More inner city housing proposed

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five days a week, Rachmat Halim, a resident of a housing complex in Depok, West Java, has to struggle through traffic for hours getting to his office on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta.

"In the morning, I spend a total of three hours getting to the office. Before I leave, I have to wait in the office to avoid the traffic congestion until late in the evening. In total, I have an idle seven hours every day," Rachmat told The Jakarta Post.

Rachmat said he was too tired to do anything after arriving home but go straight to bed.

The 35-year-old is one of around four million commuters living in Tangerang, Depok, Bekasi and Bogor who work in Jakarta.

Property analyst Panangian Simanungkalit from the Center of Indonesian Property Studies said that an integrated housing system in the inner city was a must if the nation wanted to raise workers' productivity.

"Imagine, millions of people spend a third of their lives on the street because of the distances and the traffic congestion. It is a waste of productivity and energy. A place to live near the office is a solution to these problems," he told a seminar on affordable apartments at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Wednesday.

Panangian said that building places to live inside the capital was still possible as central-city Jakarta still had many under- utilized spaces.

There were many large vacant lots in the golden triangle that included Jl. H.R Rasuna Said, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, he said.

"We still have 600 hectares of vacant or under-utilized spaces in the area, which could accommodate nearly three million people. The choice is not housing complexes because we have no more land," Panangian said.

Anisa Himawan, CEO of PT Mandiri Eka Abadi, the developer of the Pakubuwono Residence, said that as traffic became increasingly unbearable, more people would choose to live closer to their workplaces.

"We have initiated the concept of inner-city development because we believe that the demand for apartments in the center of the city will continue to remain high, considering that many people living in the suburbs will prefer apartments near their office," she said.

Bandung Institute of Technology urban designer Mohammad Danisworo, however, warned that inner-city development would need to include spaces for low-income tenants in its planning to avoid social unrest and segregation.

"For instance, street vendors and other small-scale vendors should be integrated in the development planning from the beginning so that they are not marginalized," he said.

Panangian said Indonesia should follow countries like Malaysia, which requires developers to build affordable accommodation for middle and low-income groups alongside high-end apartments.

A ministerial decree here only requires developers to build public infrastructure and facilities in housing complexes or apartments, he said.

All the speakers agreed that clearer regulations were needed to ensure developments benefited all sections of society.