Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Inside the old, abandoned, elegant structures in Jakarta's Old Town, people carry on with their lives.
""We are not allowed to build stalls on the sidewalks, so it is better that we use the empty buildings,"" said a food and cigarette vendor inside the Cipta Niaga building in Kali Besar Timur, Kota, West Jakarta.
Just across the street, a woman is washing her clothes on the parking lot of a renovated 19th century building, with pails of water fetched from a waterway beneath the pavement.
Next to her, a mother bathes her three-year old son under the scorching sun.
If the photogenic area of Kota allures tourists and first-time photographers, it is actually home to those without homes. Or at least, without their own premises in Jakarta.
""I have been the caretaker of this building for five years,"" said Udin, inside his living quarters, built on the front sidewalk of the Kerta Niaga building, also on Kali Besar.
Although the building he looks after is empty, Udin refuses to occupy the vast space inside.
""It is not mine, not my home. It is better that I live outside,"" the 45-year old said.
Several of the caretakers who look after abandoned buildings dating back from as early as the 17th century in the area are migrants from cities in West Java.
""Our job is to keep the homeless away. But if they want to stay for a couple of nights, it is still OK,"" he said.
And so homeless stray from one building to another, at the mercy of the caretakers.
Homeless people are only a gloomy part of the picture of Kota that depicts real life instead of the past romanticism of historical sites.
The area also features some unique professions, from bicycle taxi drivers and nomad fortune tellers to floating scavengers.
Kota Green Map volunteer David Hutama explained previously that the group's survey revealed ""the revitalization of the area should focus more on the people instead of the reminiscence of history through the buildings"".
It has been almost a year since heritage lovers teamed up in JOK (Jakarta Old Town Kotaku, or My City) to revitalize the historical area and reiterate their concern for it.
So far, visible changes are barely noticeable but as group member Budi Lim said, the program is not as simple as repainting old buildings and inserting new functions in them.
Budi explained the management of vehicle flow, inadequate signage, improper loading and unloading activities, illegal parking and widespread street vendors were all things that had to be dealt with.
Kota is notorious for its poorly maintained heritage buildings, traffic nightmares, recurrent flooding, on-street parking problems, ubiquitous street vendors who clog the roads and a main river polluted with waste.
Its old main strip, Kali Besar, has now become the emptiest street, since most buildings there are now used only for the occasional celebration, advertisement or film shoot or pre-wedding photo session.
The problem with Kota is not its empty, badly in need of restoration buildings. The key is not in giving them face lifts and turning them into museums, galleries, cafes or wedding reception halls.
Several buildings house unique activities unmatched anywhere else.
A flower shop in Asemka provides free daily meditation lessons as well as flower arranging classes. One of the buildings in Kali Besar is occupied by a Buddhist charity shop and an affordable Chinese medication center.
The courtyard in front of the Jakarta Museum becomes a stage for a late afternoon communal cat bath, while a kampong is slipped in between the art deco Bank Nasional Indonesia headquarters and the old train station.
Kota reflects both history and the present.
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