Kelapa Gading goes from swamp to swanky shops

Kelapa Gading goes from swamp to swanky shops

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Many big things come from big plans.

But it was not the case with Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta,
now dubbed a city within the city.

Back in 1975, the area was just swampy land used to grow rice
and leafy vegetables, but now developer PT Summarecon Agung of
its several shopping malls and plush residential areas.

"When the Jakarta administration planned to clear the Senen
area in Central Jakarta for a trade center, we thought of
developing low-cost housing for Senen residents whose homes were
affected by the project ... The nearest location that was still
idle was the swampy area," Summarecon's president director
Sunardi Rusli told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

The developer then started filling in the swamp land with soil
taken from areas in Bekasi, like Ciketing Udik, to flatten out
the area.

"We never imagined that we would gradually manage to develop a
tiny area of 10 hectares of housing complex into a vast complex
of more than 500 hectares with 25,000 houses," Sunardi said.

"In that sense, we have contributed in alleviate the city's
burden in providing housing for Jakarta residents."

When clusters of houses multiplied, the developer started to
think about what facilities to build so that the residents would
not have to go far from their homes to fulfill their daily needs
and not worsen traffic jams in the capital's streets.

"The idea is simple: how to build a new city in the middle of
the existing city. Then, we thought of developing markets,
hospitals, schools and places of worship. And, beyond our
expectations, it all grew rapidly," he said.

The rapid development of the complex was further revved up
with the presence of shopping malls in the 1990s.

House prices, initially selling for Rp 70 million, soared to
Rp 500 million, with some upmarket houses priced over Rp 900
million.

The development of new houses seems to have culminated, with
only 22.5 hectares of space left vacant out of the total area of
500 hectares.

"That's why we are turning our attention to the concept of
developing high rise buildings and apartments as our new
products," said Johanes Mardjuki, finance director and corporate
secretary of the company.

The developer launched its first two towers of apartments,
which are located adjacent to existing malls, in August 2004,
with a total of 386 units on offer.

"We plan to build two to three other apartment towers in the
near future should the demand remain high," he said.

He added that the developer was also considering constructing
hotels and office buildings to materialize its idea of making the
complex a shopping destination for tourists, focusing on fashion
and food as its strong points.

Since 2003, Kelapa Gading has been organizing an annual event
to attract tourists, called the Jakarta Food and Fashion
Festival, which is held every May, as a curtain raiser to the
celebration of the capital's anniversary in July.

"We host various medium-scale enterprises here with 2,000
shop-houses where thousands of people work and therefore help
reduce unemployment in Jakarta," he said.

However, for many residents of Kelapa Gading, the company has
a lot of homework to do: chronic traffic congestion and recurrent
floods.

"Traffic jams in the complex are getting worse by day, which I
think is being caused by mass conversion of houses into
commercial premises, eating up neighborhood streets for parking
space," said Hakim, 28, a resident of Jl. Kelapa Kopyor.

The developer, Hakim grumbled, did little to resolve the
traffic problems.

Similarly, Johanes Wiryanto, who resides near Kelapa Cengkir,
blamed new buildings, which were constructed higher than old
buildings, as being partly to blame for causing floods.

"Even a brief drizzle is enough to swamp the streets in the
area with water," he sighed.

"The developer has also failed to repair damaged roads," he
added.

Environmentalists have expressed concerns that the development
in the complex has eaten into open and green space, which serve
as the city's water catchment area.

However, the developer has been quick to fend off the
allegations, claiming the area is not included in areas
designated by regulations as water catchment areas.

I-Box

Facilities in Kelapa Gading

Hospitals 3
Schools 4
Shopping centers/markets 11
Restaurants and food centers 25
Sports centers, clubs 5
Places of worship (mosques, churches) 4

Source: PT Summarecon Agung