Urban planner says jobs must come first<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jobs and not houses must come first in projects
\nto build self-sufficient towns, an urban planner said recently.<\/p>\n
Djoko Sujarto of the Bandung Institute of Technology said the
\npublic still confused satellite towns with self-sufficient towns.<\/p>\n
Announcements of new West Java towns are increasing.<\/p>\n
The latest are the 30,000-hectare Bukit Jonggol Asri in
\nJonggol, Bogor, developed by a consortium under PT Bukit Jonggol
\nAsri and a 300-hectare town called Kota Kembang Depok Raya in
\nDepok developed by the Daksa Group. Both are south of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In east Cibubur, the Ciputra Group recently launched a new
\ntown called Kota Indah Nuansa Alam.<\/p>\n
Djoko said a satellite town was dependent on its \"mother-city\"
\nwhile a self-sufficient town was the workplace of its residents.<\/p>\n
Satellite town residents commute to the main city while self-
\nsufficient town residents live and work in the area, he said.<\/p>\n
\"In claiming self-sufficient towns we should question the job
\npotential in the area,\" Djoko said.<\/p>\n
Attracting jobs could take 10 years, Djoko said, citing a
\nself-sufficient town north of London, England, called Milton
\nKeynes.<\/p>\n
\"The jobs came first and eventually employers agreed to
\nemployees' requests to house them in the area,\" said Djoko, who
\nstudied in Edinburgh, Scotland.<\/p>\n
Since new towns were introduced, critics have pointed to the
\npotential for worse traffic jams as most new town residents were
\ncommuters.<\/p>\n
The first projects were in Tangerang, mainly Bumi Serpong
\nDamai, south of Jakarta, and Lippo Karawaci, west of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A source among the Bumi Serpong Damai's builders said he was
\noptimistic the 6,000-hectare complex would be a self-sufficient
\ncity in about 10 years.<\/p>\n
In September, State Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung
\nsaid the government planned to limit the development of new
\ntowns.<\/p>\n
He said development should be aimed at self-contained cities
\ninstead of \"an extension of big cities.\"<\/p>\n
An architect who heads the city's architectural team, M.
\nDanisworo, said earlier new town developers must take into
\naccount surrounding residents and the workers who built the
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, new kampongs lacking basic facilities like clean
\nwater and roads, will crop up around and in between new town
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
Developers providing such facilities would indirectly help
\nexpose low income residents to important aspects of modern life
\nsuch as hygiene, Danisworo said. (anr)<\/p>",
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