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| Greener sidewalk makes a freener city |
A group of foreign tourists is strolling on the sidewalk along the Unification Palace on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia in District 1, HCM City. While the sun is shining brightly over their heads, their feet glide past green leaves and colorful flowers of low bushes in flower beds along the curbside.
Those flower beds which have been around for over a year now are part of an initiative referred locally as “va hè xanh” which literally means green sidewalk. The main idea relates to providing the sidewalk in the inner city with more green coverage.
Years ago, the municipal authorities kicked off their effort to give a facelift to the cityscape by renovating the sidewalk in the inner city. Different materials have been used, from concrete surface to zigzag-patterned paving tiles, a failed emulation of what has been applied successfully in the neighboring Thailand.
The latest option, hard surface concrete floor tiles, seems to be the top choice of authorities. However, according to specialists and scientists, the hardened surface of the sidewalk is working at the expense of the absorbency of the local terrain. In other words, the completely paved sidewalk in the inner city has aggravated flooding when heavy rains come or at high tide.
Meanwhile, the inner Saigon is desperately short of green trees. In line with plans, the per capita area of green trees in this city should have been between six and seven square meters by 2010. What’s more, experts say that in a year the inner city proper whose supposed population is 3 million people would dispose of more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide, 2,500 tons of dust and 160,000 tons of toxic gas. To neutralize these harmful substances, it requires 25 square meters of green trees per people. Much to the disappointment of those concerned, the current figure is less than one square meters per head.
Finally, an old concept came to life again. In addition to existing lines of wood trees, rows of flower beds where herbs and grass are planted should be in place. The sidewalk will then be adorned with the combination of high trees and low herbs.
As soon as the initiative in making the sidewalk greener was endorsed, all the plans to completely harden the surface have been halted. Instead, a sidewalk which is at least three meters wide is subject to the “green program.” A section of the sidewalk ranging from one meter to 2.5 meters is used as pedestrians’ walkway; the rest, from the curb to the walkway, will be for flower beds. Particular, wherever possible, creepers are grown along walls or fences.
Aside from increasing water absorbency, the green sidewalk also lessens what experts dub the “fireball” effect in which concrete or asphalt surface adds up to the increased heat in quarters with high density of construction.
Although the area of the “green sidewalk” which has been implemented remains modest in comparison with the total natural area of the inner city, it is still significant in that it conforms to the notion of a livable city where green foliage is underscored.
In this regard, there have been worrying signs. In various places, sidewalk flower beds were poorly protected. They are occupied for other purposes—a gathering point for chatting friends or a temporary storage for hawkers. As a result, flowers and herbs were destroyed, leaving ugly scenes.
An essential way to strengthen water absorbency and reduce heat, greener sidewalk will enable the cityscape to look nicer and friendlier, both to local inhabitants and visitors. What this campaign for green sidewalk is still lacking may be measures to attract the participation of communities. Without that public support, the “green sidewalk,” first initiated by the authorities, would not last long and take full effect.
