Jakarta is falling in love

Jakarta, through its successive governors, is like someone growing more mature.

Jakarta may be falling in love. Not with new buildings, nor with taller flyovers or more complex interchanges. This time, it seems to be learning to love something that was almost non-existent for decades: pedestrians.

It might sound hyperbolic. How could a city as large as Jakarta have time to fall in love? It is too busy, too noisy, and too often racing against time. Even red lights feel like mere brief pauses before everything begins to roar again.

However, Sunday mornings have a way of refuting all that. On Jalan HR Rasuna Said, people now have a new place to enjoy the heart of the city without the usual engine noise and horns. People are running, cycling, rollerblading, or simply taking a stroll with their families, with fathers pushing baby strollers. This is something that likely would never happen in the same spot on a Monday morning. It is as if such a wide road was originally created for them.

Perhaps this is what a city looks like when it pauses for a moment. The Car Free Day (CFD) at Rasuna Said was recently held, inaugurated by the Governor of Jakarta, Pramono Anung, coinciding with Jakarta’s 499th anniversary.

This new CFD branch on one of Jakarta’s arterial roads has a simple and logical reason for existing. The existing Sudirman-Thamrin CFD area has become too crowded every weekend. Jakarta is being generous by adding more open spaces for its community.

Interestingly, Rasuna Said is not just a new location; the area holds a small irony. For years, those familiar with the layout of the buildings and roads there were well-acquainted with the massive pillars of the unbuilt monorail. These concrete pillars, with their sturdy steel reinforcements, emerged from the ground, towering, rusting, worn, and occasionally plastered with advertising panels, marring the view.

Now, those pillars have been removed. The road, which was previously fragmented by those pillars, is now unified, wide, and more aesthetically pleasing. The pavements have been widened, complemented by the rejuvenation of bus stops and major renovations of TransJakarta stations that are now integrated with the Jabodebek monorail stops.

Jakarta, from governor to governor, is like someone growing more mature—moving away from the disorder of youth to become wiser, bringing comfort to everyone.