New decree urged on superblocks

JAKARTA (JP): Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs Tb.M. Rais underlined yesterday the city's urgent need for a regulation on superblocks to anticipate future development.

The regulation could, among other things, supervise the development of superblocks in the city and prevent developers from violating designated land use rules, Rais said.

"The development of superblocks is generated from the 1985- 2005 urban spatial plan which is currently under revision and will no longer involve 'sterile' concepts," Rais said.

He was referring to the city's spatial plan which allowed only a single kind of building, such as housing or office complexes, to be developed in certain areas.

"Now, we're implementing a non-sterile concept where an area can be developed in flexible ways based on its needs," he said.

The new concept, therefore, has led developers to plan more superblocks, including the Koridor Satrio project in Central Jakarta, said Rais.

Once the Rp 10 trillion Satrio project was complete, he said, it would be able to accommodate both small- and large-scale businesses, from sidewalk vendors to big retailers.

"The problem now is that we still have no regulations supervising superblocks," he said.

The city is currently finalizing a revision of the 1985-2005 spatial plan, to become the 1997-2010 spatial plan. Revision is considered necessary to meet the city's changing development needs.

Indonesian Democratic Party councilor Lukman F. Mokoginta is also concerned over the lack of a regulation on superblocks.

"I've even asked why the municipality has not prepared a regulation on superblocks, even though it was suggested by councilors when the development of the Sudirman-Thamrin area started years ago," said Lukman yesterday.

The absence of such a regulation has made buildings along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. M.H. Thamrin "unfriendly" to the environment and pedestrians, Lukman said. (ste/07)