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Jabodetabek, the Fragile Giant

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A river passes through farmland that surrounds Pasir Ranji village of Central Cikarang in Bekasi regency, West Java, Thursday (1/8/2019). The inhabitants of the village are maintaining their traditional way of life against the new wave of urban development that is taking over the rural Cikarang region.

New developments continue to appear on the outskirts of Jakarta. Although vast, these “new townships" do not meet housing needs in the capital and have caused serious problems.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — New residential developments continue to pop up on the outskirts of Jakarta. According to the data Realestat Indonesia executive director Dhani Muttaqin presented, new urban developments are growing at a rapid pace. In the 1990s, around 20 new townships managed by property developers existed in Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta). Today, that figure has expanded to 33 township developments covering 50,338 hectares, nearly the size of Jakarta (66,150 hectares).
New townships managed by private developers now connect Jakarta up to the Karawang border of Cikarang in West Java. These new residential developments have replaced villages that farmed rice and cattle. A similar situation has occurred in Balaraja district of Tangerang regency, Banten province, which borders the provincial capital of Serang, with new developments reaching the limits of both Bogor municipality and regency. A house in a residential complex in eastern Cikarang costs around Rp 500 million, which falls under the “affordable” category.
When Kompas met with Dhani at the Citiestalk 2 discussion, held in Jakarta by the Indonesian Association of Planning Experts (IAP), she said developers had been forced out into the outskirts because the price of land increased very quickly in Jabodetabek’s urban centers. Land prices in Jabodetabek increased 24.54 percent yearly, with Depok recording the highest yearly increase at 37.13 percent.
The conversion of productive land for food and agriculture into urban settlements went beyond developing integrated townships. Cassava and rice farms in Bogor municipality have been converted into "village-level" settlements, as had happened in Bojongkerta, South Bogor district.
KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI
A modern property development encroaches rural land in the Central Cikarang region of Bekasi regency, West Java, Thursday (1/8/2019). Modern developments are gradually taking over the rural area.
Standing adjacent to Kampung Bojong Pesantren, the 1-hectare residential area appeared six years ago. Named "Kampung Baru", the area is for relocating residents of Bogor regency’s Bojongkerta village and Ciawi district whose land had been acquired for the Bogor-Ciawi-Sukabumi (Bocimi) toll road development.
Mulyadi Maulana, 19, who was born and raised in Kampung Parung Lesang of Central Cikarang, Bekasi regency, has a story that is similar to the people of Bojongkerta. Many of the kampung’s residents are being forced to relocate to far-flung settlements close to the border as developers purchase their land. "It would be impossible to buy another house here. They are too expensive. Usually they are bought by people who work in Jakarta," he said.
It takes about 1.5 hours one way to get to the area by toll road from Slipi in West Jakarta – that is, if all goes well. The roads are congested more frequently because of the many heavy vehicles like trucks and trailers headed to the industrial areas scattered throughout the region.
This situation is occurring in all directions. To the west, a new development has reached the border of Serang, Banten. A large residential area has been developed close to the East Balaraja tollgate of the
Jakarta-Merak toll road, which is the main access to the area. To the south, Depok municipality is dense with a variety of housing complexes.
Urban planning and real estate researcher and lecturer Suryono Herlambang of Tarumanagara University said that the development of new townships began in the early 1980s. At that time, developers attempted to take over as much land as possible through the government policy of granting land tenure for real estate developments, including low-cost housing.
"However, the development of new townships are now separate from what was first imagined," Suryono said on Tuesday (23/7/2019).
Today, the developers’ townships are better than those that have been built by local administrations and are only accessible to the middle-income households and above. "[It is] Just like the consolidated areas of BSD, Lippo Karawaci, Gading Serpong and Alam Sutra, which have ‘beat’ the administrations of Tangerang and South Tangerang municipalities, as well as Tangerang regency. All public services and activities there are of an international scale. Schools, hospitals, universities, stores," he said.
Wasteful
On the other hand, housing needs are not being met. Of the 1.46 million houses needed this year in the capital, the Jakarta provincial administration has provided only 700 townhouse units in the Klapa Village development through its zero-down housing program.
Indonesian Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) deputy director Faela Sufa said that the current development trend was an extravagance in terms of the economy, energy and the environment. It had forced the government to build infrastructure for the new townships like roads, rails and other public facilities, which were not cheap.
The current trend in residential developments was exclusive, with access designed for motorized vehicles that encouraged residents to use a car or motorcycle. Many areas did not incorporate access to public transportation facilities.
It is not surprising that the air quality in Jakarta and surrounding areas is poor. According to data from Transportation Ministry\'s research and development department, 100 million daily journeys are made across Jabodetabek, mostly by private vehicles that are major contributors to pollution.
Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said township developments in the country were generally irregular. A more regular development strategy must be drafted for the future, such as for the new Indonesian capital.
IAP general chairman Bernardus Djonoputro opined that building the public housing capacities of regional administrations was critical. Local governments must have the strength to ensure that the ratio of luxury, medium and low-cost housing was met. Local governments must also have the fiscal capacity to ensure that basic infrastructure was provided to their residents. (IRE/JOG/RTS/PIN/NAD/VAN)

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