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POTENTIAL OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES:A POSSIBILITY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?97ConclusionThis study discovered that meaningful informationcould be collected through actual urban activities. Thestudy’s five continuous phases, from research fieldworkto public exhibition in 10 months, enabled us to createa vision and to propose an alternative methodology ofurban planning.Struggle in the framework of urban societyThrough the progress of the project, we recognizedunderstandable conflicting interests and differentopinions among groups such as communities,developers, local governments and the media. Wefound that each party tried to solve issues from thestandpoint of their own conventional framework,neglecting the complexities and inter-relatedness ofthe issues. At the same time, it should be realized thatwe could not pinpoint issues and problems withoutconducting small-scale observations on all levels, and atthe level of daily life. Overlooking these matters wouldhave resulted in a “master planning” type of urbandevelopment. 10Let me explain what we observed at the kampungwhere we carried out this project.There was a dispute between residents of one kampungand a developer over a particular site. This seemedlikely to go to court. The kampung community calledthe project a “Money Tsunami”. They said that thedeveloper and the local authorities that approved theproject had not gone through the proper process. Thecommunity also blamed the mass media for failing toair the matter in public. Meanwhile, the developerviewed the community residents as “squatters”blocking the project. The dispute became emotionaland neither side had come up with constructive ideasfor an amicable resolution. Though a court may settlethe issue in future, any judgment would likely leave asour taste in the mouth for both parties. We foundthat the dispute was not simply an issue of real estatebut more a social issue. Kampung residents shouldconsider why their property was targeted by adeveloper for a new development. Factors such as “ayouth drain from the kampung,” “economic slump,”“losing industry/culture in the area,” etc., might havegiven a developer reasons for why the site should besuitable for a new development.These issues should be treated as socioeconomic issues.A developer aiming to generate quick projects can getembroiled in a court battle, damaging both the projectand the company image. Companies should avoid thisby recognizing the complexity of urban developmentand the fact that the issues affect many groups. Selfinterestedapproaches are not an answer. It is vital toensure cooperative efforts and approaches amongvarious social groups in order to achieve mutuallyacceptable and beneficial urban development.Through discussions with many stakeholders, we cameup with a proposal for how to proceed with urbandevelopment programs in the context of a fastdevelopingurban environment in Asia.1: Necessity of a committee to discuss urbanmattersEstablish a committee consisting ofrepresentatives of various social groups, with thegoal of reaching a common vision acceptable toall groups.Each committee member should focus onintergroup issues and on issues within his/herown group. All should be prepared to makeadjustments or compromises to reach the goal.We noticed that it is very rare for kampung tocooperate with other kampung on issues.Kampung tend to each have an independentspirit and organization. Through variousorganizations such as RW/RT and socialactivities, residents have a strong kampung-basedcommunity spirit.This cooperative spirit can however mean acertain closure to the opinions or feelings ofother communities, perhaps of a different race orreligion. There is often an iron gate at theentrance of kampung. In fact, cooperation andinformation sharing between kampung would bean important step towards solving commonproblems.2: Importance of education to develop theurban environmentAll stakeholders should have an opportunity toaccess appropriate education to support them torecognize and understand key issues. Thiseducation does not have to be a highly academicand/or special. It should be interdisciplinary andshould include awareness of kampung life, and ofmaster planning.The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows