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A14 LOCAL
Thursday 6 February 2020

Advocating for Sustainable Aruban

Cities and Communities

ORANJESTAD – “We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns. For young
people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It is life or death”, Al-
exandra Ocasio –Cortes. I am sure scrolling down your Facebook news feed last people in society mobi- social well-being of our
month was so devastating. Reading about all the disasters, sadness, and turmoil lize themselves. Aruba’s people, health related ide-
people are experiencing around the world. Losing their loved ones, their homes, population has grown sig- als of our people, natural
their communities, and their cities. Bushfires in Australia, flash floods in Indonesia, nificantly over the last de- heritage protection, and
never recorded high temperatures in Europe, volcano eruptions in the Philippines, cades, which has led to an environmental concerns
and heavy rains in Brazil amongst them. The essence of what US representative Al- increase of the number of and so much more.
exandra Ocasio-Cortes is saying is that climate change is not negotiable anymore. cars. Even though the is-
The Goal of the Month for February is Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities land has a public transport 4. Cultural and Natural Her-
and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. system, mobility on the is- itage
land is highly dependent Up to this point Aruba has
But why is SDG 11 so relevant and important for us to consider? Well, the United on individuals having a not been very successful in
Nations Environment Program (2020) states that “due to their high concentration of car and households hav- protecting its cultural heri-
people, infrastructure, housing and economic activities, cities are particularly vul- ing more than one car. An tage, however has made
nerable to climate change and natural disasters impacts. Building urban resilience interesting component of tremendous advance-
is crucial to avoid human, social and economic losses while improving the sustain- sustainable transport ac- ments towards protecting
ability of urbanization processes is needed to protect the environment and mitigate cording to the SDGs is that its natural heritage. Since
disaster risk and climate change”. But, besides the climate challenges, the Sustain- we are “improving road 2000 Aruba has protected
able Development Platform of the UN emphasizes the fact that “urgent action is safety, notably by expand- one fifth of the island by
needed to reverse the current situation. With the areas occupied by cities growing ing public transport, with establishing the Arikok Na-
faster than their populations, there are profound repercussions for sustainability”. special attention to the tional Park. Between these
needs of those in vulner- parameters, all wildlife, flo-
Interesting update, last week Tuesday, January 28th 2020 Mrs. Marisol Lopez – Tromp able situations, women, ra and fauna are protect-
was sworn as the new Minister of Spatial Development Infrastructure and Environ- children, persons with dis- ed and safeguarded. How-
ment of Aruba. Her goal with this new position is to continue the work of the former abilities and older per- ever, besides protecting
Minister, Mr. Otmar Oduber, and to promote balanced economic growth and de- sons”. Transportation on life on land, Aruba has a lot
velopment, while taking into account the environment and biodiversity needs of the the island has always been of life below water in des-
island. a challenge. While the in- perate need for attention.
frastructure and access to This is how the marine pro-
Breaking down SDG 11 more roads has improved, tection area (MPA) project
To get a better understanding on SDG 11 it is important to break it down and explain the mobility concerns are initiated. Without analyzing
all relevant indicators. SDG 11 consists out of 7 main indicators, which are: affordable still present. how this went about, we
housing, sustainable transport, participatory planning, cultural and natural heritage, can now say that Aruba
disaster reduction, air quality and waste management, and public spaces. Out of 3. Participatory Planning will be protecting its natu-
these indicators, there are several sub indicators that are also relevant and crucial Being involved in the sus- ral heritage below water
within this discussion, such as rural-urban planning, mitigation of climate change, tainable human settlement as well through the four
basic services, and securing land rights. planning and manage- marine parks: MPA Arikok,
ment remains an important MPA Seroe Colorado, MPA
1. Affordable Housing aspect considering the Mangel Halto, MPA Oran-
One of the first project on sustainable living was the Smart Community (housing) need for collective input in jestad. These MPA will be
which was founded in 2014 by a consortium comprising of the Government of Aru- the development factors under supervision and care
ba, FCCA, Utilities NV, ELMAR, WEB ARUBA NV, SETAR and TNO Caribbean. Accord- of Aruba. Aruba has been of the Arikok National Park.
ing to FCCA, “smart Community Aruba entails the creation of a residential neighbor- very busy constructing the
hood in Aruba comprising of 20 houses geared at demonstrating sustainable living National Spatial Planning 5. Disaster reduction
principles in a real life Aruban environment. To this extent the neighborhood will (ROP) 2019-2029 and have Aruba compared to other
serve as a small-scale environment for demonstrating sustainable energy technol- now moved to the stage remaining Caribbean is-
ogy specific to the Caribbean’s climatic conditions. Findings and results will lead to where the Government of lands has not experienced
public dissemination towards Aruba’s people, businesses and/or education institu- Aruba together with the in- as impactful and detri-
tions. Moreover, results can inform policy making as to benefit Aruba as a whole”. put of the community and mental disasters over the
Without considering the transparency and legitimacy procedures within this project, all remaining stakeholder, decades. However, this is
the essence of this project is highly positive and serves as a great stepping stone will define what can and not a reason for the island
moving forward. can’t be permissible within to stay behind. With the
each category. Whether it challenges that come with
Besides this project, the Government of Aruba has a responsibility to continue secur- may be housing, protect- small-scale societies, one
ing affordable housing opportunities for the Aruban society. If we evaluate the last ed, and commercial areas, of the key demands are
10 years, the Government of Aruba provided approximately 934 affordable hous- all areas will be structured knowledge, education,
ing options within the first years (FCCA, 2020). Half way down the last 10 years, this accordingly (ROPV). The and research and devel-
decreased significantly, because they focused on renovated existing housing units. main concern with this, is opment.
Fortunately, new investments and constructions picked up again in the last years. that we keep our focus on
what is better for the entire
2. Sustainable Transport island. What will in the end Continued on Page 15
Sustainability is not only the infrastructure of a country but also consists with how be better for the economy,