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Long-suffering pedestrians and bicyclists may soon enjoy car-free days on key thoroughfares and see sidewalks cleared of illegal food vendors, if the latest plan to make Jakarta more user-friendly goes ahead, the capital’s chief city planner said on Sunday.

With the Jakarta spatial plan bylaw recently passed by the city council, the Jakarta government is now working on a detailed implementation plan.

“One of the concepts being discussed is to have more roads car-free on weekends,” said Wiryatmoko, head of Jakarta’s urban planning agency.

“Jakartans should also be able to enjoy sidewalks and public spaces without worrying about fumes and illegal food stalls,” he added.

Wiryatmoko admitted that the government faces major challenges in the form of interdepartmental rivalries and bureaucratic coordination before any real progress can be made. He also said the government is “helpless” in the face of illegal parking spaces and sidewalk food sellers.

“The people have to be in the frontline to protect their open spaces,” Wiryatmoko said. “[The government] will be ready to support them.”

Urban planning expert Nirwono Joga said it was about time Jakarta acted to provide adequate pedestrian spaces.

“You don’t need to look far. We have Singapore as a good example of what a pedestrian path should look like,” Nirwono said. “There, people are forced to walk everywhere, and they’re happy to do so.”

Nirwono said the new bylaw already included an article on pedestrian paths and bike lanes.

“All we need now is for the government to enforce that article by regulating the sidewalks and then push ahead with a plan for pedestrian and bike lanes,” Nirwono said. He added that urban planning organizations had proposed plans for pedestrian paths since at least 2005.

Nirwono said Jakarta had several potential areas that could be turned into pedestrian-only districts, such as Jalan Mahakam in South Jakarta; Jalan Sabang and Jalan Jaksa in Central Jakarta; and Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta.

The car-free Sunday morning program — on Jalan Sudirman/Jalan Thamrin from the Senayan traffic circle to Monas — has attracted a massive following and spawned a virtual industry of stylish bicycles and events, all organized around one of the only places in Jakarta where humans replace vehicles.

Nirwono said the first step could be to introduce more car-free zones on the weekends.

He stressed that a pedestrian-friendly city started with infrastructure. “Of course sidewalks in those areas have to be renovated first,” he said.

Better pedestrian pathways, Nirwono said, would boost Jakarta’s bus and train network.

“Mass transportation is useless if it’s not supported by pedestrian paths. If people can’t reach their [buses] safely, then of course they will prefer motorbikes and cars,” he said.

Jakarta residents Hasreiza and Asep Kambali welcomed the plan.

“We don’t have [car-free zones] every day, because during weekdays Jakarta needs every piece of road to accommodate all the cars,” Hasreiza said, proposing Jalan Surabaya in Central Jakarta as a car-free area. “It is already a regular tourist attraction ,” he said.

Asep, who heads the Indonesian Historical Community, a group that runs tours across the capital, has been waiting a long time for pedestrian pathways.

“All of our tours are on foot, and we have to go through all kinds of obstacles,” he said.