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