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Jakarta Post

Weekly 5: The tallest, largest and longest

As the capital city, Jakarta is proud of numerous structures and establishments, which were built as a testament of the city’s superiority

The Jakarta Post
Fri, February 28, 2014

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Weekly 5: The tallest, largest and longest

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em>As the capital city, Jakarta is proud of numerous structures and establishments, which were built as a testament of the city'€™s superiority.

And like every capital city in the world, many of these iconic sites have superlative titles.

Here are a few of them:

The longest

Jakarta'€™s west and east are divided by Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin, which connect the city'€™s south and north. The 22-kilometer long thoroughfares are not only the longest in Jakarta, but also in the country.

'€œJakarta'€™s total land mass is 670 square meters, or about 20 meters x 30 meters, meaning that the thoroughfares connect one end to another,'€ Indonesian Tour Guide Association (HPI) member Koentjoro Lambertus said recently.

The largest

One of the few green areas in Jakarta is Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta, where the 147-hectare Ragunan Zoo, built in 1864, is located. It is, by size, the largest zoo in the country, housing over 270 species of animals and 171 species of flora.

On regular days, Ragunan Zoo is visited by around 3,000 people, this number rises to 20,000 people on weekends and can reach 60,000 during school holidays.

During peak seasons, such as Idul Fitri, visitors can number more than 140,000 each day.

The tallest

The 262-meter tall Wisma BNI 46, in the heart of Jl. Sudirman'€™s business district in Central Jakarta is the tallest building in the country.

This building also happens to be the 123rd tallest building in the world. Wisma 46 was formally opened in 1996 and has 46 floors. It was designed by DP Architects Pte. Ltd. and Zeidler Partnership Architects.

Its status, however, may soon be snatched away by state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina'€™s new headquarters '€” Pertamina Energy Tower '€” in Kuningan, South Jakarta, which will be 530 meters high.

The building, which will have 99 floors, is slated for completion in 2018.

The biggest

Pluit reservoir, locally known as Waduk Pluit, in North Jakarta, is the biggest reservoir in the capital.

It used to be 80-hectares wide but due to sedimentation it has narrowed by 20 hectares.

The city administration has introduced a massive dredging project, to normalize lakes and rivers, including Pluit reservoir, across the capital.

The west part of Pluit will be turned into a park with a jogging track, an amphitheater and a green kiosk, after thousands of squatters living in the vicinity were relocated to low-cost apartments.

The most popular

Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta, is the biggest wholesale market compound in Southeast Asia.

The textile market has built its reputation as the center of textile and clothes trading since its establishment in 1735.

The 160,000-square-meter Blok A building, which is the most popular among other buildings in the area, has modern facilities like air conditioning, elevators and escalators. On the top floor, it even has a mosque that has room for up to 2,000 people.

With almost 8,000 kiosks and as many as 80,000 shoppers at busy times, transactions in Blok A alone can amount to Rp 500 billion (US$43 million) per day. The market has attracted buyers from as far as Africa and Saudi Arabia. '€” JP

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