Can we think of Modern Urban Greening; The World Is Not Shutting Down!
This particular message is written with a very heavy heart considering the global threat identified as Covid-19 that has managed to knock on everyone’s door and indeed it has kept the world’s economy in jeopardy but I tell you it is not the end of the world yet. Times like this our safety is a top priority and it is not negotiable; I am highly encouraged by medical practitioners who are currently responding to this call, there is a very great hope and I am very sure that this situation will soon come to an end because China has paved a way to end this pandemic disease and we are going there.
Addressing Covid-19 pandemic and protecting ourselves against future global threats also requires strong global environmental stewardship; this triggers my motivation to remind environmentalists in Tanzania to stop thinking that the world shutting down, I am very sorry to tell you that we are not done yet. Something has to be done on a very a serious note!
This is the right time to sit down and construct our future plans on how we can re- design cities by introducing a modern urban greening by starting with Dar-es Salaam and other cities will follow. The prime factor that drives me from within to recommend Dar es Salaam to take the lead because it has sustained a relatively high population growth ; according to the United Nations Dar es Salaam is growing rapidly with a population of more than six million and is currently Africa’s fifth largest city.
Environmental challenges stressing Dar es Salaam like poor roadside air quality, noise pollution, poor water quality, floods, drastic increase of temperature and deterioration of aquatic systems I believe all these can be curbed by massive urban greening. It’s not a secret anymore that the top priority for many is the magnificence of the architecture designs, massive investments and business opportunities available; leaving behind the protection of the urban green spaces that can offer a number of everlasting benefits to those inhabiting the respective areas.
There is nothing bad in investing our thoughts and energy in growing our cities, off course we’re improving our living standards as well .I completely understand that by any means we can’t escape the fact that investments must be magnified and industries tend to grow as a result , Yes this is the only way we can save ourselves. No country has positioned its economy without massive industrialization on the ground; Industrialization is likely to escalate the Gross Domestic Value of the country as a result of the increase of employment rate, fluctuation of money, higher living standards and other attributes accelerating the growth of the GDP.
My argument; Have the environmentalists in Tanzania thought of massive urban greening yet? If No, when, where and how? If Yes, Can they please start with Dar es Salaam before it’s too late. Yes, this is the perfect time to collect our thoughts together and come up with a plan.
I understand that urban greening is super underestimated by many because what poops in people’s mind when you hear the word urban greening could be “Beautification of the City”, Fine I hear them!!!Let’s Beautify Dar es Salaam if that’s the case, if that’s the simplest language for them to understand.
Did you know? Increasing green spaces in high populated cities like Dar es Salaam could improve the air quality as recommend by World Health Organization because the shrubs and trees are able to reduce harmful gases and particles from the air. Also there are greater chances of reducing flooding since the shrubs and trees play a role of managing surface runoff.
On contrary there is a very great promise in stabilizing temperature and climate of Dar es Salaam, since green areas can cause average city temperature to fall by around 1 degree.
Massive greening in Dar es Salaam could reduce higher consumption of power in air conditioning and other forms of energy this is likely to reduce the living costs, however the green spaces to be developed will needed to be managed by any means resulting to long term employment opportunity using both skilled and unskilled labors. What inspires me here; this will improve the livelihoods
I also understand that the green spaces to be developed will serve as a “Wildlife Corridor”; this will maintain a connection between animal and plant populations. Also the green spaces help to combat noise pollution by acting as an effective psychological buffer.
In-closing; with very high confidence I will say this until it makes sense; the world isn’t shutting down, yes not this sooner!!!!. In this sense we should not let this Covid-19 manipulate us but we should navigate very carefully. The future is now, this is the right time to think of massive urban greening and guess what? Next time I will come with a plan on how we can put this to reality, Oh Yes!! we have been talking for a very long time!!!
