City sidelines pedestrians in development
City sidelines pedestrians in development
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The scorching heat slowed her steps as she climbed the stairs of
a pedestrian bridge connecting Plaza Blok M and the nearest bus
terminal in South Jakarta, while she clutched her handbag tightly
in fear of pickpockets who often target pedestrians there.
Tanti, 25, a resident of Tangerang in Banten province, had to
deal with other problems as soon as she reached the sidewalk on
the other side of the bridge: Street vendors and broken pavement
bricks made it impossible for her to walk in comfort in her high-
heel work shoes.
"I think the city administration doesn't pay enough attention
to provide facilities for pedestrians. Just look at the bridges,
which don't have roofs to shelter us from the heat or rain, and
also the sidewalks that could make us stumble and fall.
"Aren't we also users of the public transportation system? Why
do I feel that pedestrians like me are being marginalized?"
Tanti, an employee at a forwarding company, told The Jakarta Post
on Friday.
Her remark was ironic, as it came after the city
administration had planned an ambitious project to beautify the
sidewalks along the main downtown thoroughfare, Jl. M.H. Thamrin,
which is home to towering office buildings. The move was an
effort to make the capital resemble foreign cities that boasted
the least-polluting transportation users.
The project has drawn strong criticism, with analysts saying
the plan was improper, as the poor condition of pedestrian
facilities across Jakarta remained unaddressed, regardless of the
large number of users.
A recent study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), which surveyed about 600,000 respondents in Jakarta,
reveals that 41.9 percent of users of the transportation system
are non-motorists, including bicyclists and pedestrians.
Private cars are only able to transport 7.7 percent of
commuters, while public buses 32.7 percent, the survey also
reported.
Critics and many residents say the city administration has for
decades been concerned only with economic productivity and its
infrastructure, for which asphalt roads were constructed or
widened at the expense of sidewalks.
Urban planning expert Marco Kusumawijaya argued that most city
planners adopted a transportation system design that excluded
pedestrians in its development.
"Moreover, pedestrians are considered the poor, who don't make
any contributions to the city. In the wide gap that exists
between the rich and the poor in our social system, where public
facilities are divided among the social classes, attention is
made only to the rich," he told the Post.
Marco said the issue of sidewalks had always been taken for
granted and had never been considered an integral part of the
city transportation system.
"If the administration wants to reduce the number of cars on
the road, it should increase the number of public transportation
facilities, such as buses. And, pedestrians are mostly commuters
who use sidewalks to reach bus stops. Therefore, more attention
should be given to facilities for pedestrians," he added.