JAKARTA LOOKS TO CLEAR WAY FOR WALKERS

The Jakarta administration launched a campaign on Friday to reclaim the city’s sidewalks. 

“Return Our Public Space,” as the campaign is known, was unveiled at the northern end of Jalan Sabang, a stretch of road in Central Jakarta that is lined with food stalls every evening. 

The campaign, which is expected eventually to be introduced citywide, is being carried out in cooperation with the Institute for Transportation and Development (ITDP). 

Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, said the goal was to gradually return pedestrian areas to public use. This will involve clearing them of illegally parked cars and unauthorized commercial activities such as hawkers selling from “kaki lima,” food carts named for their five “legs”: two wheels, a single back stand and the vendor’s legs. 

“The people of Jakarta need an example,” Udar said. “By returning pedestrian areas to public spaces and clearing them of parked vehicles, we will help create a good climate, good economic growth and blue skies.” 

He said the biggest challenge would be to let people know it was no longer acceptable to use pedestrian areas for traffic shortcuts, vehicle parking or for setting up businesses. 

However, he acknowledged that if the effort was going to succeed, the city would have to make enough legitimate parking available to keep sidewalks and roadsides free from vehicles. 

Udar said that in the case of Jalan Sabang, parking would be provided near the National Monument (Monas) a few hundreds meters north, with authorities planning to build a covered walkway connecting the areas. 

“From now on residents of Jakarta should go for a culture of walking,” he said. “We will continue to improve the quality of pedestrian areas in Jakarta, so pedestrians can walk in comfort and safety.” 

The city’s transportation office, he said, will also begin to collect data on office buildings on Jalan Sabang so they can contribute parking spaces for visitors to the street, which in the evening is one of Jakarta’s culinary centers. 

Judging by the on-street parking currently available, Udar said, an additional 80 spaces would be sought from those offices. 

“By banning parking on the side of the road, street thugs and littering will disappear automatically,” he said. “The area will be more orderly and people will be comfortable walking there, injecting life into the commercial area.” 

ITDP director Milatia Kusuma said that with more than 10 million vehicles in the city, Jakarta had to make a huge effort to keep them from encroaching on pedestrian and public spaces. 

“A human city is one that accords priority to public space, not private vehicles,” Milati said.