• News
• >
• Urban Planning & Development
• >
• Curbing high-density settlements necessary for better development, expert says

Curbing high-density settlements necessary for better development, expert says

Jakarta is one of Southeast Asia’s most vulnerable cities when it comes to the impacts of climate change. Flooding, drought and harsh weather hit the city hard because of its high population density. In a June 21 supplement in the Jakarta Globe, Rachmat Witoelar, a former state minister for the environment, talked about the need to stem the number of migrants pouring into the city.

 

Jakarta cannot accommodate the more than 250,000 people who come here annually in search of jobs and education opportunities, said Witoelar, noting that the city built for one million now supports nine times that number.

 

Part of the government’s new spatial plan to increase green space and better develop urban areas is to clear out illegal squatter communities that settle along railroad tracks and rivers. But the plan is controversial, and human rights organizations have already objected to the messy way some squatter settlements have been evicted.

 

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Wahli) says the spatial master plan is flawed because it was developed with little consultation from the affected communities.

 

In an interview with the Jakarta Globe on Jakarta’s 483^rd birthday, Governor Fauzi Bowo said Jakarta needs good management and planning, and he acknowledged that such solutions that will come only through good government and popular support.

 

But while city administrators have agreed to consult with residents more prior to the implementation of development plans, they also say they have no plans to alter the 2030 spatial plan currently underway.

 

Source: www.thejakartaglobe.com