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The Bitter Truth: Jakarta, Where Are Your Parks?

Taman Menteng. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

There are many things I wish I could do in Jakarta. Among many other things, I’d love to be able to read a good book while enjoying some snacks and cold beverages in a beautiful, green park.



I know I’m not the only one who has this dream. Imagine how lovely it would be to be able to have that quality time, sitting on a modest bench by yourself, enjoying every minute of that precious moment while admiring the fresh air, singing birds and green trees.


Sadly, that’s not an easy dream to realize here in the Big Durian. It’s a bitter truth that everyone in this city has to face: We don’t have enough parks around.



“Why would we need a park anyway?” a friend of mine asked, saying lounging at the air-conditioned mall was more fun. “Look at what you can see and get inside a shopping center,” he said. “Everything.” 



Yes, it’s true. It seems that a shopping center has everything we need. I know a lot of people who spend hours at the mall every single day. They do everything inside the building, from eating to watching movies, buying groceries to getting a haircut and from meeting friends to going to the gym. Shamefully, I’m also one of those people. 



With our metropolitan lifestyle, it’s easy to forget how much the public parks can improve the quality of our lives. Jakarta needs to look at other big cities. Although packed with skyscrapers, they still manage to provide their residents with enough green space. For more than a century, New York City, for example, has been able to maintain the existence of its 341-hectare Central Park.



On the other hand, Taman Menteng, one of Jakarta’s best public parks, sits only on 2.5 hectares, a size that can’t even accommodate a medium-sized mall.

This, of course, reflects the Jakarta administration’s inability to comply with the 2007 Spatial Planning Law, which mandates that every province dedicate at least 30 percent of its total land to green space. Under the leadership of Governor Fauzi Bowo, the administration has only been able to allocate 9.6 percent of the city’s 660 square kilometers for green space.  



It’s sad that the governor has said countless times it’s impossible to obey the law. He says setting aside 13 percent of the capital’s total area for green space is a more realistic goal. Tragically, he says that pessimistic target can’t be achieved until at least 2015. 



With the rapid development of modern buildings and facilities, the administration seems to take people’s minds off the idea that having more and better public parks is essential.



It’s funny to see the growing trend among developers to build an artificial park inside every new mall. A new mall in West Jakarta has dedicated 1.5 hectares for an artificial park, probably the biggest mall park in Indonesia. Every day, this fake park is packed with all kinds of people, mostly teenagers, who sit around and talk to their friends. On weekends, the young use the area for many activities, including practicing their dance moves.

This simply shows how much people in Jakarta are longing for public parks. I’m sure many of them are bored of going to the mall, realizing it’s good for their souls if they can have fun without spending a single dime of their money.



It’s important to note that a park inside a mall is not a real park. There’s no reason for the administration to be excited to find that yet-to-be-built malls will have parks inside. A real public park should be a place where people of all levels can mingle. Not like a mall park, where only a certain kind of people are encouraged to come.



You can’t blame the people for flocking to these new fake parks, since the real parks are not accessible and not well-maintained. Not to mention all the irresponsible food vendors that often become the source of litter.



Nevertheless, we have to remind ourselves that there’s still hope for a better Jakarta, a city with more public parks. It’s never impossible if we believe.

Jakarta Jungle follows the stories and views of individuals from every walk of life in our maddening, bustling, and colorful city.