Jakarta
Jakarta /dʒəˈkɑrtə/, officially known as the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Indonesian: Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta), is the capital and largest city of Indonesia.
Located on the northwest coast of Java, Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre, and with a population of 10,187,595 as of November 2011, it is the most populous city in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia, and is the thirteenth most populated city in the world. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabek (a name formed by combining the initial syllables of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi), is the second largest in the world, yet the metropolis's suburbs still continue beyond it. Jakarta is listed as a global city in the 2008 Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) research.and has an area of 661 square kilometres (255 sq mi). This area has a population of well over 28 million,making it one of the world's largest conurbations in terms of number of inhabitants.
In 2011, Jakarta ranked 17th among the world's 200 largest cities, a jump from its 2007 ranking of 171. Jakarta has grown more rapidly than Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Bangkok.
Established in the fourth century, the city became an important trading port for the Kingdom of Sunda. It was the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies (known as Batavia at that time) and has continued as the capital of Indonesia since the country's independence was declared in 1945.
The city is the seat of the ASEAN Secretariat. Jakarta is served by the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, and Tanjung Priok Harbour; it is connected by several intercity and commuter railways, and served by several bus lines running on reserved busways.
* Geography
Jakarta is located on the northwest coast of Java, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River on Jakarta Bay, which is an inlet of the Java Sea. Officially, the area of the Jakarta Special District is 662 km2 (256 sq mi) of land area and 6,977 km2 (2,694 sq mi) of sea area.The Thousand Islands, which are administratively a part of Jakarta, are located in Jakarta Bay, north of the city.
Jakarta lies in a low, flat basin, averaging 7 metres (23 ft) above sea level;[citation needed] 40% of Jakarta, particularly the northern areas, is below sea level,while the southern parts are comparatively hilly. Rivers flow from the Puncak highlands to the south of the city, across the city northwards towards the Java Sea; the most important is the Ciliwung River, which divides the city into the western and eastern principalities. Other rivers include the Pesanggrahan, and Sunter.
All these rivers, combined with the wet season rains and insufficient drainage due to clogging, make Jakarta prone to flooding. Moreover, Jakarta is sinking about 5 to 10 centimeters each year, even up to 20 centimeters in the northern coastal areas. To help cope with the threat from the sea, the Netherlands will give $4 million for a feasibility study to build a dike around Jakarta Bay. The ring dike will be equipped with a pumping system and retention areas to defend against seawater. Additionally, the dike will function as a toll road. The project will be built by 2025.
* Climate
Jakarta has a hot and humid climate on the boundary between tropical monsoon (Am) and savanna (Aw) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Despite being located relatively close to the equator, the city has distinct wet and dry seasons. The wet season in Jakarta covers the majority of the year, running from November through June. The remaining four months forms the city’s dry season. Located in the western part of Java, Jakarta’s wet season rainfall peak is January with average monthly rainfall of 389 millimetres (15.3 in), and its dry season low point is September with a monthly average of 30 millimetres (1.2 in).
* Culture
As the economic and political capital of Indonesia, Jakarta attracts many domestic immigrants who bring their various languages, dialects, foods and customs.
The "Betawi" (Orang Betawi, or "people of Batavia") are the descendants of the people living in and around Batavia and recognized as an ethnic group from around the 18th–19th century. The Betawi people are mostly descended from various Southeast-Asian ethnic groups brought or attracted to Batavia to meet labor needs, and include people from different parts of Indonesia.The language and Betawi culture are distinct from those of the Sundanese or Javanese, forming itself as a language island in the surrounding area. The language is mostly based on the East Malay dialect and enriched by loan words from Dutch, Portuguese, Sundanese, Javanese, Chinese, and Arabic. Nowadays, the Jakarta dialect (Bahasa Jakarta), used as a street language by people in Jakarta, is loosely based on the Betawi language. Betawi arts have a low profile in Jakarta, and most Betawi have moved to the suburbs of Jakarta, displaced by new migrants. It is easier to find Java- or Minang-based wedding ceremonies rather than Betawi weddings in Jakarta. It is easier to find Javanese Gamelan instead of Gambang Kromong (a mixture between Betawi and Chinese music) or Tanjidor (a mixture between Betawi and Portuguese music) or Marawis (a mixture between Betawi and Yaman music). However, some festivals such as the Jalan Jaksa Festival or Kemang Festival include efforts to preserve Betawi arts by inviting artists to give performances.
