sdg 1 1
Komunitas berkelanjutan Jadikan kota dan pemukiman manusia inklusif, aman, tangguh dan berkelanjutan • Pastikan akses bagi semua orang untuk mendapat perumahan dan layanan dasar yang layak, aman, dan terjangkaul perbarui daerah kumuh. • Sediakan akses ke sistem transportasi yang aman, terjangkau, dapat diakses dan berkelanjutan bagi semua, tingkatkan keselamatan jalan raya, terutama dengan memperluas transportasi umum. • Sediakan akses universal ke ruang yang aman, inklusif, dan dapat diakses, hijau dan publik. • Dukung negara kurang berkembang dalam membangun bangunan yang berkelanjutan dan tangguh.
Dr. Aimee Paterson Konsultan Etika Kristen di The Salvation Army Ethics Centre in Winnipeg, Kanada f you read the final two chapters
I
of the Bible (Revelation 21‐22),
you will see that the city operates like an ecosystem. It’s a place where everything works together for good. The bounty and beauty of the environment are celebrated as nature is incorporated in the city’s very design. A thirst‐quenching river flows and trees yield nourishing fruit. Health and wholeness are sustained all year round. But there’s no sunlight or moonlight, because God’s glory extinguishes the darkness of night. This holy city doesn’t just celebrate nature. God’s light shines both on nature and human culture and creativity: streets, walls, nations and tribes. The city gates never close ‐ everyone lives in a safe neighbourhood. This is what the new Jerusalem is like. It is a place where God dwells among the people. Human beings have long built cities seeking to provide people with safety, community and the promise of a better future. We want to be able to meet our own needs, also doing our best to ensure that our children can meet theirs. This is sometimes called ‘sustainable development’. On our own, we have never succeeded; yet Christians are told not to despair but to be hopeful. The prophets call us to concern ourselves with the welfare 1 2 3 26
of human communities and seek justice in our cities.1 Glen Stassen, In Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace, observes that sustainable development is, in part, the result of welfare and justice. What might welfare and justice in a city look like today? First think about what injustice and a lack of welfare look like. In a nation like Brazil, they might look like the favelas on the outskirts of major cities. Favelas were originally considered temporary residences for immigrants moving from the outlying country to the cities to build a better life. But making a new start requires money and opportunity, and many immigrants were pushed out of the urban centres. For the most part, favelas failed to receive public services, with some still having no sanitation, electricity, medical care, education, public transit or city planning. With no viable economy, drug trafficking and violence run rampant. Residents often live in inadequate housing. Many favelas have been wiped away in mudslides or floods because of their geographic locations. The Salvation Army has a serving presence in favelas,2 but Salvationists are also encouraged to learn from people who are disenfranchised. What lessons do
Jeremiah 29:7; Amos 5:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5BShmE0KLc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sT8rhhbCUA
residents of favelas have to teach us? In recent years, a number of favelas have been building communities of resilience by working hand in hand with the land and with each other. They govern themselves creatively and sustainably. Informal waste collection systems are organised. Bicycles are commonly used for transit. Houses are constructed on stronger foundations, providing protection from natural disaster. Vegetable gardens are grown for nutritional benefits. Forests and wildlife are seen as natural resources to be protected. People support one another when there is need. A number of residents claim that they live in a favela not because they have to but because they choose to.3 One non‐ governmental service worker observes: ‘Everyone knows everyone. There aren’t walls around the houses, everything is open.’ Sounds a little bit like the city of God, doesn’t it? However, it will be challenging for favelas to develop some other components of SDG 11 if they continue to be neglected by their municipal governments. Let’s continue to live in hope that increasing support will be given to disenfranchised communities and that welfare and justice will be achieved for everyone.
