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View all search resultsLiving with the strain: Why Jakarta is still home
As Indonesia’s largest urban region grows into the world’s most populous, residents balance hardship and hope in a city that remains the country’s strongest economic magnet.
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After-hours rush: Traffic continues well into the night on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, one of Jakarta’s busiest thoroughfares, pictured during the evening peak on Dec. 11, 2025. (JP/Ramadani Saputra)
I
t was nearly 10 p.m. at Gondangdia Station in Central Jakarta in mid-December, but the platform was far from empty. Dozens of weary commuters waited patiently for a train bound for Bogor, West Java, one of Jakarta’s satellite cities. Among them was Andi Mardhatillah, who had just left his office in the Thamrin area.
“It’s already 10 p.m., but it’s still quite crowded,” said Mardhatillah, who commutes daily by train from his rooming house, locally known as a kos-kosan, in Tebet, South Jakarta.
When he first moved to Jakarta from his hometown of Makassar in South Sulawesi, the 32-year-old was impressed by the city’s public transportation, something he said was lacking back home. That impression has faded over time. After seven years in the capital, he feels traveling on the commuter line has grown increasingly inconvenient, especially during rush hour, when headways can stretch to 10 minutes.
“The fare is low, but we don’t really benefit from it because we have to pay in other ways, such as sacrificing our comfort,” he said.
Millions like Mardhatillah move to Jakarta in search of better opportunities. Like many others, he has learned to compromise to survive in the Big Durian. The city is part of Greater Jakarta, which the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division has identified as the world’s most populous urban agglomeration.
The UN report shows the population of the Greater Jakarta area, which includes Jakarta, as well as Bogor, Depok and Bekasi, all in West Java, and Tangerang, Banten, has reached nearly 42 million, surpassing Tokyo.
