Urban planning often overtaken by car
By Vincent Lingga
William Yiu, an American urban planner educated at Cambridge University, shares his thoughts about the ways Jakarta and its surrounding suburbs could be developed into a totally better living environment in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.
JAKARTA (JP): William Yiu, an architect and urban planner, who has designed several billion dollars worth of real estate developments in many countries, including Indonesia, sees cars as the devil in urban planning.
"The car has overtaken city planning. It is as if you have to use a car for everything," says Yiu, a graduate of the Cambridge University and Harvard Business School.
Yiu, known in Jakarta as the pioneer of the `superblock' or city-within-city concept in the mid-1980s, feels sorry for those in his profession because urban planners are solving problems rather than creating solutions.
"We are fighting a losing battle. In fact it is self-defeating because the more you build highways the worse the traffic congestion becomes," he says.
Among Yiu's creations are the BNI building on the Sudirman thoroughfare which is now more popularly known as BNI City, the 40-hectare Bona City near the Cilegon industrial town in West Java and the 11-hectare Bona Vista Garden of 13 condominiums of 20-30 stories in Lebak Bulus, south of Jakarta.
Below are more excerpts from the interview:
Question: How do you see Jakarta from the perspective of urban planning?
Answer: Geographically, I think, Jakarta is a linear city. The traffic flows mostly from the north to south and from the east to west. The government is doing the right job by developing a ring road linking the north and south and the railway network between the east and the west. It is encouraging though that Jakarta has been spreading new industrial investments and relocating old plants to its surrounding areas. But the city government cannot stop urbanization because its fundamental reasons lie beyond its control. The people will go where the jobs are. What it can do is manage population growth in such a way that the city's living environment will continue to improve.
Q: But even now, the first experience one gets upon entering Jakarta is the punishment of being caught helplessly in traffic jams.
A: I get the impression that the Jakarta public transport system was designed mainly for the low income groups of people. That, I think, is simply alright and makes sense. But now that the middle-income group has increased, the city requires a second tier public transport system that provides a cleaner and more disciplined service. Right now, you have to join the crowd in the bus or take a taxi. Obviously, the middle class will opt for a private car. If this trend is allowed much longer, traffic jams will become worse and worse.
Q: But the people now are getting farther away from their workplaces, thereby lengthening and increasing daily trips.
A: That is why, I think, railway services from the suburbs are very important. But what is important too is seeing that blue-collar workers live near their workplaces. A case in point is the rush development of thousands of hectares of industrial estates in Bekasi in the mid-1980s to accommodate new investment projects which sprouted as a result of the massive deregulation measures. At the time, nobody thought about living quarters for the thousands of people who would work at the industrial firms in the estates. So I approached the shareholders of the estates and warned them of a "disaster" if the vast tracts of industrial estates were developed without any investments in housing facilities. I also sold the idea about a residential area to the local administration. The concept has now come about in the 2,000-hectare Lippo City. Although, I was not directly involved in its later development, I am glad that Lippo City is now developing into a multi-function urban center.
The same concept is also being applied to the development of the Bona City in Cilegon where thousands of industrial plants have been operating or are being built. Many expatriates and executives working in Cilegon still prefer residing with their families in Jakarta due to an extreme lack of good living facilities in the area. So we are developing Bona City. Thousands of houses, shopping centers and a complete mix of public facilities are under construction, an international school already open and a business hotel is being built in Bona City.
I foresee the development of more satellite towns around Jakarta as a result of the policy to disperse new industrial plants and to relocate old factories from Jakarta to its surrounding areas. Hopefully, these satellite towns will eventually be linked with each other by railway services and highways.
Q: Then, how do you foresee any future trends as Jakarta is developing into a center of service and higher value-added manufacturing industries?
A: I think the superblock or city-within-city concept which I introduced in the mid-1980s when I designed the BNI building will become increasingly popular in the city proper. You see, the BNI building and its 40-hectare surrounding areas are now growing into a city itself. The Shangri-La Hotel has opened behind the BNI building, housing apartments are underway nearby and more office buildings will follow.
Another superblock, called Central Business District, is rising along the Sudirman thoroughfare. The 40-hectare complex of office buildings, housing apartments, shopping centers, hotel and other public facilities and services will function as a city within city. Another one is being developed near the Kuningan diplomatic avenue. So you see, the city-within-city concept will become increasingly popular as Jakarta is developing into a major center of more sophisticated service industry. The city-within-a city concept will reduce unnecessary trips as each complex supplies almost all the needs of the people working or living in the area.
Window: Jakarta needs a second-tier public transport system that provides a cleaner, more disciplined service.