Firm spatial planning required to curb land conflicts

Firm spatial planning required to curb land conflicts

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A group of blue-uniformed public order officers are playing cards
in front of a sealed building that used to be a junior high
school in Melawai, South Jakarta.

The school found itself in trouble with the authorities after
it refused to accept a controversial land swap deal made in 2001
by the Jakarta administration and a private developer that
planned to demolish the school and build a new commercial center
in its place.

Teachers, students and parents claimed that the deal was made
without their consent and argued that the new location offered
was too far away from their homes.

The case of State Junior High School No. 56 is only one of
many examples of land use and other spatial planning regulations
being ignored, thus leading to conflict and the sacrificing of
the public interest.

A land reform organization reported that in 2001 alone, there
were 1,753 land disputes reported nationwide, with projects
involving the development of public facilities and housing
complexes being among the top generators of conflicts.

Early last month, the government issued Presidential
Regulation No. 36/2005 on the procurement of land for the
provision of public facilities in an attempt to resolve the
problems that have dogged the procurement of land for public
infrastructure projects.

Activists have strongly criticized the regulation, saying it
violates people's basic right to a livelihood as it allows the
government to revoke the owner's right to his property should no
agreement on compensation be reached, and only benefited
developers.

They have urged the government to revise the definition of
"public interest" used in the regulation.

The critics also called for better spatial planning involving
public participation in order to avoid future conflicts between
the authorities and local communities, as well between individual
members of local communities.

Land reform expert Gunawan Wiradi told The Jakarta Post
recently that if more members of the public were aware of their
local spatial plans and the locations designated for public
facilities, this could reduce problems associated with land
procurement and collusion.

However, in most cities across Indonesia the exact opposite is
the case -- something that has been going on for so long that it
is taken for granted.

"Playing around with spatial regulations has been a common
practice among developers and urban planners," young urban
planner Adjie, not his real name, said, adding that this was
normally done to facilitate the business of developers.

The conversion of residential areas to commercial uses -- like
has been taking place in Kebayoran Baru and Kemang in South
Jakarta -- was the second most common violation after a less
serious violation of expanding building lines.

"The floor area ratio or building height, for example, can be
increased by compensating with a percentage of the land to be
used for open public spaces," he said.

While this might seem to benefit the public, the increase in
the number of occupiers in the building would further affect
traffic density in the area, thus causing more congestion. A
similar result arose from the conversion of residential areas to
commercial centers.

"There are no strict sanctions for the bending of spatial use
regulations," urban planning expert from Bandung Institute of
Technology (ITB) Mohammad Danisworo told the Post. "Developers
can build almost anything they want in whichever location they
want."

He said the public was rarely, if not actually never, involved
in spatial planning design in Indonesia. This was due to the fact
that urban planning had never formed part of indigenous culture.
"The public often do not have access or simply is not well-
informed when it comes to urban planning, prompting ignorance of
this issue."

Danisworo said there was the need for a special agency to be
set up to enforce spatial planning guidelines, as well as active
public supervision.

"A city is a manifestation of the forces that shape it," he
said. "It is not very hard to judge the sort of forces that are
shaping our cities now."