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Denpasar struggles to preserve open, green sanctuaries

Uncontrolled development of residential and commercial sites in the provincial capital of Denpasar has reduced the city’s open and green spaces and threatens the urban agriculture sector, an academician claims

Wasti Atmodjo (The Jakarta Post)
Denpasar
Wed, July 27, 2011

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Denpasar struggles to preserve open, green sanctuaries

U

ncontrolled development of residential and commercial sites in the provincial capital of Denpasar has reduced the city’s open and green spaces and threatens the urban agriculture sector, an academician claims.

Wayan Windia, professor of agriculture at the University of Udayana in Denpasar, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that in the early 1990s, Denpasar had large green spaces and was a comfortable city for its residents.

“Now, the city has been transformed into a ‘concrete building site’,” the professor said.

The rapid growth of the population and the local economy has encouraged development, and the conversion of fertile land, including rice fields and plantations.

The population of Denpasar has soared from 600,000 people in the early 1990s to more than 1.1 million as of 2010. Bali’s total population reached 3.9 million last year. Violations of building regulations have become daily occurrences.

“The local authority has done very little to protect the city’s green areas and it seems that they [government officials] have turned a blind eye to the regulation violations,” Windia explained.

According to data from the city agriculture office, Denpasar had 2,717 hectares of productive rice fields, or 20 percent of the city’s total area, in 2010, compared to 5,343 hectares, or 41 percent of the city’s area, in l992.

Every year, Denpasar loses 25 hectares of rice fields to make way for various development projects, said Gede Ambara Putra, head of the agriculture office.

Citing an example, he said various housing and commercial projects were currently going on in several green belt zones such as in Peguyangan Kaja, which was once designated as the city’s water catchment area and agriculture site. In the city center, under-construction offices, hotels and business sites are not in line with existing building regulations and the city master plan, he said.

“Last year, almost all new housing complexes and new buildings in South and West Denpasar violated the city building requirement of providing 30 percent of land for open space,” Putra added.

The tourism business has also affected the city landscape. New hotels and tourist accommodations have been sprouting on Jl. Teuku Umar, an area once designated for office areas and small-scale businesses.

Legislators have frequently warned the Denpasar administration to take stern action against developers who violated regulations.

“Lack of law enforcement has encouraged other investors to follow their predecessors,” said Wandira, a member of Denpasar Legislative Council.

He said he had proposed to the local government that it establish a body to closely monitor the enforcement of the law and regulations on building and development issues.

In the past, he said, all buildings in Bali had to be designed in accordance with traditional Balinese architectural styles and concepts.

“Now, Denpasar grows like Jakarta, or other cities. The city’s looks are now lacking in Balinese artistic and cultural identity,” said a city master plan observer.

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