Situated in the heart of Surabaya, capital of East Java Province, the Bungkul City Park recently won the 2013 United Nations Asian Townscape Award presented by UN Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the Asia Habitat Society, the Asia Townscape Design Society, and the Fukuoka Asia Urban Research Center.

The award was handed by UN-HABITAT’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific representative, Sato Fukasawa and the President of Asia Townscape Design Society, Masaru Sato to the Mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini and the Secretary of Surabaya City Hendro Gunawan, in Fukuoka, Japan, on 26th November.

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The Asian Townscape Awards are designed to honor cities, regions, projects, and others that have played a significant role as models in landscape construction. This year, the Asia Townscape Awards carried the theme“Townscapes: a Source of People’s Pride” which shows the people`s pride in the place in which they live their daily lives. This year, Surabaya’s Bungkul Park became the only city park in Indonesia to receive the award while the other Asian Townscape Awards went to Da Nang City and Hoi An Town in Vietnam.

The 10,000 square meters Bungkul Park is complete with facilities, such as a jogging track, children’s playground, skateboard arena, and Wi-Fi internet access. The park is designed for the people’s enjoyment and regarded as a pleasant public space in a tropical area. Bungkul Park is assessed as able to maintain the balance between its function and modernity, thus making it a perfect place for the people to conduct many kinds of activities here.

Mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini said that although there may probably be more beautiful parks, nevertheless, the social, cultural, recreational, and educational functions of Bungkul Park are the those that truly stand out. “The park is also a symbol of equality, since no differences are made between rich and poor, or between kids and adults” commented Risma as reported by tempo.co.

The Mayor also added that although Surabaya now already has one park of international standard, the city plans to create more such parks in other parts of Surabaya including a Flower Park in Keputih, and a fruits city forest in the western part of the city. “We are preparing a 50 hectares area in Keputih for a flower Park, while in western Surabaya a 50 hectares’ area will be transformed into a fruits city forest” added mayor Risma.

The award also added to the long list of awards already received by the city of Surabaya during October-November. Aside from the Asian Townscape Award, the city has also received the Asia-Pacific Future Government Awards 2013, Healthy City National Award, E-Procurement Award, Best National Library, and Best National Archives.

eturbonews.com