City plans to widen Jl. Thamrin's sidewalks

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

There's no denying it: Pedestrians are treated as the lowest form of life on the streets of Jakarta.

The 63,744-hectare metropolitan city, which is home to at least 10 million people, does not provide spacious sidewalks on its busy streets.

Head of the City Architectural Advisory Team Mohammad Danisworo, who is also a lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), says that the width of sidewalks that is generally accepted by planners as appropriate for most modern urban centers is a minimum of four meters.

In comparison, the sidewalks along Jl. Thamrin -- one of Jakarta's busiest thoroughfares where many modern office buildings, hotels and shopping complexes are located -- are only two meters wide. At several spots the effective width is only one meter.

"If you observe Jl. Thamrin at peak hours, when workers are heading to their offices or homes, people spill onto the road," he said earlier this week.

To make those sidewalks more humane, therefore, the city administration has decided to expand the Jl. Thamrin sidewalks.

"But to widen them we cannot take the space from the road. Instead, we are asking the owners of the buildings to let us use some of their property in the public interest," he said.

The city administration summoned some of those owners earlier this month to explain the pedestrianization project to the public.

"This is our third attempt. The first was in 1997, but the project was hampered by the economic crisis at that time," he said.

The second attempt also failed because the owners were reluctant to give up some of their land and dismantle their gates, walls and barriers -- due, mainly, to security concerns.

Rully Besari Budiyanti, a lecturer at the Department of Architecture at Trisakti University, Jakarta, who opposes the administration's decision to erect iron fences around Monas Park, said that this time she could agree with the administration's plan to pedestrianize Jl. Thamrin.

"I think that for the first time the administration is paying attention to the public's needs," she said. But in Rully's view, pedestrianization should not stop at Jl. Thamrin alone.

"Of course, sidewalks on busy streets such as Jl. Thamrin are the most urgent. But I hope the administration does not stop there and pour the whole budget that is available into Jl. Thamrin alone," she added.

Rully knows what she is talking about: She researched the matter and asked 250 pedestrians their views about sidewalks in West Jakarta.

"Generally, they say that besides wider sidewalks, they also need facilities on them, such as benches, trash cans, street lamps, public telephones, toilets, plants and guard posts," Rully said.

As for the security concerns of building owners, Danisworo has an easy answer to counter their arguments. Many buildings in Jakarta do not have tall gates and walls, yet they are still safe.

"For example, the Danamon building on Jl. Sudirman does not have any barriers at all. So far, it has never been harmed," he said.

According to Danisworo, the city administration hopes that, this time, the pedestrianization project can proceed without too much opposition, either from lot owners or the public.

"Some building owners have already agreed to the project. The Japanese Embassy is even willing to allow a five-meter strip of its land to be used," said Danisworo.

"The administration is not trying to take over their land. We are only borrowing it, while the ownership rights are still securely in their hands. The administration will extend them certain kinds of incentive, such as exemption from property and land taxes on the land we use," said Danisworo.