in search of intimate streets

8/8/2019 In search of intimate streets

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Comrades from Jakarta, let us build a Jakarta into the greatest city possible. Great not just from a material

point of view; great, not just because of its skyscrapers; great not just because it has boulevards and beautiful

streets; great not just because it has beautiful monuments; great in every respect, even in the little houses of the

workers of Jakarta there must be a sense of greatness Give Jakarta an extraordinary place in the minds of the

Indonesian people, because Jakarta belongs to the people of Jakarta. Jakarta belongs to the whole Indonesian

people. More than that, Jakarta is becoming the beacon of the whole of mankind. Yes, the beacon of the New

Emerging Forces.

-President Sukarno, Cited in Abeyasekere p.168


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ThevoiceofIndonesiasrstPresident,Soekarno,

slowly fades out, overwhelmed by honking cars and rumbling

engines. I kept walking on the elevated pedestrian way, sensing

the remnants of Soekarnos ambition that have become vast,

desolatespaces.Agroupofofceworkersgotoutofthebus,

and continued onto the platform. As they were heavily climbing

the stairs, their eyes looked tired, expressing dullness and

disappointment.Atthebackground,anunnishedskyscraper

stood out, haunting the street view with its bare concrete

columns, recalling the past economic downfall. I looked down

to the 10-lanes wide street below me. The streams of cars and

motorbikes kept going and rushing, swallowing any othervoices. The inhabitants, including myself, are awake from the

dream of a greatest city possible, only to face the ordeal of

reality.

The capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, has lured me into her

cataclysmic modernity. The idea of opening up opportunities of

sustainable utopia in Jakarta is discouraged upon witnessing

that the city is deemed as a locus of crisis, a labyrinth in

which anyone who heroically attempts to alleviate a mess will

inevitably end up in a bigger one (Agung Hujatnikajennong,

in Helmond p.11). A Jakartan could survive either on the

possession of a private car or determination to bear the

scorching sun heat, the polluted air, the risk of being assaulted,

andtheseeminglyinnitedistanceunreachablebymeans

of walking. Through violent historical events and corruptive

fundamentals, the city had been severely traumatized during its

premature stage in the dawn of the nations independence and

thus grew into a vast, dismal megalopolis stretched apart by

the horde of private cars. The problems of Jakarta are very well

engraved in her history that they have become a fateful persona

of the city and of the citizens.

I most vividly remember my experiences exploring

the city out of curiosity, especially those when I took public

transport. Before Transjakarta Bus was popularized in

2004, getting around the major parts of the city would be an

impossibly exhaustive experience. In the older vehicle, the lackofair-conditioningampliedthejumbleofactivitiesinsideinto

a nerve-wracking crowd. The street parade was happening

inside the bus: a vendor offering peanuts and cigarettes; heat

and moist coming in and out of my lungs, often trying to

chokeme;motorbikeshonkingtheirwaythroughthetrafc

jam outside precariously; street musician shouting songs like

protests; and bule, the local term for foreign tourists, holding

on to an enormous backpack possibly containing one month

supply of food, considering the city is a sublime, wild nature.

But in the new bus, air-conditioned passengers enjoy the tour

along the front faade of the streets, where we can see the

glitz and glam of malls and bars, the somber and authoritative

municipal buildings, and the limp and abandoned parts of the


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oldcity.Whileitrunsonitsownlane,trafcfreesometimes,

the bus pierces through the street scenes outside: hours

longtrafccongestionsofcars,taxis,trucks,minibuses,and

vendors and snarls of motorbikes weaving through the small

openings, creating physical chaos. The bus ride clearly briefs

the characters of Jakarta: its highly opulent and ephemeral

imitations of Western extravagance, and in contrast, the

stretch of barren areas behind walls and below highways where

dubious street-dwellers lurk. It was a much more animated

experience compared to taking a taxi or driving a car, where

shut car windows mutes the streets, deafening our ears,

pampering us with the luxury of privacy. The people who takepublic transports are those obligated due to their low income

and the need to commute from rural areas or the citys vicinity

to center. Those who can afford greater luxury wont take the

chance and rely instead on private vehicles. This is still the case

even in the newer bus system that transports group of people

with the same low income, but cleaner and more orderly. While

they share the same street, there is a clear separation between

public and private vehicles, between the bus driver and the

chauffeur, between the chaos and the silence.

The sheer social imbalance between the high-class

societytolowerclasspeopleisnotonlyreectedinthetwo

separate transportation group, the privatized cars for the

rich, and motorbikes and minibuses for the poor, but also

illuminated in an inevitable cycle that empowers the social gap.


