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Jakarta seeks fresh approach to urban planning from world planning congress
Indonesia will become Southeast Asia’s first country to host the International Society of City and Regional Planners (Isocarp) World Planning Congress set for Sept
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span>Indonesia will become Southeast Asia’s first country to host the International Society of City and Regional Planners (Isocarp) World Planning Congress set for Sept. 9 to 13.
Some 500 experienced city planners and professional practitioners from 42 countries will discuss the future of city planning and development of urban areas.
“This event will manifest Indonesia’s important position on the issues of urbanization as well as the country’s contributions to the urban planning stream in the equatorial regions,” chairman of the Indonesian Association of Planners (IAP), Bernardus “Bernie” Djonoputro, told The Jakarta Post recently.
“We will be the first country in Southeast Asia to host such a congress.”
Bernie, who will be in charge of the local organizing committee, said the conference would be held in Jakarta and Bogor of West Java.
He added that the congress would be an important forum for Indonesian participants, comprising two-fifths of the total attendees, saying that besides professional urban planners, other segments including government practitioners, social organization members, consultants and academics will also be present.
“Through thematic discussions on important and current planning issues in the world, the event will contribute inputs to the government’s efforts to build cities that are safe, comfortable and sustainable,” he said.
Bernie acknowledged that Jakarta could use this opportunity to learn about relevant topics from other cities in other countries that had done better in city planning.
When asked about the key challenge of urban planning in the capital, Bernie said that it lay in the strength of supporting segments that included decent infrastructure, water resources, air quality and slum rejuvenation.
Efficient planning on public transportation infrastructure, he added, should be the main foothold in “place making” to make the city comprise vibrant and livable urban spaces.
Above all, Bernie argued that the capital’s land value kept increasing and it would make it even more difficult for the city administration to afford the required land to develop green belts.
“The current revisions to the Jakarta Master Plan 2030 as well as its detailed spatial planning and zoning regulations need to pave the way for land consolidation, especially for government-owned land,” he said.
Future development siding with the people’s needs should emphasize spatial planning that focused on aligning the supporting segments and land availability, he concluded.
Bernie said Jakarta as one of the largest metropolitan cities in the world had the same complexity as Tokyo, New York and London.
“The three cities have done it. Jakarta, technically, should also be able to make significant improvements,” he said. “What is needed now is the political will from the city leader and his subordinates to open the issues of city development they are facing and bring in the best experts to produce technocratic solutions for the city.”
Meanwhile, head of the Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency Heru Hermawanto said he had not yet received any information about the congress, but the city administration would support any event that could bring advantages for the capital’s development.
Separately, Jakarta Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) head Sri Mahendra Satria Wirawan told the Post that urban planning in the capital had to go beyond the city’s spatial layout, saying that space arrangement should be parallel to the needs of the people living there.
“The biggest challenge of big cities like Jakarta in terms of city planning is how to anticipate uneven economic activities in other regions that every year result in an increasing number of people from outside the city moving in,” he said.
Therefore, he added, efforts for city development in various sectors like transportation, housing, education, health and employment, which aimed to raise the welfare of the community, often fell short because needs grew faster than assumed.
“Let us hope that through various kinds of international forums, other countries’ experiences in urban planning can be sufficient references for developing Jakarta,” he said. (syk)
