W

ith land prices in Jakarta skyrocketing, many young middle-class residents view buying a home downtown as impossible.

Most city workers have no choice but to buy a house on the outskirts of Jakarta, spending more than three hours a day commuting.

But a number of young Jakartans have found an alternative solution.

'€œWe are thinking of becoming our own property developers and building walk-up apartments
in the middle of the city,'€ said 27-year-old Imam Wiratmadja, referring to himself, his wife and their friends.

Imam, who says he is a digital strategist and currently lives in a rented pavilion in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, said his friend came up with the idea of building a four-story apartment comprising 12 units.

'€œWe agreed to choose Bendungan Hilir because it is very strategic and accessible by public transportation, so we won'€™t need private vehicles. We can just bike to work,'€ he said.

'€œWe want to live where we can live a quality life instead of spending our time forever on the road commuting,'€ Imam added.

Imam and his group of friends called the project '€œco-housing'€.

Project cofounder Reza Prabowo said they had set a maximum budget for each unit at Rp 400 million (US$40,000).

'€œWe assume that each unit size will be between 28-33 square meters,'€ Reza said.

A one-bedroom 28-square-meter apartment unit in Slipi, West Jakarta, is currently Rp 616 million.

Imam and his friends said they had found a potential plot suitable for their project.

'€œWe have found a potential investor who would help us with the construction. Each tenant will then buy the unit with mortgage loan facilities,'€ Imam said.

Another cofounder, Benny Zuniar, said another benefit was that the apartment would be populated by friends.

Architect Ren Katili said the concept of developing walk-up apartments in the middle of the city had been discussed in the architect community.

'€œArchitects and academics have long discussed the concept of developing walk-up apartments designed for the young middle class near the city'€™s business districts, just like in many other metropolitan cities around the world,'€ he explained.

'€œOnce their families develop and they need more space, they will start moving to the suburbs,'€ Ren said, citing such concepts could reduce heavy traffic during busy hours.

'€œIdeally, the concept should be developed and funded by the city administration,'€ he added.

Ren pointed out the conventional mind-sets of most Indonesians as a factor that hampered the development of vertical living in big cities.

'€œMost Indonesians still think that they need appropriate space to accommodate social and family gatherings,'€ he said.

By adopting vertical living, big city dwellers should be willing to apply simple and efficient interior design in their homes.

'€œEach tenant should only think about what they need the most and remove secondary facilities. The most important thing is that they can live comfortably there,'€ Ren went on.

'€œA walk-up apartment should also have a basement for storerooms and probably joint laundry facilities. They can also use the rooftop for recreational needs,'€ he said.

The city administration is keen to push the development of vertical housing.

It aims to regulate vertical living in the revised detailed spatial planning (RDTR) bylaw.

Darwin Syam Siregar, the team leader in charge of the formulation of the RDTR draft, said it would
allow developers to build low-cost apartments in all densely populated residential areas.

Previously, developers who built an apartment building would have to secure a government decree, as vertical housing was not regulated in the old detailed spatial plan.

'€œDevelopers will be allowed to build apartments in densely populated housing areas or areas with intensive activities such as Tambora, Slipi, Kemanggisan and Bendungan Hilir,'€ Darwin said.