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The more people use private cars, the worse the conditions of

thestreetsastrafcjamsintervalsincrease.Thebuilthighways

to temporarily relieve the congestion destroy pedestrian

accessibilities and the value of the area, hindering people to

walk on the streets and encouraging dissident dwellings among

the barren infrastructure, under the highways and behind

the wall gates. The owners of private cars have taken refuge

in vehicles to protect themselves from the discomfort and

danger of the streets outside. The city is transformed into a big

wild-animal reservations of Africa, where tourists are warned

to leave their cars under no circumstances until they reach a

lodge (Jacobs, p. 46). In fact, most of my acquaintances havenever taken a public transport even once after living in the city

for18-20yearsbecausethereisagoodamountofjustiable

reason that goes along with their contemplation. The image of

the streets as being dangerous, dirty, and unpleasant has been

embedded in the mind of most Jakartans like an inerasable

trauma.

During the year of living dangerously, a period of

time during the transition of power when Suharto took the

leadership over Sukarno by eradicating the Communist Party

and any of his supporters in 1966, violent acts of massacre

of over half a million Indonesians on the streets had greatly

affected on how Jakartas streets function and what activities

can and cannot happen. A novel and a movie with the same

title, The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch,

portray the tumult and violence during the oppression of the

New Order regime by injecting the image of fear of the streets

to the viewers and readers. The space of the street as the

locus of Sukarnos revolution has been turned into the site of

disturbance. It became a dangerous place, which, in the

name of national security, demanded constant anticipation

from the government. With the end of populist politics,

Sukarnos revolutionary subject was decapitated and the street,

where they used to parade, was criminalized (Kusno. p.104).

Now, as the streets are no longer used for parades or leisure

they need to become longer and wider to accommodate largestreamsoftrafcandtoconnectpeopleandtransportgoods

between gated suburbs, where wealthy community takes

shelter, without a sense of guilt since the streets had been

cursed with political violence. Smaller streets grow larger, and

big streets never transform to intimate streets.

Ofcoursethereareareasspecicallydesignatedfor

pedestrians. Ironically however, visitors must drive and park

their car on a nearby parking lot to reach these places. Within

the center of the city, most of the streets are not pedestrian

friendly. One time I tried to prove myself that the citys streets

are not dangerous but I couldnt. The scenes of the streets

kept alienating me, giving a sense that I dont belong here or

that Ive trespassed someones territory. One minute I was


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walking in front of a glitzy mall complex, complete with signs

of clothing lines like Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, and

Debenhams, labeling the building like nametags. Due to past

events of terrorist bombing in public places such as this mall,

security guards were scattered along the entrances, checking

each persons purse and bag with a metal detector. Another

minute, only a few steps from the dazzling mall, I arrived

ataslumdwellingcomplex.Mysurroundingswerelthy.A

row of three-story slum houses was on my left side, and dark

black open sewage, bordered by rigid concrete wall was on my

right side. Behind the wall is a vast, green range, reserved for

playing golf. The stench of rotten garbage and wastewater washaunting my nose. Some eyes were peering from the balcony

of the slum houses; dogs and chickens were scavenging the

trash pile. I continued walking for about three hours, among

gated neighborhood and highways, only to realize that none of

the streets were expecting pedestrians. I didnt see any people

walking beside some street dwellers and street urchins, aimless

and desolated, lurking in the shadows, hoping that their

presence went unnoticed.

When I tried to solve the problems of Jakarta, I

was discouraged and frustrated by the limitless issue that

permeates throughout the entire city. Just like the city

dwellerisfrustratedwhenhecannotndhumanorderinhis

environment (Maki p.29). I realized then that the problems

of Jakarta are also triggered by the need of escape from the


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problems as quickly as possible. The businesses here welcome

any global prospective investors who are offered greater luxury

that costs much less compared to many other mega cities in

the world. Globalization and foreign exchange become the

powerhouse of the citys development. There is a need to

transform the look of Jakarta by mending and patching certain

areas, removing unwanted parts, like plastic surgery. New

suburban developments thrived, and modern skyscrapers and

apartments were placed along the arterial roads, squashing

any low income houses before them. However, what they

(major developers) fail to observe is that there is nothing less

urbane, nothing less productive of cosmopolitan mixture, than

raw renewal, which displaces, destroys, and replaces, in that

mechanistic order (Maki p.34). The fear of the streets has

propelled exclusive communities to isolate themselves from the

the streets by creating formal separations, and thus creating

disconnections in the citys environment itself. A renowned

poet, Goenawan Mohamad, also stated the capitals cruelty:

Jakarta does not seem to offer any meaningful sense ofconnection; there is nothing that must be retained andmust not be lost The city is alienating and it cannotstand alone, it is neither controlled by the Dutch-style fortress nor by the spirit of the ancient JavaneseMataram Kingdom, but by something else, somethingstronger the economic and political forces around it,that made us all foreigners here.

