IMAGINING IPOH
as a leader in environmental management:
water
forest
farming
traffic
wildlife
waste
cemeteries
i imagine ipoh declared a national park with big animals roaming the street n parks again including elephants cows goat deers (giraffes zebras hippos)
i imagine clean flowing drains with big fishes swimming in them
i imagine slow walkable streets shaded by majestic trees that perform as linear social space full of people n future low carbon vehicles like bicycles, trishaws, mopads, scooters etc
i imagine 100% farmland are productive organic farms
i imagine huge recycling plants using earthworms n black soldier flies to turn organic waste to compost n animal feed
i imagine no more quarrying of limestone or deforestation n restoring all quarries n mining pools n wasteland n cemeteries into modern parks n wildlife sanctuaries
i imagine kinta river with punting boats n its banks are km of botanical gardens n urban community farms
i imagine ipoh old town free of private cars with tree lined streets with a buzzing economy of eateries, museums, downtown universities n startup incubators
i imagine waller court n sg pari tower to be repurposed as creative hubs for urban farming, esports, gaming, arts, farm to table kitchens n headquarters to grab, facebook n google
i imagine public transport n BRT n bicycles n other future low carbon mobility vehicles to replace private cars in the inner city
i imagine a city where people take ownership n pride on their environment as a refreshed MBI finds new innovative ways to engage n empower the people on public projects
i imagine ipoh as a new melting pot where the second wave of bangladeshi, nepal, myanmar immigrants are integrated in dignified n inclusive ways to create conditions for new possibilities in food, culture, business, sports, fashion, etc to mutate n flourish just like how the chinese n indian n peranakan immigrants have advanced the country in the last 100 years
i imagine underperforming old buildings to be repurposed into well designed clean dignified micro houses for locals n immigrants n the homeless
i imagine ipoh to be in the same league as other forward thinking third world cities like curitiba, bogota, bandung or sikkim
i imagine ipoh to be the city of choice for young millinials who are looking to make impacts in their careers - a city where there are net inflow rather than outflow of young people
i imagine an organic decentralised singularity-like university https://su.org/ in downtown ipoh using dilapidated underperforming private n govt buildings including the train station n post office buildings
i imagine ipoh to the innovative hub for alternative energy with the city 50% powered by solar n wind n waste incinerators
i imagine ipoh to have alternative cemeteries where burial plots becomes future forest n parks
i imagine housing to be predominately mixed housing when young n old, different nationalities, different income groups are staying in well designed environment that promote shared resource n the rich helping the poor
i imagine festivals like burning man or wonderfruit to be held at disused mining pools or clearwater sanctuary to disseminate n share all the above radical ideas in an inclusive n fun environment
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Text by Ng Sek San