be a
totally different experience for him to perceive Penang with his very limited
income which could hardly afford any of those luxury facility.
Without
much consideration of the other lower categories of society access to a
well-being lifestyle, the whole city planning system will only become less
people-centric. Consequently, the developers will regarded as clients while the
citizens will become complainants only. Therefore, I think there is always a
need of listen the voice from the public association. Of course it is an
encouraging situation that the Penang government has become more responsive to
the public engagement, but why there is a still increase in the public
complainants. Had their voices truly been referred?
When
talking about people-centric planning, the availability of public amenities is
certainly crucial in consideration. Protected greenery, clean open spaces and
safe environmental-friendly transportation network linkage must be achieved.
Would it happen in the rapid development of Penang city? On the contrary, I can
foresee there are many concrete blocks ‘growing’ upwards instead of big trees,
many trees will be chop down for highways and road construction, land reclamation
for coastal property development, cutting down the hill slopes for higher land
luxury development. To compensate the loss, few bicycle lanes and pocket parks
will be provided in the master plan, in order to reach maximum monetary profit
return while call the whole plan as a sustainable city planning.
Not
to forget about public transportation, people-centered planning should offers an
effective way for citizens to take the convenient service of public transport
instead of paying high fuel cost for daily private vehicle transportation.
Enough with the talks on how much liveable the city is while only focus on the
roads building. It will only spoils the future sustainable city formation.
Besides,
the issue of heritage preservation is raised when Georgetown had been proudly
announced as a worldwide heritage site but the surrounding had been developed
rapidly as long as the heritage zone requirement been complied with. It is
funny when I saw high rise buildings around Georgetown have been forming a
disgusting buffer zone and actively ‘rendered’ the low rise heritage buildings.
I am not sure whether it is a well people-centric planning and really suitable
to the local context or not.
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| Figure 2.0: Penang George Town view on 2007. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Georgetown_Penang_December_2007_003.jpg |
 |
| Figure 3.0: Penang George Town view on 2012. Source: Jamil Jusoh, Process and Methodology (Urban Renewal and Urban Transformation) 2012. |
As
a planner, it is significant for me to establish my own stand on the forming of
a real sustainable liveable city. Even I could be wrong with my current point
of view, all the readings and experiences will be shaping up my knowledge and
perhaps one day later I could come up with my own philosophy for the sake of
sustainable urban planning.
Planning for the people should be the right of the people, not of the state.
But, it the states are planning what people needs ?
References:
1. P.L.dEVKOTA, People-Centered Development In Nepal: An Innovative Approach 2010.
2. MPPP Councillor & Dr. Lim Mah Hui.A Current View of Penang’s Development: Rhetoric & Reality 2012.
5.http://penanginstitute.org/v3/component/content/article/37-development/87-penang-blueprint
6.Jamil Jusoh, Process and Methodology (Urban Renewal and Urban Transformation) 2012.
7.World Centre for Sustainable Development.2010. http://worldcsd.com/sustainable_issues/
8..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Georgetown_Penang_December_2007_003.jpg
6.Jamil Jusoh, Process and Methodology (Urban Renewal and Urban Transformation) 2012.
7.World Centre for Sustainable Development.2010. http://worldcsd.com/sustainable_issues/
8..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Georgetown_Penang_December_2007_003.jpg
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