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.
Affordable urban public transportation key to vibrant job markets: ADB
The latest report published by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) indicates that affordable mass transportation and proper city management play an important role in realizing inclusive economies.
Change Size
Pedestrians cross Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta at a zebra crossing blocked by heavy traffic on Tuesday. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
I
n order to be able to function as vibrant job markets, Indonesia’s growing cities need affordable and efficient public transportation systems that combine rail, buses, ride sharing and more informal services.
The latest report published by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) indicates that affordable mass transportation and proper city management play an important role in realizing inclusive economies.
The report titled “Asian Development Outlook 2019 Update” indicates that cities cannot thrive unless they function well as a labor market, connecting both firms and workers. A labor market works best when intra city travel is fast and cheap, firms and households have the flexibility to relocate from one part of a city to another and real estate is affordable.
“Labor markets work best when intra city travel is fast and cheap, firms and households have flexibility to relocate, and real estate is affordable,” said ADB director for economic analysis and operational support division Rana Hasan during the discussion of the report in Jakarta on Monday, last week.
Read also: Govt needs to ‘roll out the carpet’ to lure more investors: ADB
Hasan said that there were several issues that the Indonesian government needed to tackle such as urbanization without industrial development and the rise of consumption cities over production cities.
“A consumption city may not give you powerful growth compared to production cities. In other words, people are agglomerating but maybe they are not going to get agglomeration economies kicking in,” said Hasan, claiming that many experts have said that cities in developing countries are experiencing urbanization without industrial development due to lack of international trade.
