When I was little, I lived in Melbourne, Australia, for 2 years. Since I was 5 years old at that time, I was very happy with all the playgrounds scattered around the city. Returning back to Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2009 I was jealous of Melbourne because Jakarta didn?t have as many playgrounds. But even if there was a playground in Jakarta, it?s facilities isn?t much and it?ll be mostly ruined or spray-painted by the delinquents there.

Six years after that, Jakarta has made great improvement. In 2015, Jakarta?s previous governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or also known as Ahok made a public space that is friendly for children. This public space is called RPTRA, which stands for Ruang Publik Terpadu Ramah Anak (Children friendly Integrated Public Space). Sadly, RPTRA can only be found in Jakarta, since it was Ahok?s program as Jakarta?s governor. But RPTRA has great qualities to it. 

RPTRA itself is free, whereas a lot of family can spend quality time there without having pay anything. Every RPTRA varies from one place to another, and there are currently 186 RPTRAs in Jakarta in which only 71 RPTRA has been unveiled.  One of the most famous RPTRA in Jakarta is RPTRA Kalijodo.  Before being transformed into RPTRA, this place was very well-known as red spot with prostitution and drugs.  Old buildings were destroyed and replaced with RPTRA. Now, RPTRA Kalijodo is becoming one of tourist destinations in Jakarta. In addition to playground, it is occupied with bike track, skateboard track, swings, glides, and a library.

Having these RPTRA?s are a great improvement to Jakarta than when I was little. But I?m happy now since people won?t have to experience the lack of playgrounds in Jakarta.   Maybe you?re wondering what RPTRA has to do with the environment? It actually has everything to do with it. RPTRA existence help Jakarta, the city full of pollution, have a green space. As a playground, RPTRA is surrounded by trees.  It is a mandatory when developing RPTRA.  Besides that, there are RPTRA?s that grow their own herbs through their community. It will teach children how to love environment. 

However, there is a room for improving RPTRA.  In order to reduce bottle plastic waste, every RPTRA should provide water fountain. It is because the main waste in RPTRA is bottle plastic.  Although RPTRA keeps enough trash bins, avoiding plastic waste through providing water fountain would be great.  This effort will protect our earth from land pollution of bottle plastic.

Lastly, I always use RPTRA as a place to share things with my peers or children. Several times I used RPTRA when sharing information on environment, healthy internet (preventing hoax), and children rights. I do utilize RPTRA when teaching children on how to reduce, recycle and reuse waste from plastic bags for making funny dolls. So, I do hope that someday, every city in Indonesia could have lots of RPTRA, an open space for children to play around.