Design offers humane approach to urban problem

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nine years ago on the Code riverbank in Yogyakarta, an architect, the late Romo Mangun, erected a milestone in the history of Indonesia's urban development.

For the first time, in the country that often sold its assets to the highest bidder, an attempt to evict hundreds of urban poor was foiled using a peaceful, yet savvy strategy.

Telling the Code residents to beautify their houses with colorful and interesting paint, Romo Mangun rendered the Yogyakarta administration speechless upon seeing that the erstwhile shabby area had became an attractive place, and, later on, a tourist attraction.

Residents of the Code riverbanks have continued to live there without ever being threatened again with eviction.

The move has become an inspiration for people to do the same. Challenging administration eviction excuses, some squatter communities have proven themselves to be environmentally friendly.

Residents of Penas Tanggul on the Cipinang riverbanks, East Jakarta, for example, have maintained a clean environment, including the section of river in front of their houses, for about a decade, thanks to environmental awareness and the assistance of non-governmental organization Institut Sosial Jakarta (ISJ).

Nevertheless, in the name of order and clinical beauty, city administrations still resort to eviction as a way of keeping their cities in order.

For Jakarta, the attempt has proven to be no panacea, as the city is still chaotic despite dozens of evictions.

Concerned at the city's perpetual squatter problem, some urban architects have tried to offer an innovative approach that is radically different to what the administration has done.

Living under toll roads

Led by architect Andra Matin, the group has designed healthier, more comfortable living spaces under the Gedong Panjang elevated toll road and beneath the Pluit toll road intersection, both in North Jakarta. The designs were displayed as part of CP Biennale 2005 "Urban Culture" at Bank Indonesia Museum earlier this month.

"About two hundred people live at the intersection of Pluit toll road. They are nice, friendly people; when we visited them they welcomed our idea," Andra said.

"They said they had grown accustomed to vehicle noise. Due to the strength of the wind, the place was reasonably cool," he said.

For people in Pluit, Andra designed three housing towers that would be supported by metal frames for advertising billboards.

"The interchange is a busy road; cars traveling to and from Soekarno-Hatta Airport pass there," he said. "The elevated toll roads are quite high so I have designed a tall tower."

Andra's design is unique and has the potential to become an attractive spot in the city.

"Because of the strong wind, I think people could build a windmill to generate power," he said.

For the Gedong Panjang squatters, Andra has designed two rows of modest, two-story buildings.

"People there keep pets like cats, and livestock like ducks and chickens. I have designed elevated houses so they could keep the animals under their houses," he said.

Andra suggested the squatters construct the buildings from bamboo and wooden planks.

The first level of the building would be more suitable for families while the rooms on the second level would be for singles due to the smaller size.

Andra has also designed a common area and playground for children there.

Of course the places are no shangri-la and should not have been living spaces in the first place, no matter how good the design. However, squatters live there anyway and evicting them would not solve the city's problems; indeed, it would likely exacerbate the problems of urban poverty.

Thus, Andra's design gives light to a more humane approach to manage Jakarta; whether the current city administration, which evicted thousands last year, would embrace the concept willingly is another question.