Work Together to Resolve Urban Problems

Jakarta-wapresri.go.id. Countries around the world must work together to solve urban problems which are increasingly getting complicated, so that the city and its people will have a comfortable environment to live.

“Only with good cooperation, we can solve all of these problems,” said Vice President Jusuf Kalla while delivering his keynote speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Third Preparatory Committee Meeting for Habitat at Grand City Convention and Exhibition in Surabaya on Monday morning (July, 7).

The Vice President believes that the current urbanization trends happening almost in every city in the world, including Indonesia are due to the increased effectiveness and efficiency in the management of agriculture with technology which in turn reduces the need of workforce. In the meantime, urban industries are growing rapidly and need a lot of workers.

“Forty years ago, the majority of the Indonesian population worked in agriculture, now there are only 33 percent remaining, “said the Vice President.

The Vice President then reminded Habitat program is a part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) declared in the United Nations last year. The eleventh program of MDGs, he said, requires all countries to turn its cities to be inclusive and accommodative to anyone who wants to live in.

“The prohibition to come to a city, to Jakarta for example, is no longer effective. Cities should be made resilient to face many problems, such as disaster, stress, and so on, “said Vice President.

Relating to problems of urban settlements, the Vice President reiterated the importance of construction of flats or apartments as a solution to the limited land that is not comparable to the population growth. The use of agricultural land as a residential area, according to him, is not the right step.

Vice President also observed climate change and global warming which has become common problems for the world today.

“We need a greener city thus saving energy,” said the Vice President.

Concluding his speech, the Vice President appealed to the delegates to continue the programs that are beneficial for the people.

This event is a preparatory meeting before the United Nations (UN) Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, popularly known as Habitat III, which is going to be held in Quito, Ecuador, on 17-20 October 2016.
The third conference in a series of conferences that the UN first held in 1976 aims to strengthen global political commitment for sustainable urbanization.

Also attending the event were Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basoeki Hadimoeljono, Minister of Research, Technology, and Higher Education Mohamad Natsir, Head of Vice President’s Office Mohamad Oemar, and Deputy to the Vice President on Human Development and Equitable Development Bambang Widianto. (KIP, Setwapres)