Tambora in West Jakarta is Overcrowded and Slum-like: Expert Blames Failure of Past City Development Plans

Urban planning expert from the University of Indonesia (UI), Muh Azis Muslim, states that the overcapacity and slum conditions in Tambora sub-district, West Jakarta, are not solely due to residents’ mistakes. He assesses that this spatial planning issue is a product of the failure in city development planning and the lack of a masterplan as a basis for sustainable development in the past. “From this alone, the failure in city development planning is already evident. The absence of a masterplan encompassing the entire Jakarta area in a sustainable manner,” Azis told Kompas.com by telephone on Friday (8/5/2026). This area is located very close to Jakarta’s early economic centres, including Sunda Kelapa Port, the Old Town area, Pasar Pagi, and various industrial hubs. “They felt there was a livelihood there, so pockets of housing emerged from newcomers trying their luck. This is what led to the density in the Tambora area,” Azis explained. On the other hand, unplanned development without good urban planning from past governments has worsened spatial disparities in Tambora to this day. Azis highlights that the direction of Jakarta’s development has been too focused on the central business area or the Golden Triangle in central Jakarta. Meanwhile, the coastal areas that were once prime due to the presence of Sunda Kelapa Port are no longer considered by modern governments. “Modern urban planning tends to focus on the Golden Triangle area, both in Sudirman, Thamrin, and Kuningan. This is what makes Tambora no longer a priority, because the area’s economic activity has started to shift. This shows development policies that are not favourable to Tambora’s community, tending to be neglected,” he said. This fatal impact must be borne by residents daily, from vulnerability to disasters like fires to high rates of social conflicts. Azis mentions that the layout of houses that are attached to each other makes fire very easy to spread if there is an electrical short circuit. A single small trigger can incinerate an entire dense area, especially since access for fire trucks is very difficult to reach the fire point.