There has been a significant Chinese community in Jakarta for many centuries. The Chinese in Jakarta traditionally reside around old urban areas, such as Pinangsia, Pluit and Glodok (Jakarta Chinatown) areas. They also can be found in old chinatowns of Senen and Jatinegara. Officially, they make up 6% of the Jakartan population, although this number may be under-reported.Chinese culture also had influenced Betawi culture, such as the popularity of Chinese cakes and sweets, firecrackers, to Betawi wedding attire that demonstrates Chinese and Arab influences.
Jakarta has several performing art centres, such as the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) art centre in Cikini, Gedung Kesenian Jakarta near Pasar Baru, Balai Sarbini in Plaza Semanggi area, Bentara Budaya Jakarta in Palmerah area, Pasar Seni (Art Market) in Ancol, and traditional Indonesian art performances at the pavilions of some provinces in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Traditional music is often found at high-class hotels, including Wayang and Gamelan performances. Javanese Wayang Orang performances can be found at Wayang Orang Bharata theater near Senen bus terminal. As the nation's largest city and capital, Jakarta has lured much national and regional talent who hope to find a greater audience and more opportunities for success.
Jakarta hosts several prestigious art and culture festivals, and exhibitions, such as the annual Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest), Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta Fashion Week, Jakarta Fashion & Food Festival (JFFF), Jakarta Fair, Indonesia Creative Products and Jakarta Arts and Crafts exhibition. Flona Jakarta is a flora-and-fauna exhibition, held annually in August at Lapangan Banteng Park, featuring flowers, plant nurseries, and pets. The Jakarta Fair is held annually from mid-June to mid-July to celebrate the anniversary of the city and is largely centred around a trade fair. However this month-long fair also features entertainment, including arts and music performances by local bands and musicians.
Several foreign art and culture centres are also established in Jakarta, and mainly serve to promote culture and language through learning centres, libraries, and art galleries. Among these foreign art and cultural centres are China Confucius Institute, Netherlands Erasmus Huis, UK British Council, France Centre Culturel Français, Germany Goethe-Institut, Japan Foundation, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Centre.
* Transportation
Jakarta is strained by transportation problems. The city suffers a lack of urban public transport services due to prioritized development of road networks, which were mostly designed to accommodate private vehicles. Most trips, however, are undertaken by non-motorized transportation (particularly walking) and numerous modes of public or demand-responsive transportation services.
- Road
A structured road network had been developed in the early 19th century as a part of the Java Great Post Road by Daendels, which connects most major cities throughout Java. During the following decades, the road network was expanded to a great extent, although it could not keep up with the rapidly increasing numbers of motorized vehicles, resulting in highly congested traffic. A notable feature of Jakarta's present road system is the toll road network. Composed of an inner and outer ring road and five toll roads radiating outwards, the network provides inner as well as outer city connections. The outer ring road is under construction, but it is largely in use. While 6 Jakarta Elevated Toll Roads are still in tender progress.
See also: List of toll roads in Indonesia
The five radiating toll roads are the:
= Prof. Dr. Sedyatmo Toll Road linking to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
= Jakarta-Tangerang Toll Road linking to Tangerang and further to Merak in the west
= Jakarta-Serpong Toll Road linking to Serpong
= Jagorawi Toll Road linking to Bogor and Ciawi in the south
= Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road linking to Bekasi and Cikampek in the east
Throughout the years, several attempts have been made to reduce traffic congestion on Jakarta’s main arteries. Implemented solutions include a 'three-in-one' rush-hour law, during which cars with fewer than three passengers are prohibited from driving on the main avenues. Another example is the ban on trucks passing main avenues during the day.
- Public road transportation
In 1966, an estimated 160,000 pedicabs (becak) operated in the city; as much as 15% of Jakarta's total workforce was engaged in becak driving. In 1971, becak were banned from major roads, and shortly thereafter the government attempted a total ban, which substantially reduced their numbers but did not eliminate them. A campaign to eliminate them succeeded in 1990 and 1991, but during the economic crisis of 1998, some returned amid less effective government attempts to control them."Auto rickshaws", called bajaj, provide local transportation in the back streets of some parts of the city. From the early 1940s to 1991 they were a common form of local transportation in the city. The TransJakarta bus rapid transit service (known as Busway) was developed in the context of development reform (or reformasi) and used Bogota's TransMilenio system as a model. Jakarta's first busway line, from Blok M to Jakarta Kota opened in January 2004 and as of 14 February 2013, twelve out of fifteen corridors are in use. The Kopaja and MetroMini economy minibus systems also provide important services for Jakarta commuters with numerous routes which criss cross the city. Although ojeks are not an official form of public transport, they can be found throughout Indonesia and in Jakarta. They are especially useful on the crowded urban roads and narrow alleyways, which other vehicles cannot reach. In November 2011, Taxijek was launched in Jakarta. It is essentially a taxi, but with a motorcycle instead of an automobile. Besides a taximeter and the company's driver identity card, the passenger has access to a helmet, disposable shower caps to use underneath the helmet and an extra raincoat. Contrary to common ojeks, Taxijeks are allowed to enter gated communities and they usually charge a lower fare.
