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span class="inline inline-left">Skyscrapers. High-rise offi ces and hotels dominate the Mega Kuningan business district in South Jakarta. More such tall buildings are under construction and are expected to open in the city later this year. JP/Wendra AjistyatamaThis year more concrete buildings will spring up, decorating Jakarta’s skyline to meet the needs of people for living space or to expand their business.

Analysts have also forecast that the property sector in the city will remain strong in 2012 on the back of high demand and positive economic growth.

But has the concept behind a high-rise city really worked in Jakarta? Or will it only portray Jakarta as a messy concrete jungle?

“The absence of a development concept has turned Jakarta into a disorganized city,” Tarumanegara University urban and spatial planner Suryono Herlambang told The Jakarta Post.

He said that most cities focused on developing their areas vertically because they wanted to create a compact and efficient city so that they would have more open public spaces on the ground.

“Do we see that here? We don’t see plenty of open spaces in Jakarta. What we have got here is the more vertical buildings stand, the less open space we [Jakartans] have,” he said.

“The lack of concept had also prompted the development of too many central business district centers that only created new problems,” Suryono said.

“While the development in Sudirman has not been totally completed, Jakarta has seen another business district development in Kuningan, and other areas. In addition, the trend of superblocks in Jakarta has created new traffic congestion zones in the city,” he said.

Jakarta has at least five areas that have become the main Central Business District (CBD). They are located along Jl. MH. Thamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman in Central
Jakarta, Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said and Jl. TB. Simatupang in South Jakarta.

In recent years, superblocks have begun to emerge in Jakarta, with developers offering city dwellers all the exclusivity with interrelated residences and industries along with commercial, social and recreational facilities. People can have their dream homes close to offices, malls, hospitals and other facilities.

Suryono said developers could not be totally blamed for constructing many high-rise buildings across the city as they had been given permits from the authorities.

He also said a thorough development concept was urgently needed in order to re-organize the city.

“Jakarta’s administration must plan and prepare all supporting infrastructure so that the construction of concrete buildings will not worsen the face of the city,” he said. “And I don’t see that yet in the 2010-2030 spatial planning bylaw.”

The bylaw sets an outline on how Jakarta will be developed over the next 20 years.

There are currently over 120 high-rise buildings in Jakarta, most of which are used as office space.

According to a property consultant, Cushman & Wakefield Indonesia, the demand for office space in Jakarta’s CBDs is expected to grow between 8 and 9 percent while the annual net usage is predicted to reach approximately 350,000 square meters.

In its report, four high-rise buildings are scheduled to be completed this year.

Arief Rahardjo, the associate director of research at Cushman & Wakefield also said Jakarta would see a significant increase in the construction of condominiums.

“Greater Jakarta will see 18,140 condominiums completed in 2012, up from 8,088 units in 2011,” he said.

“But the development of shopping malls in Jakarta will slow down this year as the city administration has imposed a moratorium on shopping malls,” Arief said.

Governor Fauzi Bowo issued a gubernatorial decree to restrict the issuance of construction permits for new shopping malls bigger than 5,000 square meters until the end of 2012.