Heat temperature, traffic jam, hustle, pollution, it seems that every badness has formed in Jakarta, in the middle of high-rise buildings, thousand of vehicles belch fumes of congested and inhaled again by the rider. How unpleasant to live in Jakarta.
Jakarta now is fulfilled by office buildings, apartments, houses, super-malls, and parking areas. Hardly to find parks, playgrounds, and green open-public. Clutter in Jakarta is getting worse by indifference of government to balance development between environment side and economic side. As a policy-maker government should arrange city’s layout to be accordance with ideal city form, however, it seems that they only build town which profit-oriented without regarding to environment’s health.
While almost all major capitals in Southeast Asian region investing heavily in public transportation, parks, playgrounds, sidewalks, and cultural institutions like museums, Jakarta invests in super-malls, office buildings, parking area, and housing instead. A Paradox of a city that built for the rich while most of Jakarta’s citizens are poor.
Many things happen in Jakarta Improperly, pavements has changed into street vendors, river has changed into waste streams, traffic light has changed into street singer. There are no sidewalks in the entire city, any benches for people to sit and relax, any public toilets which clean and comfortable. No wonder people of Jakarta too lazy to walk, and mosque has functioned as public toilet.
In Jakarta, there is a fee for everything. Many green spaces have been changed to golf courses for exclusive use for the rich. Even a Beach area that was created by nature and supposed to be used freely by city dwellers has changed to private business which organized by few people for their own wealth. Even to take a walk in a dirty beach, people has to spend approximately $1 (10.000 rupiahs) for each person. And cash from parking that manage by few local people, is going nowhere, not even be included to city income.
Most of Jakarta citizens are never left their home country, so that they not be able to compare their capital with other capitals on earth, and maybe this is one reason why Jakarta’s people still hold on in those situations. Despite the fact that the Indonesia’s capital is for many foreign visitors called “hell on earth”, their own communities describe Jakarta as “Metropolitan”.
From year to year population of Jakarta has risen significantly, the greatest urbanization is at the moment after “lebaran” , caused by people who came back to their village brings their comrade to earn a living in Jakarta.
The thing that may caused highly urbanization to Jakarta is the development of the town is very quick. Development that centralized in Jakarta and not following in other cities in Indonesia makes those of urban people think that Jakarta is symbol of success, and in order to get success life they have to live in Jakarta. Highly urbanization and limited job opportunities make Jakarta congested. The people who do not have modal or expertise would ended become street communities, makes criminality become high, they would do anything for live.
The life of urban people has already wrong in Jakarta, cannot be changed, yet still can be fixed. The key is from government, as a policy maker, they should do improvement to arrange the city, maybe with advance study and experiences, the solutions can be found and realized.
One’s thought would never change the world if not following by other’s actions. The biggest question is, would Jakarta people has courage to change their own city?
