I

ncreasing Jakarta's green spaces is not a priority for the city administration, which focuses more on transportation and housing, a spatial planning expert says.

Yayat Supriatna, a spatial planner from Trisakti University said recently that providing enough green space would fully depend on commitment from the city administration, as the mission to green the city would be held back by the high price of land.

Green areas have long been an issue in the thriving metropolis of Jakarta, and some observers have said the lack of green spaces makes the city less livable.

The administration also needs to encourage private companies to get involved in greening Jakarta, similar to the recent corporate social responsibility programs (CSR) undertaken in Cakung district, North Jakarta.

The densely populated area of Cakung has geared up to transform its image as a slum area inundated by rain in wet season and dust in the dry season.

On Wednesday, the restoration of some 16 kilometers of the area began as part of a CSR program.

"We have been working on the green area by redesigning and reorganizing the space since November last year," said Handoyo, the communications manager of the developer company PT Mitra Sindo Sukses, adding the company had provided Rp 1 billion (US$106,951) for the CSR program that would cover restoration and maintenance expenses for a year.

Handojo said the company had cooperated with district officials, public order officials and the police on the program.

In 1965, more than 35 percent of Jakarta was made up of green areas, but this has been shrinking ever since. Currently, green areas in Jakarta account for only 9.3 percent of the city's 661,000 square meters of land, far less than the target of 30 percent set by the 2007 Spatial Planning Law.

Jakarta Planning Board head, Nurfakih Wirawan, said it would likely maintain the 13.94 percent target to improve green areas in its 2010-2030 spatial plan, saying the government's target of 30 percent was "unrealistic".

Nurfakih said the modest target was set because the city wanted to make sure the target was achievable.