More inner city housing proposed

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.