(Cited in Kusno p.162)

INTIMATE STREETS

In one sense, Jakarta is a city that doesnt function properly.

There are more separations and restricting political forces

than linkages. These moments of separations alienate city-

dwellers and when he sees only the results of mechanical and

economic processes controlling the form and feel of his place,

he must feel estranged, and outside (Maki p.29). When the

citys streets cannot function to link different things together,

when walls and mega structures block the streets potentials,

the city also stop operating to bring people together. After all,

the formal quality of a city is the agglomerate of decisions (and

abnegations from decisions) in the past concerning the way in

whichthingsttogether,orarelinked(Makip.29).Thesame

way that Jakartas streets become separators that encourage

trafcjams,pollution,socialdiscrepancy,politicalturmoil,

and the fear of the streets, they could also become links that

are adhesive. Any parts of the city could become a link, but the

streets, especially in Jakarta, are the main glue of the city that

unite all the layers of activity and resulting physical form in

the city (Maki p.35).

In search of intimate streets, I enjoyed the experience

walking along some of Jakartas alleys that develop into

a line of market stalls and small restaurants. An alley in

Glodok area in Jakarta for instance, although still displayed

a slum-like quality, was bustling with traders, children, and


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possibly maids, who was told to buy ingredients for dinner.

Glodok is known as the Chinatown of Jakarta, yet overtime,

there seems to be a mix of business between the local native

Indonesians and the local Chinese-Indonesians regardless of

the past tension between the two groups. The need of variety

and mutual trading in this area has slowly diminished racial

segregation, that wasnt caused by differences in skin color

or physical features, but political upheavals of the past and

social contrasts. In this street, where people tend to look

inward and have the same average income, a community is

formed out of local needs. Most of the small streets in Jakarta

however,arelledwithslumswithoutproperlight,water,

and sanitation, especially in the city center. There is no clarity

between private and public spaces and everything just clutters

into a discomfort. There is no mix of activities nor mutual

relationship between each person and the alleys dont welcome

strangers. Trapped between tall skyscrapers and arterial roads,

the condition worsens overtime as they could only sulk and

tuck away the slums deeper into the crevices.

Another example of an intimate street is the vibrant

display of gluttony on Smith Street, Singapore. During the

day, the street functions normally to allow cars and public

transports passing through. But at night, the street is closed

offbyrowsofseatingslledwithhungrylocalsandtourists.

Small shops and restaurants on both sides of the street are

actively serving customers while illuminated by hanging

traditional Chinese lanterns above, acting as a visual roof. The

location of the street and how it connects one spot to another

are integral factors to popularize the street. The same method

was encouraged in one of the streets in my hometown, but due

to the location of the street in the old city neighborhood, the

street failed to revive itself over a stigma of the area being old

and scummy.

The Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul is a prime example of a

successfulpedestrianstreet.Nearlythreemillionvisitorsll

the entire street in a single day over the course of weekends.

Bars, restaurants, galleries, boutiques, cinemas, bookstores,

music stores, night clubs, cafes, and hostels occupy not

only both sides of the street but also every single alleys

branching out from Istiklal Avenue. Although the crowd seems

insurmountable, I felt constant safety walking among these

unknown people. People perform music, watch independent

lmprojectedonalargecanvas,anddancewithstrangers.

Certain times during the day, a parade marches through the

street to celebrate. In any other times, the pack of visitors,

orderly bustling in different directions, transform the street

into a festival, as if they celebrate to the city itself. It happened

that the street also connects two busy tram stations on

both ends of the street, and two monuments: a historically

important tower, and a politically important Monument of

Independence. The street ends to a large city square, where

bus stations, tram stations, streets and parks interact with each


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other. Only when a street is linking different things and once

a street is well equipped to handle strangers, once it had both a

good, effective demarcation between private and public spaces

and has a basic supply of activity and eyes, the more strangers

the merrier. (Jacobs p.40)

A similar example is the Dotonbori street in Osaka,

which runs along the Dotonbori canal and between two

bridges. As a principal tourist destination and main

entertainment district, it also displays a festive quality. The

backstreets of Dotonbori are always cleaned and illuminated,

and even though they are only about eight feet wide, the

walking experience was pleasant and comfortable. All the

streets Ive mentioned above have a strong bonding capability.

Some of them might be wider, and some of them narrower,

but they all link the surrounding environment and encourage

mutual activities in the community. I imagined that the alleys

in Jakartas slums could potentially transform into one of

the interactive market streets, like Glodok, but instead they

become dark pits that isolate people. The alleys of Jakarta

dont provide link within the environment. Strangers and

public interventions become interrupting forces and the slum

dwellers, having seen as an outcast from the society, are further

alienated by major streets and highways.

