Green City

Green City or City of Green carries the same meaning if we do not understand fully the concept of Green City. Whenever the word green is mentioned people will automatically asking question about greenery, trees planting, landscaping or thing related to biodiversity. Some might have also saying that painting the building and any structure with green colour will do. I discovered this in a discussion brainstorming on the indicators for green city last week. This showed that many of us have the desire to go for green but not many have linked the idea of green city to other aspects of environment such as urban environment, urban infrastructure, urban transportation, urban building and well being of the people.

Green city might refer to what actions have been taken by the city dwellers to reduce carbon emission, amount of rubbish that go for 3R, creative design in optimising the natural features such as sunlight and wind and also the land utilisation for services, energy and water conservation and etc, and of course the richness of biodiversity in the city area.

In doing so, a framework outlining different aspects, targets, strategies, actions and stakeholders are important. Without a proper framework, it is becoming a difficult task to understand where we are, how are we moving forward and importantly where are we heading to. Thereby although it is encouraging to see the mushrooming of accredited green buildings, it is of no use if the construction of the buildings is not accounted and coordinated collectively. In this respect, the Green Township Framework introduced by the Ministry of Energy, Water and Green Technology with the support of Malaysian Institute of Planners is timely.