Jakarta - A Dream for a Just City

There is this theory that says "a good city is a place where people like to go outside". Every kind of people: young or old, healthy or handicaped, rich or poor like to go outside. A good city is a place that gives equal chance and space to its people. That means equality or justice. Lesson from Bogota had showed that social changes can be stimulated by designing proper city. Life quality is improving and the city is becoming comfortable to live in. The government of Bogota has involved the people very much in the planning process. It is therefore the program was fully supported by people and it is successful.

What about Jakarta? For Indonesian, Jakarta is known as "the city that is more cruel than step mom" (Indonesian usually considers step mom is worse than real mom). Jakarta is the city that "survival of the fittest" really applies. You can find somebody that spends millions of Rupiah in a second and you can also find somebody that has only 20.000 Rupiah to spend for the whole week. High rise building and glamorous houses you can find many. Slumps and crowded settlements you can also find easily. The fittest here means those that have money and power.

To my opinion, Jakarta does not equally distribute public space to the people. Jakarta is not the type of city that makes people want to go outside and interact with other people. There is limited free access open space in Jakarta. Any free space will shortly become a slump, even under a fly over road.!! Jakarta is a magnet to many people. People want to come to Jakarta and collect their share of fortune that's why many people come to Jakarta and create those slumps. Every effort that try to free up that kind of open space will face rejections and oppositions from the people. I believe this is because the planning is not involving people very much in depth especially poor people. Government of Jakarta is not pro poor. Gov tends to support those with big money. You have big money, you get the privileges. One can easily see this "below conciousness" policy of Jakarta's govt. For example the building of many toll roads in Jakarta. Only the haves can use that!! Public transport is very poor and traffic congestion is everywhere. Only the haves that cause that!! Pro poor government is needed.

I also see that Govt of Jakarta can only copy strategies (exit strategies) of other city without deeply understand the philosophy and background conditon. For example the plan to build underground MRT should consider geological condition of Jakarta. There is this report that said Jakarta has many undergound voids due to exessive ground water use. This creates problems with soil stability and underground (or U-Bahn) needs stable soil. Underground will be a risky transport option in Jakarta. The government has to understand the situation now. They have to map their streght and weaknesses and involve people more (not just "corrupt" parliament). Govt of Jakarta has to understant its self.

And finally, Jakarta is a different breed of city. It faces different problem although the symptoms are the same. The solutions have to be genuine and original and they cannot be local because Jakarta also involves Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok. Developing new ideas for solution, government can involve the people.

Very final. I personally like Jakarta very much. The tempo is high and it makes me feel alive, but still I am dreaming for a better Jakarta. A city that is humanist and just..Let's hope and change it from ourselves (if you live in Jakarta...).