Reader Response Essay Draft 3

In the article "Developing Sustainable Infrastructure in New Cities", Cho (2014) claims that the enhancement in performance and volatility of infrastructure needs to accommodate the 21st century's fast urban growth. She mentions that there are economic, social and environmental challenges for consideration in addition to the conservation of energy resources. The effects of these challenges have to be examined as they can bring about positive or negative results for the community. She argues that overcoming the challenges is crucial in creating a sustainable and efficient infrastructure. The writer then cites the application of Envision Sustainability Rating System in her Impact King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) Fellowship Project in Saudi Arabia.

I do agree with the author that more attention should be paid to overcome the various challenges to create a sustainable infrastructure in addition to using the application of Envision Rating System in her KAEC fellowship project in Saudi Arabia. However, the writer did not analyse the impacts that sustainable infrastructure can have on the community in KAEC.

However, Cho's article did not analyse the technology advancement that came along with the sustainable infrastructure development  in KAEC. Some examples are development of mobile applications and usage of social networking sites within the community. Khanna (2015) writes about the various technological innovations that came about due to the increasing population in the Asian cities like Singapore and Indonesia. One example is a mobile application for a tailored private bus service route that incorporates the demand of the different citizens' needs in Singapore. He also cites another example of using the social networking site, Twitter for residents to report real-time alerts on potential natural disasters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Morever, Cho did not mention that sustainable infrastructure has to be managed along with the basic needs of people. In the article “SDG Goal 9—A Sustainable Future of Infrastructure”, Faremo (2015) says that basic needs of people have to be addressed with sustainable infrastructure. Faremo gives an illustration about a building cannot function by itself without the various essential systems. Thus, key services in our everyday life have to be something that can be sustained in the long term, which creates a well-balanced society. In Cho’s article, she did not provide considerations to the needs of the people in KAEC.

Besides that, Cho did not analyse the negative impacts on the infrastructure itself in KAEC. The writer of the article "Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure" highlights the fourteen challenging factors for engineering in terms of infrastructure. As sustainable infrastructure improves the citizens' quality of life, the problem is to provide an affordable place for them to stay with the increasing demand for sustainable infrastructure. Furthermore, implementation of sustainable infrastructure will also require a large amount of financial grant and support from the local government for improvements on existing infrastructures.

In conclusion, while Cho's article presents the challenges and the general advantages of sustainable infrastructure in KAEC, her argument is incomplete due to the inadequate analysis on the impacts within KAEC. It is important to look at both positive and negative impacts that sustainable infrastructure would have on the cities and the citizens. However, overcoming the challenges that were mentioned in Cho's article are is crucial to strive towards the overall goal of creating a sustainable and efficient infrastructure in the community of KAEC.

(550 words)

Cho, H. (2014, December 17). Developing Sustainable Infrastructure in New Cities. New Cities Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.newcitiesfoundation.org/evaluating-sustainable-infrastructure-development-new-cities/

Faremo. G. (2015, August 4). SDG Goal 9—A Sustainable Future of Infrastructure. United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved from http://www.my.undp.org/content/malaysia/en/home/presscenter/articles/2015/08/04/sdg-goal-9-a-sustainable-future-of-infrastructure.html

Khanna, P. (2015, June 11). Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to 'seize the urban moment'. The Straits Times. Retrieved from: http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/explosive-growth-in-asian-cities-bright-ideas-to-seize-the-urban-moment

The National Academy of Engineering. (2015). Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure.   Retrieved from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/9136.aspx 

Edited on 19 October 2015, Monday at 4.06pm