Jakarta says big plans in store for Kemang
Kemang in South Jakarta will be transformed into a modern city without high-rise buildings, the head of the Jakarta’s spatial planning agency announced, reported The Jakarta Post.
Wiriyatmoko said Kemang would be developed where sidewalk cafes, boutiques and homey restaurants lay side by side on a long street.
During the 1980s, Kemang was a quiet residential area, but metamorphosed into commercial hub, with dozens of restaurants and bars squeezed into the area, hounded by hordes of customers and their vehicles crowding the streets.
The area now has some 60 cafes and restaurants as well as several hotels.
Kemang was originally meant as a residential zone, but with the frenzied development of the past few years, the administration now plans to make it a legal commercial area.
Businesses in Kemang still have to pay regular fines for converting homes into businesses. Wiriyatmoko said the administration was studying several options, but gave no details.
“The houses will still be there, with the cafes and restaurants trimmed along the main street. But the administration will not let high-rise buildings be built," he said.
High-rise buildings, defined as more than eight stories tall, are still allowed for residential purposes. A 1999 gubernatorial decree declared the area a modern ‘kampung’.
A.Z. Harahap, head of the South Jakarta Tourism Sub-agency, said recently his office plans to develop areas of Kemang and Melawai as culinary tourism sites, reported beritajakarta.com.
Wiriyatmoko said Kemang would be developed where sidewalk cafes, boutiques and homey restaurants lay side by side on a long street.
During the 1980s, Kemang was a quiet residential area, but metamorphosed into commercial hub, with dozens of restaurants and bars squeezed into the area, hounded by hordes of customers and their vehicles crowding the streets.
The area now has some 60 cafes and restaurants as well as several hotels.
Kemang was originally meant as a residential zone, but with the frenzied development of the past few years, the administration now plans to make it a legal commercial area.
Businesses in Kemang still have to pay regular fines for converting homes into businesses. Wiriyatmoko said the administration was studying several options, but gave no details.
“The houses will still be there, with the cafes and restaurants trimmed along the main street. But the administration will not let high-rise buildings be built," he said.
High-rise buildings, defined as more than eight stories tall, are still allowed for residential purposes. A 1999 gubernatorial decree declared the area a modern ‘kampung’.
A.Z. Harahap, head of the South Jakarta Tourism Sub-agency, said recently his office plans to develop areas of Kemang and Melawai as culinary tourism sites, reported beritajakarta.com.