Overseeing Transformation of Jakarta
Jakarta's potential is also supported by its experience in bureaucratic and security management, as well as its strong cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible.
Where are we taking Jakarta? Is Jakarta really "left out" now and must find a new identity after the official announcement of the National Capital of Nusantara?
Is this opportunity really a unique chance for Jakarta to be “refreshed” inside and out? What about its role in Southeast Asia and the global South, including in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? What about the metropolis’ human resource (HR) and infrastructure assets, including its urban policies and funding instruments, which are already at the level of a world city?
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In June 2022, Jakarta will be 495 years old and as the process of relocating the nation's capital city to Kalimantan, which already has legal status, continues to accelerate, it is very important to safeguard the strategic direction of Jakarta.
City identity
Jakarta’s identity must begin with the awareness that we can only accommodate burdens in line with the city’s carrying capacity. No more than that!
Relocating the central government and financial hub from Jakarta opens up extraordinary opportunities for transformation. The leaders and people of Jakarta can now focus on turning the wheels of togetherness in driving infrastructure, energy, water, transportation, waste and healthy food supplies towards matching the city’s carrying capacity. By relinquishing its status as country’s administrative hub, Jakarta will enjoy the benefits from reduction in some of its burdens, such as state policoes, defense and security.
Jakarta's potential is also supported by its experience in bureaucratic and security management, as well as its strong cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. It also has a complete range of infrastructure, facilities and city institutions, as well as assets with high repurposing potential, urban citizens with high education levels, a growing middle class, and competence as a financial center.
The regional potential of Jabodetabekpunjur (Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi-Puncak-Cianjur) can also outperform its rivals in the world as a research and service-based city.
The city’s strength in creating public policies to make it livable, supported by its former geopolitical role as the nation’s capital, and its innovative property landscape are also good working capital. Jakarta can position itself as not only the permanent administrative center of ASEAN, but also as a global megalopolis with an environmental vision and a center of the archipelago’s arts and culture that embraces Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity). The regional potential of Jabodetabekpunjur (Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi-Puncak-Cianjur) can also outperform its rivals in the world as a research and service-based city.
Whatever Jakarta’s future role, its SDG targets, its 2060 carbon neutral target and its post-pandemic strategy will urge city leaders to produce more effective policy tools together with leaders of other metropolitan areas. Prioritizing people and urban space only with an environmental vision for cyclists and pedestrians, which has now become characteristic of world cities, is not enough.
This can be accomplished if Jakarta’s transformation also includes improving the quality of public education on urban space management.
With a more supportive urban role, Jakarta can become a tough, sustainable, and inclusive world city with development capital that has a social justice perspective, both in its transformation and future performance. Jakarta can be a comfortable, healthy and socially just city for its residents. This can be accomplished if Jakarta’s transformation also includes improving the quality of public education on urban space management.
Citywide ‘adaptive reuse’
What strategic steps are needed? First is to change the urban paradigm on responding to the challenges of environmental degradation, disaster risk, and the low transportation performance that causes high congestion. We need an urban strategy based on metrics and measurable performance to achieve sustainability, resilience and livability.
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Taking a citywide approach to adaptive reuse offers a good opportunity to revitalize the city more inclusively and deeply.
The strategy of adapting the city’s assets, including buildings, infrastructure and outdoor spaces, for more supportive functions can reduce the growth rate of new developments, which can help in the long term to reduce urban sprawl and the environmental impacts of unused energy and waste materials.
With citywide adaptive reuse, revitalizing Jakarta by converting central government assets could also be a breakthrough in urban acupuncture. Reusing buildings and other facilities into strategic cultural facilities, such as a world-class concert hall and a center for meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions (MICE) needs to be considered as an opportunity.
Developing a network of supporting facilities for the growth of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as training facilities and infrastructure for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), must also be the main driver of developing human resource and economic competence for the residents of Jakarta and surrounding areas. The positive effects on urban border areas offer promising potential for transformation.
Despite the good options, Jakarta is still facing chronic issues, including land subsidence, sea level rise, climate change, seasonal and tidal flooding, traffic jams, and air and water pollution.
Public green space has not yet reached the standard, waste processing still depends on land located outside the city limits, energy is still sourced from non-renewables, clean water is supplied through public channels, carbon emissions are still high, and continuing environmental destruction.
This can be accomplished through close cooperation between the city administration, the private sector, and the public through mechanisms that encourage more transparent processes and more effective monitoring of transformation performance.
Each of these recurring and persistent issues demands a comprehensive, long-term, cross-sectoral solution that requires strong coordination under an integrated blueprint for action. A development model that fits the context and the challenges ahead, as well as a commitment to urban infrastructure development that has a human and environmental perspective, is the way to necessary deepening. This can be accomplished through close cooperation between the city administration, the private sector, and the public through mechanisms that encourage more transparent processes and more effective monitoring of transformation performance.
Strategic components
Social justice has become a basic and urgent issue stemming from the impacts of the climate change, especially for vulnerable groups. This urgency requires us to reject Western models of urban development, which are incompatible with the Indonesian context. A new mindset that is more economically, socially and culturally minded and matches the potential and environmental conditions of Indonesia as an archipelagic country is our main capital. Accelerated urban revitalization guided by measurable strategic components is a must.
First, like the lessons learned from other cities in the global South, a development vision that prioritizes people and environmentally sound urban spaces must include the growth potential of the populist economy to build a socially just urban society. These include economic innovations outside the capital market with cooperatives, social and cultural capital as the driving force, and urban financial management that uses an incentive network approach.
Social justice for all components of the urban community, including residents of urban villages and MSME entrepreneurs, must be supported by more flexible land use and an incentive scheme for investments in urban infrastructure and the development of economic space, including the distribution of urban green space.
Second, green infrastructure development with a human and environmental perspective must be the city’s priority. Improved accelerated development, such as development around transit points (transit-oriented development) with a social justice perspective towards achieving carbon neutrality in 2060, especially with a citywide adaptive reuse approach and stopping the use of fossil fuels by committing to renewable-powered transportation, especially electric motorcycles, is an urgent and real target.
The city's commitment to green infrastructure, especially through nature-based solutions, will make Jakarta one of the world's urban areas that benefits from funding based on environmental strategies as well as a property market with a vision on health and safety benefits that are in line with its social justice
It is our responsibility to provide public transit for small communities through a park-and-ride network, access to clean water, as well as water and waste treatment facilities. The city's commitment to green infrastructure, especially through nature-based solutions, will make Jakarta one of the world's urban areas that benefits from funding based on environmental strategies as well as a property market with a vision on health and safety benefits that are in line with its social justice goal.
Finally, our urgent need is strategic thinking and action on the city’s development vision that includes the strategic components above, especially in drafting the 2030 and 2060 Jakarta development road maps, accompanied by flexibility in spatial planning, institutional and legal protections through legislation, as well as innovative breakthroughs in urban economic and finance strategies.
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Especially during a critical time like this, we must also be willing to rely on quality input and targeted cooperation, and not seeing them as obstacles. Cooperation with urban research institutes with insights from academics and professionals, such as experts on the Jakarta Urban Architecture Expert Team, can serve to support the aspirations and performance of the city revitalization initiative. Togetherness in achieving high performance in transformation, monitoring, and evaluation, especially public participation for greater interaction and education, will greatly help advance Jakarta into the future.
Astrid Sri Haryati
Astrid Sri Haryati, Urban designer, former assistant to the mayors of Chicago and San Francisco, member of the Jakarta Urban Architecture Expert Team
(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo)
