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.