Your comments on a survey conducted by the Indonesian Association of Planners (IAP) finding that Balikpapan, Surakarta, Malang, Yogyakarta, Palembang, Makassar and Bandung are the seven most livable cities in the country:

In Balikpapan, they have waste management by managing domestic waste at certain times each day, most people cross the street using crosswalks and motorists share the road by slowing their vehicles down when they see that people are about to cross the street.

There are no traffic jams, public transportation vehicles are clean '€” even though some of them are aging '€” they have road-sweeper vehicles that operate very late at night, and you won'€™t find any homeless people living on the streets.

There are so many good things about the city, not to mention the newly renovated Sepinggan International Airport, high-rise hotels around the main avenue and the soon-to-be completed 40,000 capacity Batakan Soccer stadium that was mostly financed by the city'€™s budget.

Asakusa

I'€™d be very proud of my city if it built more schools, hospitals, clinics, housing for the poor and fire stations.

Snap

More evidence and openness on the criteria is needed here; sure these cities might be quieter and cleaner but people there might have lower expectations, so seem to be happier. What are the least livable cities?

Surabaya is getting more of Jakarta'€™s issues, traffic is getting much worse, yet it has very few of the highlights that the capital has.

Sjaellis

For me, a livable city means that I can take a walk in the shade of trees, go for a bike ride safely on a bike path, enjoy a nightlife until early in the morning, delicious and hygienic local street food, affordable daily living and clean air.

I have been to all of the cities nominated except Balikpapan. The worst one is Makassar, where even the few shopping malls have no decent fashion nor good food.

Animi

The way I remember Balikpapan from the time when I worked there in the petroleum industry was as a sad city. One half of the city was heavenly, as you described it.

That was when it used to offer the posh country-club life to the oil people '€” with its tree-lined streets and world-class amenities for the '€œhaves'€.

However, it was a city divided. Just outside the posh part, in stark contrast, the other half was so poor and crowded and dirty and plagued with traffic jams as bad as Jakarta, and nobody who lived in the moneyed area bothered about the other half of the city.

Even after years and years, I always remember Balikpapan as the place where very poor people lived on top of the second-richest petroleum-producing area in Indonesia.

Balikpapan may be building sophisticated buildings and boast the highest gross national product (GNP) in Indonesia, but did you know that 90 percent of the money generated in Balikpapan still goes to Java and the US, and only a small portion stays in Balikpapan and is enjoyed by the locals?

Did you know that macro-economists pick Balikpapan to illustrate the difference between a region'€™s GNP and a region'€™s net income?

As long as the money still belongs to rich outsiders and a few of the local elite, Balikpapan will remain one of the saddest places on earth.

Iau Aro

I agree that the seven cities are most livable places in our country.

E. Nurdin
Jakarta

Indeed, Yogyakarta is worth choosing as one of the most livable cities. You can enjoy modernity without losing traditional atmosphere there. Come and prove it.

Ridwan AN
Yogyakarta

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