- Electronic Road Pricing
Due to the city's acute gridlock, the Jakarta administration will implement Electronic Road Pricing i n 10 districts: Tanah Abang, Menteng, Setiabudi, Tebet, Matraman, Senen, Gambir, Tambora, Sawah Besar and Taman Sari. The projects will initiate once it is approved by the Finance Ministry.
- Railway
Long-distance railways and local tram services were first introduced during the Dutch colonial era. While the trams were replaced with buses in the post-colonial era, long-distance railways continued to connect the city to its neighbouring regions as well as cities throughout Java. The surrounding cities of Jakarta are served by KRL Jabotabek, a mass rapid transit system which serves commuters both in and around Jakarta. The major rail stations are Gambir, Jakarta Kota, Jatinegara, Pasar Senen, Manggarai, and Tanah Abang. During rush hours, the number of passengers greatly exceeds the system's capacity, and crowding is common. There had been plans for a monorail and part of it was already under construction, but the project stalled in 2004 and was officially abandoned as of 2008, mostly due to a lack of investors to fund it all. If completed, the monorail would have been made up of two lines: the green line serving Semanggi-Casablanca Road-Kuningan-Semanggi and the blue line serving Kampung Melayu-Casablanca Road-Tanah Abang-Roxy. A two-line metro (MRT) system is proposed, with a north-south line between Kota and Lebak Bulus, without connections to the cancelled monorail lines; and an east-west line, which will connect to the north-south line at Sawah Besar Station. In the end the JMRT would be a combination of both subways and elevated rails. The metro system construction started in April 2012, with the first, 15.2 km-long line between Hotel Indonesia and Lebak Bulus, and the north-south line MRT network is scheduled to be operational by 2016. Jakarta Capital City Government had decided to build rail-based mass transits because this type of transport is capable of carrying passengers in large quantities quickly and cheaply.
- Air
Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (CGK) is the main airport serving the greater Jakarta area. The airport is named after the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno, and the first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta. The airport is often called Cengkareng or Soetta by Indonesians. The airport's IATA code, CGK, originates from the name of the Cengkareng locality, a district situated to the northwest of the city. It is Indonesia's busiest airport handling over 50 million passengers annually. A second airport, Halim Perdanakusuma Airport (HLP) serves mostly private and VIP/presidential flights. Other airports in the Jabotabek metropolitan area include Pondok Cabe Airport and an airfield on Pulau Panjang, part of the Thousand Island archipelago.
- Waterway
On 6 June 2007, the city administration introduced the Waterway (officially Angkutan Sungai), a new river boat service along the Ciliwung River.However, because of the large amount of floating garbage which kept jamming the propeller, it is no longer in service. The varying water levels during the dry and wet seasons were also a contributing factor to the close-down.
- Sea
Jakarta's main seaport Tanjung Priok serves many ferry connections to different parts of Indonesia. Tanjung Priok is the largest seaport in Indonesia, with an annual traffic capacity of around 45 million tonnes of cargo and 4,000,000 TEU's. The port is also an important emproyer in the area, with more than 18,000 employees who provide services to more than 18,000 ships every year. The Port of Jakarta has 20 terminals: general cargo, multipurpose terminal, scraps terminal, passenger terminal, dry bulk terminal, liquid bulk terminal, oil terminal, chemicals terminal and three container terminals, 76 berths, a quay length of 16,853 metres, a total storage area of 661,822 m2 and a storage capacity of 401,468 tonnes. In December 2011, Muara Angke Port has been renovated yet with cost Rp130 billion ($14.4 million) in 3 hectares area. Next, Muara Angke Port will be used for public transport port to Thousand Islands, while Marina Ancol Port will be used as tourist ship port.
