T

he administration will try a new approach to building children-friendly parks by involving residents in the planning and construction process.

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said the city had consulted University of Indonesia (UI) sociology professor Imam Budidarmawan Prasodjo to guide the implementation of the plan.

'€œLast year, I met with Pak Imam and asked for his help in developing child-friendly parks. We wanted to involve residents in building these parks as much as possible,'€ Ahok told reporters at City Hall on Friday.

He went on to say that by engaging the public, residents could develop a sense of ownership, which would motivate them to take care of the park once it was built.

The governor said this year the city administration aimed to build around 60 child-friendly parks as a part of the target to build 300 parks by 2017.

'€œThis year, we will develop a total of 60 child-friendly parks,'€ Ahok said.

During the past two weeks, the administration opened two child-friendly parks '€” Sungai Bambu Park in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta and Bahari Park in Cilandak, South Jakarta. Though both parks have similar facilities, such as a playground and integrated health posts, they feature different designs. The Sungai Bambu park has a bicycle track and an abundance of trees, while the Bahari Park has a mini soccer field and a small fish pond.

Separately, Imam told The Jakarta Post that along with his students at UI and staffers at the non-profit organization, Yayasan Nurani Dunia (World Conscience Foundation), he had thus far assisted the city administration in developing six child-friendly parks located in Gandaria, South Jakarta; Sungai Bambu, North Jakarta; Cililitan, East Jakarta; Cideng, Central Jakarta; Kembangan, West Jakarta; and Untung Jawa Island in Thousands Islands regency.

He said such a cooperation was a breakthrough, as residents actively participated in developing a public facility.

'€œThe city administration often builds public facilities such as parks without considering residents'€™ aspirations or needs. In our program, residents participate in design discussions, construction and management,'€ Imam said over the phone on Thursday.

Imam added that his team had established a social mapping of each area to determine the needs of all groups in a single community. The challenge, he said, was satisfying each group'€™s needs.

'€œTherefore we held discussions and established personal relations with residents in order to understand them better. We wanted to understand what each community wanted so that the park would be useful for them,'€ he said.

When group aspirations clashed, he would task his students with coming up with a compromise.

'€œConflicts between groups are inevitable because each group has their own needs. It was a very difficult challenge for us because we needed to fit a whole community'€™s needs onto this one plot of land,'€ he said.

Designs for each park, Iman said, took two to three months to complete. Management was the real challenge, he added.

'€œThe work does not stop once construction finishes. Residents in the community must cooperate in managing the park. The facilities are top-notch, so residents must do their best to take care them,'€ he said.