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Jakarta should learn from other cities
Although it snaps, the news was true
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lthough it snaps, the news was true. The World Environment Research Agency (UNEP, 2009) ranked Jakarta third as the city with the worst air quality in the world after Mexico City and Bangkok.
Living in crowded and dense Jakarta is far from a wealthy standard. Almost all the vital sources of life such as water and air is no longer feasible to consume.
The results of the UNEP study show that 90 percent of wells operating in this metropolitan contain bacteria from human feces.
This proves that septic tank technology that recycles human waste pollutes the ground water, which is then consumed again. Concerning air pollution, humans do not have a choice to breathe.
Unlike water, humans cannot choose decent air. The main reason is exhaust from gas emissions from motor vehicles.
The government of Jakarta has begun to implement a rule that at least 20 percent of public transport vehicles should use natural gas over the next few years.
It has also established RTRW 2010-2030 which, unfortunately, was protested against by various parties for not being participatory. Many people doubted whether it was possible to make plans for Jakarta and its surroundings, which now has a population of almost 20 million people.
More than 50 years ago, the famous anthropologist Claude Levi- Strauss (1955) wrote that Sao Paolo, Brazil, "has developed so rapidly so that it is not possible to undertake planning".
At that time, Brazil's economic center had "only" 2.5 million inhabitants. It is inconceivable what impression of Levi-Strauss had when observing Sao Paolo or especially Jakarta today.
According to World Watch, the human race who invaded the metropolitan in developing countries, did so not because of the prosperity of the city, but because of rural poverty.
Theoretically, this urbanization can stop if the centers in the region offer sufficient employment opportunities.
In this aspect, there are actually "meeting points" between Jakarta and regional interests.
Jakarta, which has an urgent need to reduce the burden of overpopulation, environmental pollution and poverty, should establish mutually beneficial relationships with the region. Jakarta can bridge - or make direct investments - in the region, especially in labor-intensive industrial sectors. Repatriation program may also try to become "sons of the region" from Jakarta to complete various jobs in the area.
With the administrative and business center in Jakarta, this is the place where problems accumulate. Plans to transfer the administration capital to another city or place should be revitalized.
Termination of a vicious cycle of problems in Jakarta seems to be a top priority for the government over the next five years of development planning. Involving citizens in the planning process is a must, including the possibility of revising the RTRW 2010-2030.
Shakespeare has formulated a short sentence that contains a question and an answer, "What is the city if not its people."
Society at large, especially from the lower-middle class that make up the majority population in the city have not been involved in town planning. In the implementation of plans, they are usually the losers.
Ideally, quarrying and solving urban problems are no longer a monopoly of city planners and policy makers.
A lot of evidence shows that citizens often know more about the real issues and are able to release creative ideas as long as they are invited to problem solve in their hometown.
Some of the best practices are worthy of consideration. From overseas, Porto Alegre is an example of an innovative and participatory model in the form of Orcamento Participativo (OP) or the involvement of citizens in budget planning.
Within the framework of OP, the city is divided into sub-regions, where people in forums discuss local and regional problems of the city and find a solution.
Over the last few years, citizens of Porto Alegre can decide the use of funds as investment for the lower social class in regards to drinking water, canalization, roads, education, disposal and recycling of waste, improvement of city transportation and procurement of the waste water disposal network.
The success of Model Porto Alegre has become a reference for hundreds of city councils in Brazil and some Latin American countries. In this regard, the procedural representative democracy in Brazil has lost prestige compared to the popular democracy through direct involvement of citizens.
From within the country, the mayor of Surakarta (Solo), for example, demonstrates how to ensure its citizens better value humanity principles.
To move the street vendors to an appropriate place, he first heard the inspiration of the informal sector actors. He did not select a shortcut through the deployment of forces or burn the sites.
Not surprisingly, the event went smoothly and was a lively movement, complete with a parade of the traditional palace troops.
To fix Jakarta, there's no harm to learn from the experiences of Porto Alegre, Surakarta and many other cities. Hopefully!
The writer is an architect, town planner and co-editor in chief of the Journal of Social Democracy.
