Metropolis still a pseudo concept

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 1 million people working in Jakarta have no better choice but to reside in the suburbs of Greater Jakarta, which in fact fall within the jurisdictions of West Java and Banten provinces.

Besides the fact that a house with a backyard in the suburbs is more affordable -- even though it may take 10 to 20 years to finish paying off the installments -- it can also be a good investment thanks to the rapid development of industrial and commercial premises in each of the new towns.

However, according to urban planners, the mushrooming development of satellite cities has gone off track from its initial concept of self-contained settlements that are supposed to take the burden off the capital.

"What at first were expected to be buffer towns to absorb Jakarta residents have turned into dormitory settlements," urban architect Darundono told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

He pointed to the influx of thousands of vehicles into the capital as well as spiraling fuel consumption and emissions as an example of the adverse impacts of the rapid growth of the new towns.

The first concept for a Greater Jakarta came to light in mid 1980s when the central government authorized banks to support developers who had plots of land of more than 500 hectares to develop.

Imitating the development of new towns in some European countries and the United States, where residential areas were moved to the outskirts, the Jakarta administration designed the expansion of the city to go as far as Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi: "Jabodetabek" for short.

Each buffer town was expected to have its own function -- whether it was designed as industrial area with housing complexes or a residential area with a business district -- equipped with all the public facilities of a real town, such as parks, schools and a public transportation system.

The first one built was Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) in 1987 in Tangerang, about a one hour drive from the city. This was followed later by the development of Lippo Karawaci, also in Tangerang.

The booming housing development business at that time had unfortunately given opportunities for unscrupulous officials to rake in fortunes by allowing any company to develop even 20 hectares of land into housing complexes without appropriate public facilities.

Another urban planner from Tarumanegara University, Suryono Herlambang, pointed to the existence of several other small housing complexes in between BSD and Lippo Karawaci as an example of deviations to the grand plan.

"The idea was to separate each of the centers of growth with an area of at least 20 to 30 kilometers of green, productive area to be used as, for example, agricultural farms by the residents in a bid to create a self-sustaining town. Moreover, there should have been a public transportation system to connect each of the towns.

"But as we can see now, the whole area has turned into a concrete jungle where residential areas are confronted with shopping malls," he told the Post.

Suryono has suggested that all related administrations start a redesign of Greater Jakarta, in order to reduce the numbers of people traveling into and out of Jakarta.

Darundono also highlighted the fact that the uncontrolled development of new towns along the green belt area has also made Greater Jakarta even more prone to flooding.

"The administrations should work together to establish mass rapid transportation system and stop the development of new towns," he asserted.