SEMARANG – The Council of Academic Senate Professors Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) contributed to the thought of the sustainable development of the Old City Semarang through a webinar which presented the professors and other competent figures. Apart from being the speakers, many professors were actively involved in the webinar with the theme “Pengembangan Museum dan Kawasan Kota Lama Semarang Berbasis Pembangunan Berkelanjutan” which was held on Friday (16/4/2021).

Undip directly fielded two professors as the speakers, namely Prof Dr Dra Dewi Yuliati (Professor of History at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Undip), and Prof Dr Ir Erni Setyowati MT (Professor of the Engineering Faculty Undip). The other speakers who contributed their thought on the event were Hilmar Farid PhD (Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture); Ir Diana Kusumastuti MT (Director General of Human Settlements, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing), as well as the Mayor of Semarang, Hendrar Prihadi SE MM who also the graduate of the Doctoral Program in Social Science Undip.

The Undip’s Rector, Prof Dr Yos Johan Utama SH MHum, during his opening speech said that the Council of the Professors Undip should had been involved in the strategic matters. Their duty was, said Yos Johan, indeed to discuss the strategic matter both in local and international levels. “Undip was also summoned to study the strategic topic of the sustainable development of the Kota Lama Semarang as the input to the government. “There must be a road map. So that, the successors can continue,” he said.

According to him, Undip should always work in synergy with the Semarang Government and the existing stakeholders. Honestly, this Professor of the Constitutional Law admited that the high interest in entering Undip was one of the supporting factors. It was the perception that Semarang was very suitable to be a place to study, because it is calm, and there were no riots or big demonstrations.

The conduciveness of Semarang also supported Undip to be continuously included in the ranks of the 5 Best and Most Favorite State Universities in Indonesia. Semarang continued to grow to be a place to gain knowledge that could compete with other cities.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the SA Undip Council of Professors, Prof. Dr. Ir Purwanto DEA, assessed that the Old City of Semarang had developed into a magnet for the tourists. Physical, infrastructure and cultural improvements became the significant assets in the development. Prof. Purwanto hoped that the webinar would generate constructive input for the sustainable improvement and development of the Old City Semarang.

In the discussion led by the Secretary of C Commission of the Council of Professors Undip, Prof. Dr. Dra Ari Pradhanawati MS; The Mayor of Semarang, Hendra Prihardi, stated that the revitalization of the Old City Semarang area was the result of the contributions of many parties. The area that was originally slum and gloomy because many building owners had abandoned it due to the flood, was now more open and bright.

Hendi – the nickname of the Mayor of Semarang, revealed that only about 10% of the building owners in the Old City Semarang area occupied the building. The main reason was because the area was prone to flooding. Therefore, when the revitalization was carried out, the first target was the flood management. As a result, during the 2013-2020 period, Old City, which included the Little Netherlands, Kampung Melayu, Kampung Kauman and the Chinatown, was spared from flooding. “There are significant changes. The area that was originally gloomy and slum has now become more open and brighter, ” he said.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Hilmar Farid PhD, who was also the Head of the Indonesian Historian Society (2016-2021), argued that a strategy which was relevant to the Old City was the Historic Urban Landscape. In this concept, the existing buildings were seen as a whole as a single landscape. A holistic and integrated approaches among the stakeholders were used to achieve the goals of the cultural, social and economic preservation for the sustainable urban development.

The Professor of the Undip Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Ir Erni Setyowati MT, in her presentation concluded that there were 6 variables in the development of the Old City, namely the history, direction and government policies, position in the city space structure, building / artifacts maintenance, identity of corporation that the City Government collaborated with many stakeholders in one system packed and managed by the City Government, as well as the concept of the area sustainability. The sustainability parameters included the enhancement of the land ecology, movement and connectivity, water management and conservation, solid and material waste management, community welfare strategies, energy savings in buildings and regional development innovations. She reminded that the implementation should employ the experts who were Greenship Associate certified. (PR team)

Source : undip.ac.id