KOTA IN JAKARTA, A LEGACY WORTH PRESERVING<\/p>\n
By Carla Bianpoen [10pt ML]<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While the city of Jakarta is rapidly becoming a
\ngiant metropolis, and the development of the city is requiring
\nmore space to provide social, economic and cultural facilities,
\nthere is a growing awareness that historical and cultural
\nheritage should be preserved as much as possible. Among
\ncontinuing efforts to preserve such heritage, the concept of city
\nplanning in integrated urban conservation takes a special place.<\/p>\n
Sunda Kelapa, Kota Pantai (Sunda Kelapa Waterfront City) is an
\ninnovative plan to blend comprehensive and integrated social,
\neconomic and physical development with the preservation of
\nhistorical and cultural legacies in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
According to Martono Yuwono of the City Administration, this
\nis the fourth stage of Jakarta's urban conservation. Particular
\nattention would be given to economic development of the
\nsettlements around Kota, which have existed even before the
\nemergence of Kota.<\/p>\n
Contrary to conventional top-down planning, this undertaking
\nacknowledges the importance of community participation. People of
\nthese sites should have a sense of belonging to a very important
\nheritage. They should feel that being part of a rich historical
\nheritage can open up avenues of improving the quality of their
\nlives.<\/p>\n
Consequently, they must participate in redesigning their
\nenvironment. Awareness raising therefore was considered a top
\npriority by participants of a seminar in Jakarta held on March
\n26-27. The seminar was organized by the Indonesian National
\nHeritage Trust (YPBB), the Heritage Working Group of the
\nIndonesian Institute of Architects (IAI) and the Dutch Stichting
\nOud-Jakarta (Old-Jakarta Foundation in the Netherlands).
\nParticipants discussed concepts, operational mechanisms, and the
\nnext few steps to be taken.<\/p>\n
City wall<\/p>\n
Historically, the term Kota has been used to denote the area
\nwhere the Dutch were housed, in distinction to Kampungs around
\nthe kota where indigenous, Chinese, Indian and other ethnic
\ngroups lived under less privileged circumstances. At that time,
\nthe city of Batavia was closed by a wall, behind which only the
\nDutch and the privileged elite were to live.<\/p>\n
Today, more than 300 years after Jan Pieterszoon Coen built
\nthe city of Batavia in the model of Amsterdam (1619-1667), the
\nwall, which excluded the kampungs from the city, is no more than
\nan insignificant piece of stone. Many of the buildings set up
\nduring the colonial period have given way to decay or have been
\npulled down to make room for contemporary highrise buildings.<\/p>\n
Yet, the fascination of historical remnants remains. They are
\nthe link to the past, telling a tale of power and might, of
\noppression and suppression, of political values and of cultural
\nand socio-economic relations.<\/p>\n
The history of Jakarta is in fact part of national history.
\nThe changing names of the city, that started out as a port of the
\nSundanese kingdom of Pajajaran, indicate the changing powers over
\nthe place, which has and is still playing such an important role
\nin the political and economic development of the country.<\/p>\n
When it was founded in the 13th century, Sunda Kelapa was a
\nport belonging to the Sundanese Hindu Kingdom of Pajajaran. In
\n1527, Moslem nobleman Fatahilah Khan conquered it from the
\nPortuguese and gave it a new name, Jayakarta, City of Complete
\nVictory. It was then annexed by the kingdom of Demak.<\/p>\n
In 1619, the city fell into the hands of the Dutch East Indies
\nCompany. The city of Batavia was built here, which about two
\ncenturies later became the seat of the Dutch administration in
\nthe Dutch Indies. The name Jakarta speaks of a free Indonesia. It
\nis the capital city of the Republic of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Value-added<\/p>\n
There exits a growing awareness of the historical importance
\nof the city. Both the government and NGOs agree that evidence of
\nsuch rich history should be preserved. The City Administration
\nhas been involved in the restoration of monuments of the old city
\ncenter, focussing on the preservation and maintenance of
\nbuildings of specific historical or architectural value.<\/p>\n
Iman Sunarya, head of the city's Development and Renovation
\nAgency underlines the importance of Jakarta having its own
\ncharacteristic: \"We would not wish Jakarta to be like Tokyo or
\nSingapore or any other city in the world. Jakarta must be
\nJakarta.\"<\/p>\n
Ronald Gills, a Dutch architect from Delft who has spent a
\nmajor part of his life in this country, speaks of an urban memory
\nof the city, its past being as important as its future.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, it can hardly be denied that all historical
\nDutch overseas cities have one characteristic in common, i.e.
\norientation towards the sea. This is true for Batavia (Jakarta)
\nas it is for Nieuw Amsterdam (New York, U.S.), Willemstad
\n(Curacao), Kaapstad (Cape Town, South Africa), and Colombo (Sri
\nLanka).<\/p>\n
But of all historical cities of the same generation,
\nhistorical Batavia stands out above the others, says Gill,
\nbecause of certain features which were not normally used in the
\ndesign of Dutch cities.<\/p>\n
NGOs like IAI Heritage Working Group and the YPBB, chaired by
\nformer governor Wiyogo Atmodarminto, are actively working towards
\nthe objectives of preserving historically valuable sites and
\nmonuments. Worth noting is the great interest of Dutch private
\nindividuals who are grouped in the Stichting Oud-Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Personal ties<\/p>\n
Chairman Kouwe explains that he himself, as many other board
\nmembers, have strong personal ties to Indonesia. Kouwe, who is a
\nmedical doctor, was born here and has spent a good part of his
\nlife on Java.<\/p>\n
The aim of the Stichting is to cooperate with private and
\nother institutions in Jakarta and to contribute to the study, the
\nconservation and the restoration of historical buildings, sites
\nand other expressions of culture that reflect the history of
\nJakarta, he says, emphasizing that his Stichting has no intention
\nto own any project.<\/p>\n
All parties agree that funding is a major constraint.
\nActivities of this kind rely greatly on donors, both in Indonesia
\nand the Netherlands. Nevertheless, an inventory has been made of
\n90 buildings which need to be restored.<\/p>\n
In addition, seminars to further discuss and work out
\ninnovative development are being planned under a tripartite
\nMemorandum of Understanding between YPBB, the NGOs and the
\nJakarta City Administration.<\/p>",
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