Jakarta offers residents less as it gets older

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Housewife Suryati is very much concerned that her daughter will not have the opportunity to experience the same childhood pleasure as she did when visiting the National Monument (Monas) Square in the heart of the capital as a child.

Every weekend some 25 years ago, Suryati's parents took their children to the 80-hectare park, located just across from the presidential office complex, to enjoy the huge grassy area. It was Suryati's favorite destination.

During such happy hours, her parents usually relaxed on a mat while Suryati and her sisters and brothers ran here and there cheerfully.

Such beautiful scenery is now just an unforgettable memory for Suryati, since she does not have the good fortune to give her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Dea the joy of experiencing such splendid nature-filled moments for Jakarta-born kids.

"Poor Dea," she said.

"My energetic daughter doesn't have a proper public square to run in or play her with ball," Suryati, a former bank employee, said.

A lack of open spaces is evident in her neighborhood in the crowded residential area of Kemayoran subdistrict in Central Jakarta.

The only open space regularly used by local kids in Suryati's neighborhood to play in is a volleyball court.

"I really want to take her to Monas Square to play, like my parents did for me, but it's now impossible as the place has become notorious for its prostitutes and criminals," Suryati said.

Worst, Jakarta, which is celebrating its 472nd anniversary today, has no decent, proper public square for its citizens, who are starved for free but well designed and hygienic public squares where their children can play safely and adults can entertainment themselves and freely express their opinions.

According to Suryati, taking Dea to popular recreation sites in the city such as Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta and Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, only drains her family's income.

Suryati is not alone in complaining about the lack of decent public squares in the city.

Popular circle

Take for example the daily massive crowds at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle during the recent general election campaign period.

The crowds caused heavy traffic congestion in the area every day for weeks. This could have been avoided if there were ample public squares in the capital.

Monas Square was closed off by security personnel at the time. The area was even turned into a spot for military trucks, armored vehicles and personnel.

The Hotel Indonesia traffic circle made headlines during that time since almost all of the 48 political parties and their sea of supporters struggled to "conquer" the area.

Many of them felt their campaign would not be perfect unless they reached the area.

"Monas Square should, in fact, have become one public space for campaigners. I don't understand why the authorities decided to close it to the public," city administration consultant Danang Priatmodjo said.

Unlike a universal idiom that says the older a person gets, the wiser he or she will become, Jakarta has become worse in its older days in that it is even more unfriendly toward its residents, or so it appears.

Besides other chronic social problems, the capital still fails to provide adequate public squares to its citizens.

Over time, open spaces in the city have been reduced by the administration for various reasons, mostly for pembangunan (development).

Based on research by Danang, the number of open spaces in the capital has dropped each consecutive year.

According to the lecturer at the School of Architecture at private Tarumanegara University in West Jakarta, open spaces here in 1996 reached some 11 percent of the city's total area of 661.62 square kilometers.

Declining space

City planning agency data reveals available spaces here have dropped to only 9.27 percent of the total size, Danang added.

Based on international standards, the ideal open space for public use is 30 percent of a city's width, Danang said, adding that Jakarta's open spaces reached 40 percent in the colonial era.

"Besides the private sector, it's also the city administration which has contributed to the significant decrease of open spaces here as it has constructed buildings such as hospitals, police posts and gasoline stations on the city's greenbelts," he said.

Therefore, it is now not uncommon worldwide for public interest to be sacrificed for building construction.

He cited examples of the construction of Pondok Indah Mall in South Jakarta and Pluit mall in North Jakarta, both of which were built on huge fields.

"Ironically, nowadays people who want to go the beach in the capital are also required to pay to see it even though the beach is actually theirs," he said, referring to the beach at Ancol Dreamland.

Rudy P. Tambunan, head of program division of the city planning agency, acknowledges there is a shortage of public squares in Jakarta.

He admitted the plans for the city, effective until 2010, do not specify places allocated for public squares but instead list them in the open green spaces category.

"We targeted that green spaces should gradually be increased to 14 percent of the city's total width until 2010," he said.

When asked about the topic, Governor Sutiyoso simply said: "I'm aware that there is a lack of public squares, but you know... we have limited space available."

"Moreover, I think I will not be the city governor for the next five years," the governor added with a smile.