Charles+Vicencio+on+Green+Space

  Green Open Space and Code River Walk Development On September 21, at the 14th floor of Bro. Andrew Gonzales building, a visiting scholar named Dr. Widodo Brontowiyono came up to the podium after being introduced and talked about Green Open Spaces and the development of the Code River Walk. The topic of his discussion ranged from eco-friendly development to the problems regarding the population. Dr. Brontowiyono related the problem of a huge population directly to the destruction of the environment. He talked about the fact that a huge population will need a bigger ‘space’ for living. This space will obviously be coming from the environment and in doing so, the natural processes that occur and ecosystems in the land that will be reconstructed will be disrupted. That is where his proposal of GOS comes in. By utilizing unused spaces by transforming them into an economic friendly area, Green Open Spaces can help not only by reducing CO2 emissions but rather, it can add to the beauty of the establishment or area in which is it placed. For me, this idea, the GOS, will be a great help not only to us humans, but to the whole world IF it is properly supported and implemented throughout the world. The next topic of Dr. Brotowiyono is the development of Code River. Pictures of the river and comparisons were made by him and that is when I realized that Indonesia and the Philippines have the same problems regarding the behavior of their respective communities. The Code River development aims to remove or relocate illegal settlers that have taken their residence along the river. Trees will be replanted near the river and the illegal settlers will be given an apartment that applied the concept of the GOS. For me, the fact that the illegal settlers were given a place to call their own was commendable. By giving them a proper place to live, the government can avoid unnecessary casualties in case of a disaster.

All in all, the seminar was helpful but could be better if only Dr. Brontowiyono can speak clearer.