Long Struggle Toward Establishing an Aerotropolis
Sekar Gayatri, 35, arrived at Terminal 1 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday (22/10/2019) afternoon. Carrying a small suitcase, she hurriedly walked to the Skytrain shelter.
Sekar Gayatri, 35, arrived at Terminal 1 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday (22/10/2019) afternoon. Carrying a small suitcase, she hurriedly walked to the Skytrain shelter.
Using the Skytrain, she went to the airport train station. “I have to go to Thamrin as there’s a seminar I need to attend in Central Jakarta tomorrow morning,” said Sekar, who had just arrived from Semarang, Central Java.
In the past year, every time she has gone to Jakarta on official business, Sekar has used the airport train to go to Sudirman Baru Station. From there, she rides a taxi to the hotel where she stays. “It’s cheaper and faster. I can avoid traffic jams,” Sekar said.
The train ride to Sudirman Baru costs Rp 70,000 (US$4.99). The travel time is around 46 minutes with only two stops, namely Batu Ceper Station in Tangerang and Duri Station in West Jakarta. A taxi ride to downtown Jakarta can be twice as costly and twice as long.
Comfortable public transportation services are available to connect the city with the airport and with Jakarta, which means Tangerang is becoming more accessible.
The Skytrain between airport terminals and the airport train complement bus and commuter train services that connect the airport to nearby city centers, including Tangerang. Comfortable public transportation services are available to connect the city with the airport and with Jakarta, which means Tangerang is becoming more accessible.
The presence of an international airport creates huge potential for Tangerang. The concept of an aerotropolis, or airport-based urban development, serves as a new direction in the development of the city of 2.1 million people managed by Mayor Arief R Wismansyah.
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) urban planning practitioner Dhani Muttaqin said that Tangerang city and its international airport deserved to be called an aerocity or aerotropolis. “Tangerang is in the process of getting there. This is possible because Soekarno-Hatta airport with 100 million passengers per year is among the busiest in Southeast Asia and in Asia,” Dhani said on Friday (25/10).
As an aerotropolis, Tangerang will support activities at Soekarno-Hatta airport by providing and strengthening local industries, business and commerce, residential areas and good accessibility between activity hubs in Tangerang and at the airport, some of which are under construction. Nearing the end of the toll road from Jakarta to the airport, for instance, there are several new business districts with hotels, restaurants, offices and warehouses concentrated on the righthand side of the road.
Tangerang was not prepared as a residential or industrial city in the beginning. During the Dutch colonial era, for instance, Tangerang was “a dumping ground".
Process
Tangerang is aiming for a new identity as an aerotropolis. However, huge effort and a series of short-term and long-term programs are required to establish this.
This is because Tangerang was not prepared as a residential or industrial city in the beginning. During the Dutch colonial era, for instance, Tangerang was “a dumping ground” and a center for imprisonment. Currently, there are five penitentiaries in the city.
The “dumping ground” image was reinforced by the establishment of the Sitanala Leprosy Hospital in the city in 1951.
“When I was small, whenever I was naughty, my parents threatened to throw me away in Tangerang,” the city’s 1998-2003 mayor Mochammad Thamrin said (Kompas, 26 February 2019).
In an interview in late September, Tangerang’s then-development planning agency head Said Endrawiyanto (who now heads the city’s earnings board) said that, 26 years after its inauguration as a city, Tangerang’s proximity to Jakarta, the airport and intercity toll road had led to massive industrial growth. Tangerang was then called “The City of 1,000 Industries”.
Said explained that, in its 2013-2023 spatial plan, Tangerang focused itself as an industrial city. However, the city has responded positively to improvements at Soekarno-Hatta airport by the central government and strategic area development plans by the central and provincial governments by adjusting its spatial plan.
First, the city will remain an industrial hub. Next, it will be reorganized to make it more comfortable for residents and as a service and trade city that utilizes Soekarno-Hatta airport as a growth and development hub.
According to Said, the areas within 30-60 kilometers of the airport reinforce Tangerang’s plan of becoming an aerotropolis. There is more than one form of transportation access. Other than mass transportation, there is also the Sedyatmo toll road, the national road and the under-construction Kunciran-airport toll road.
The Tangerang city administration is also developing residences through the Our Kampung and Innovation Kampung programs. Currently, there is Tehyan Kampung, whose name refers to a Chinese traditional musical instrument, in Neglasari; Tempeh Kampung (in Koang Jaya subdistrict, Karawaci district); Children’s Kampung and Batik Kampung in Larangan; Hydroponic Kampung (Cimone, Karawaci); Marquesas Kampung and ASEAN Kampung (Karawaci); Bekelir Kampung (Pasirkali, Tangerang district) and other kampungs.
A true aerotropolis would prioritize the availability of open green spaces in urban planning.
Dhani, who also chairs the Jakarta Planners’ Association, said that the Tangerang city administration should continue its collaboration with the airport management and the central and provincial governments in its transformation into an aerotropolis. He said that this would facilitate the city’s plan to develop supporting infrastructure.
Dhani said that a true aerotropolis would prioritize the availability of open green spaces in urban planning. Open green spaces will serve as water catchment, to keep the air cool and make the city more livable. This is huge work for Tangerang city in order to reach its goals.