Kebayoran Baru, RI's first housing complex

Kebayoran Baru, RI's first housing complex

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Living in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, is regarded with
particular pride by many of its residents. However, during its
early years of development, people were reluctant to live there.
Now, though, it has now been turned into an elite housing
complex. This is the 84th article in the Batavia series.

JAKARTA (JP): Living in Kebayoran Baru area remains just a
dream for most Jakartans. The area not only offers luxurious
housing but also hang out spots such as malls, hotels, cafes and
the like.

However, history has shown that Kebayoran Baru needed years
before developing itself into an "attractive" neighborhood. In
the 1950s, it was still an "unwanted" living area as it was
located eight kilometers from the city center, considered quite
far at the time. In addition, road access to the area was
inadequate as the housing was built on a plantation.

Despite all the above reasons, people also remained reluctant
to live there as it became a notoriously popular hunting ground
for robbers.

Long-time resident Budi Sukada, 50, remembered the period,
during which his family's belongings were stolen on numerous
occasions.

"In our first 10 years here, our belongings were stolen almost
every week. They didn't only take tape-recorders or radios, but
also park lamps and other small things," said Budi, who has lived
on Jl. Lamandau since 1953.

The architect, who is also active in the Association of
Indonesian Architects (IAI), said thieves usually used alleyways,
located behind each house for the collection of garbage or to buy
vegetables from passing vendors, as the popular escape route.

Mat Item, the leader of a gang of thieves in Kebon Jeruk, West
Jakarta, was believed to be responsible for much of the unrest.

Thayeb I. Sabil, 67, said people were very scared of Mat Item.

"Mat Item always roamed around on his horse. He would punch
anyone who dared to look at him," said the senior journalist, who
once lived in a student dormitory at the so-called "Masyumi
kampong" in Senayan (now the site of the Bung Karno Sports
Complex) between 1951 and 1953.

The gang was then eliminated by the military under the Bala
Hitam (Black Troops) Battalion.

Noer Saijidi M. Koesoemo, 64, remembered the area's narrow
alleyways when he started to reside in Velbak (previously a
garbage dump called Vuilnisbak) during the early development of
the satellite city.

"There were only two small access points, the first was the
eastern 'entry' from Manggarai, passing the present Mega Kuningan
business belt and ending in the Santa area while the second was
the western entry from Tanah Abang passing through Jl. K.S.
Tubun, Palmerah, Rawa Belong and ending at Velbak."

The limited access brought problems to residents as they found
problems reaching public transportation.

"Public buses were very rare, the last one left at 4 p.m.,
along the Lapangan Banteng-Kebayoran Baru route. When I returned
home from afternoon school (on Jl. Budi Utomo) at 8:30 p.m., I
had to hitch a lift from passing private cars," said Thayeb.

Green area

Kebayoran Baru was just a large plantation mostly with
rambutan and durian trees, just like other suburbs here. The area
was part of Meester Cornelis (now Jatinegara in East Jakarta)
regency. Many plots of land belonged to landlords.

The upland area of Kebayoran Baru was allocated by the
municipal city of Batavia (the old name for Jakarta) in the 1930s
as a satellite city to fulfill the housing need.

The hilly new city - laid out like a human heart, consisted of
four villages: Grogol Oedik, Pelapetogogan, Senayan and Gandaria
Noord - was allocated for civil servants and white-collar
workers.

The first general plan for the satellite city was designed by
V.R. van Roermondt, a teacher at the Technical University in
Bandung. In 1937, the plan was accepted by the municipality but
it had to be delayed due to the Second World War.

"In 1948, the plan was promoted by the returning Dutch
administration," said the book Batavia/Djakarta/Jakarta Beeld van
een Metamorfose written by M.E. De Vletter, R.P.G.A Voskuil and
J.R. van Diessen.

But van Roermondt was no longer responsible for the design as
an Indonesian city planner M. Soesilo took over the job. The
construction was organized by the Centrale Stichting van
Wederopbouw (Central Foundation for Reconstruction), established
on June 1, 1948.

After the transfer of sovereignty on Dec. 27, 1949 the project
was taken over by the Ministry of Public Works.

However, the development was opposed by indigenous residents
as their lives relied on the land. Siswantari noted in her study
Pembangunan Kota Baru Kebayoran Sebagai Kawasan Pemukiman
Penduduk: 1948-1953 (The Development of the New City of Kebayoran
as a Housing Complex: 1948-1953) that the municipality declined
to fulfill its commitment to the local citizens by providing
compensation. So, the people could do nothing but accept the
decision heavyheartedly.

Noer Saijidi - who during the 1960s worked at the Djawatan
Perumahan Rakyat (People's Housing Bureau), which also built
houses in Kebayoran Baru - said the foundation stone was laid at
Jl. Rambai No. 2 on March 18, 1949.

The 730-hectare satellite city had to provide 12,500 houses
for 100,000 inhabitants.

The area was divided into blocks (block A up to block S) and
each block was brightly and clearly indicated by a letter.

Batavia/Djakarta/Jakarta said the largest part was aimed at
housing for lower-officials (152 hectares), over 70 hectares were
allocated for the middle class and 55 hectares for the high
class. Seventeen hectares were used for shops and markets, 6.6
hectares for flats, 118 hectares for parks and 181 hectares for
roads.

Public housing was mostly built in block A, Q and S, middle-
class houses were available in most remaining blocks except G, I,
F and K where villas were built, Siswantari said.

Batavia/Djakarta/Jakarta said the design of Kebayoran Baru
followed the broad outline of garden cities in the Netherlands.

Despite being quiet, inhabitants enjoyed large gardens and
fields everywhere.

A huge field located at present in the Bulungan area was the
favorite place for Budi Sukada to enjoy afternoons, playing with
other children or enjoying food sold by vendors.

The style of most of the houses and buildings was primarily
functional.

"One which is typical of Kebayoran Baru is what is called
'jengki' (Yankee) style. The term was used when (first president)
Sukarno practised anti-U.S. politics," Budi said, referring to
the building style that features many corridors to block out the
sunlight.

The jengki style houses can still be found around Jl.
Sinabung.

In many respects Kebayoran Baru holds a particular place in
the development of Jakarta and Indonesian city-building in
general. It was the first quarter of the city to be developed
according to a systematic plan during the post-colonial period.