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Citayam in Sudirman: Blurring the lines of sociospatial divide in Jakarta
A well-planned and appropriately priced mode of public transportation is also a meeting place, a melting pot and usually a good representation of the city’s diversity.
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Hang around: Teenagers gather in a park near Dukuh Atas MRT station in Central Jakarta on July 14, 2022. The city administration has warned the public that anyone found loitering in the park after 10 p.m. would be removed, in accordance with public activity restrictions (PKKM) to curb the spread of COVID-19. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
A
s it appears to be a daily occurrence these days in Indonesia, video footage went viral on social media platforms and became the talk of the town. By “town” of course I mean Jakarta, a megalopolitan with 30 million people.
The video in question shows a 360-tour around Dukuh Atas MRT station, situated right at the heart of Jakarta. The unique design of the area, however, does not take the spotlight of the video. Instead, it highlights a seemingly recent phenomenon of adolescents from the outskirts of the Jakarta metropolitan region who flock to hang out in the area in groups, be it on the benches or the curbs.
Popularly known now as the "SCBD phenomenon", it is meant as a tongue-in-cheek contrast with a whiff of condescension between the actual Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) and an acronym of Sudirman-Citayam-Bojong Gede-Depok – areas in the outskirts of the capital city. The former hosts Jakarta’s young executives sitting on the umpteenth floor of the city’s modern skyscrapers, while the latter hosts these young adults coming from much more humble areas and, dare I say, from a lower step of the socioeconomic ladder.
Public discourse was then born out of these viral videos, mainly asking the question of whether or not it’s appropriate for the latter to hang out in public spaces in one of Jakarta’s most elite areas – which I would argue is not only a socioeconomic question but also a sociospatial one.
As we all know, Jakarta is a city of many, many faces – for better or worse. Amid all the glass-draped skyscrapers and the Louis Vuitton-flaunting shopping malls, there is always a dense semiformal settlement with metal roofs revealed to be percussive whenever it rains.
While the majikan (masters) are having pasta for lunch in an alfresco setting, their drivers are also outdoors eating a bowl of noodles probably at a 10th of the price. This is not meant to be a dig at people’s lifestyle differences, by the way. It is just the reality that we are all facing in Jakarta and, in fact, in all major cities around the globe.
Jakarta, therefore, should be no stranger to socioeconomic heterogeneity, if not divide. But this recent phenomenon and the discourse it triggers seem to suggest otherwise.
