Jakarta dari 2009 menuju 2010

Metro TV, 30 Desember 2009, Jam 19:00-20:30, “Suara Anda”

Lestari dan Berkelanjutan

Tulisan ini terbit sebelumnya di kolom Bahasa!, Majalah TEMPO, 14-20 Desember 2009.

Dengan demam pemanasan buana sekarang, makin banyak kata-kata terkait lingkungan bertaburan dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Sebagian darinya sudah diterjemahkan dari bahasa lain ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia, meskipun penggunaan yang terakhir ini masih setengah-setengah.

Salah satu yang bermasalah adalah kata “berkelanjutan” yang dianggap sebagai pengganti kata sustainable. Tetapi, dalam banyak dokumen resmi masih sering digunakan kata sustainable, dengan huruf miring ataupun tidak.

Arts and Transition towards Sustainability of Cities[1]

My interest in both arts and environment stems from the source of my curiosity: cities. I started studying cities from architectural discipline, and ending up looking at architecture from the city’s perspective.  The issue on sustainability of cities is appealing not only because of its urgency with regards to climate change, but also because it offers an opportunity to think of, and search for, new ways to live wholly sustainably by also taking care of other problems pre-existing in cities. This opportunity challenges societies to be humane again, to take care of other ecological and non-ecological problems that have been outstanding in cities, such as poverty, social justice, and migrant workers. Confronted with the predominant, yet ineffective, urban planning approach that failed to make our cities a better place for all, I have for the last ten years turned to arts and other disciplines to search for alternative ways to engage urban societies.