TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Urban kampungs thrive among mighty skyscrapers
Urban kampungs are beneficial for maintaining the social balance in a metropolis.
Change Size
A man walks along a bridge leading to Kampung Kuningan Timur in Central Jakarta on Sept. 27. Amid the hustle and bustle in the heart of Jakarta, the urban village struggles to survive the oppression of city development. (JP/Budi Sutrisno) (JP/Budi Sutrisno)
A
mid the rapid development of high-rise buildings in the capital, where everyone and everything is fast-paced and frenzied, there exist pockets of places still void of the smell of concrete, offering a stark contrast from the noise on the busy main roads.
On Friday afternoon, a festive and joyful atmosphere filled Kampung Kuningan Timur in South Jakarta. Sheltered behind office buildings and embassy offices on main roads, a group of residents were working together to prepare for the marriage of a young woman.
Mita Maharani, the bride to be, had nothing but gratitude for the more than a dozen residents who helped decorate a 50-square-meter open space in the middle of the kampung with pink and white fabric and cook in the kitchen of her nearby house.
“Alhamdulillah [thank God]. I’m grateful to be part of community in which the value of togetherness is still held in high esteem. I can’t imagine doing all this by myself. There’s no way I could have prepared for my wedding tomorrow without their help,” said the 19-year-old.
Mita’s sentiment may represent the face of urban kampungs in Jakarta where despite being squeezed in by upmarket malls, high-rise office buildings and residences, solidarity of the inhabitants, who live in tin-roof wooden houses, is firmly maintained.
Abdul Ghani, 62, the head of a community unit where the kampung is located, said the kampung had become an important place of rest for employees and blue-collar workers at nearby office buildings.
“In the past, almost 90 percent of Kuningan Timur residents bred cows, while others were tailors and kite assemblers. But since more and more office buildings have gone up, the mind-set of people here has changed. They would rather build places to rent out rather than breed animals,” said Abdul.
