Current Photos

Vision

Organic Connections
Manggarai
Jakarta, Indonesia
Budi Pradono Architects

Jakarta is the sixth most populous metropolitan area and one of the most congested cities in the world. It is also one of the least hospitable for walking and cycling. The city began asa modest Dutch colonial capital of sleepy canals, horse-drawn carriages, and a few wide boulevards. After the country achieved independence in the late 1940s, the city’s population exploded. Roads grew increasingly congested and the canals became open sewers. Now, 40 percent of Jakarta’s streets have no sidewalks and bicycle lanes are virtually unknown.

Most of Jakarta’s residents still live in urban villages called kampongs, with narrow lanes, low-rise structures and high density. People in the kampongs often traveled by becaks, Indonesia’s famous three-wheeled, front-loading pedicabs, until the 1990s when they were banned by the government. Eventually, city leadership turned a corner. TransJakarta, Jakarta’s BRT system which opened in January 2004, is now the longest in the world. With BRT, the transformation of streets from car-dominated to people-first has begun, including sidewalks and a newly pedestrianized historical center at Plaza Fatahillah.

Manggarai, the study site, is one of Jakarta’s most important transit nodes. Substantial developments have already beenplanned for the site, but they have the potential to threaten thousands of residents in the surrounding kampongs.

Instead of displacing these communities, as is the norm, the renderings propose organic connections between existing and proposed transportation assets that preserve the urban villages. The roofs of the BRT and train stations are turned into parks that extend over the canals, providing a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians and shade and rain protection for those below. Dirt paths along the canal become new promenades where modernized becaks are used. Some of the surrounding kampongs have been reimagined as multi-story structures, lifted from the ground to create public space beneath and to rise above frequent floods. The renderings for Manggarai embrace the natural assets of the site to form organic connections and a strong sense of place.

« Previous City   Next City »