To comprehend how slums could possibly transform to

a street in Glodok, I took Jane Jacobs argument that there is

an unslumming process that happens when there is enough

energy to retain the dwellers. Most of the dissident dwellings

in Jakarta consist of people with the least choice, forced by

poverty or discrimination to overcrowd, who come into an

unpopular area (Jacobs p.276). However, people who move to

an overcrowded area cannot expect to stay there for a long time

and those who overcome the economic necessity to overcrowd

get out, instead of improving their lot within the neighborhood.

They are quickly replaced by others who currently have little

economic choice (p.276). Due to the obligation to move into

the slum areas, people wouldnt give up another day to stay in

their crummy houses once they have the chance to get out. At

the same time, when too many people move out of slums too

fast, they leave a community in a perpetually embryonic stage,

or perpetually regressing to helpless infancy (Jacobs p.277).

This isnt the case on Glodok streets as people could actually

stay within the area while their small businesses thrive.

Jacobs also mentioned that the foundation for unslumming

is a slum lively enough to be able to enjoy city public life and

sidewalksafety(p.279).Itisclearlyreectedonhowthe

streets in Glodok welcome visitors while the slum alleys reject.

These ideas are very relatable to many cities in the world

and opportunistic due to the logic of economy. The idea of

liberating the slum dwellers from slums could be realized by

preserving the shared reliance within the community and to

imbue them with as much linkage as possible. Often times a

link couldnt happen naturally and there is a need to radically


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change the form of Jakarta by redesigning the streets, the

facade, the accessibility, and, indirectly, the mentality of the

inhabitants.

HORIZONTAL LINK

The general form of contrast in Jakarta is a long arterial road

whereapartments,ofcesandmallsareplacedalongthe

street, creating an illusion of a modern metropolis. Behind

these buildings are sprawls of low-income housings; some are

informal, connected by countless networks of alleyways and

in between spaces. The large arterial roads dont reduce in

size gradually, but simply cutting a network of small streets,

creating jalan tikus (rats streets) which drivers coined when

taking these small alleys as shortcuts if theyre trapped

inatrafcjam.Thereisacompletedisjunction,literally

demarcated by perimeter walls between the vertical buildings

and the horizontal slum dwellings. There is a formal separation

andasocialseparationthatlimitsaccessibility.Theofcetower

userscouldnotcarelessabouttheirlthysurroundingsandthe slum dwellers have nothing to do with the apartments next

to them.

First of all, there is a need to relieve the slums from

the curtain of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings. By clearing

a way through the building and the slums behind it, there

isaporositythatnallyrevealsandlinkstheslumstothe

arterial road. This clearing would ideally continue until it

meets another arterial road and thus becoming physical link

that mediates the two roads. However, in order to encourage

pedestrian accessibility, the clearing wouldnt allow cars or

any other vehicles to pass through. Not only that the new

street connects two major roads, but on each end, a bus

station allows visitors to reach the place easily. Secondly,

on both sides of the new pedestrian street, local businesses

would be encouraged to start and thus economically support

the area with new job opportunities. These businesses would

vary in price and functions. Small businesses like souvenirs,

electronics, household appliances, fabric, drink, food, etc.

wouldfulllthenecessitytomaintainthecrowdandcustomers

during night and day, and thus preventing the area from

becoming dead, dull, and dubious when less shops are open.

The idea here is also to attract different kinds of customers

and mutual relationships between each local stores. When a

dependency towards high-class customers started to occur,

there is a tendency that the businesses would amplify the social

gap and the place could potentially be akin to red light district.

Every so often, the street would open up to a public square,

where local facilities are located, such as schools, mosques,

administrations,andsmalleldsforceremoniesandbazaars

to happen. Just like the olden days, goods are transported

manually by carts, while pedestrians and bikers voluntarily

share the same street.


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VERTICAL LINK

(sociallink,jobs,owofmoney,tree+mushroom,housingfor

the poor, housing for the rich, )

CARSGarage or station of rapid transit system as stop, is a

link between the highway (or train) and pedestrian movement

(p.33) (includes bus station, car station)

ATTRITION OF CARS(explaintrafcjams,andthenhow?)

SEQUENTIAL PATH(from bedroom, to work, to parks, to

shopping, back to bedroom)

DESIGNING DECAY(old and new buildings integrated, old

and new city integrated)

ANIMATED CITY(lledwithmovements,andgrowsand

dies over time)

Small shops, stores and restaurants - mostly one or two

stories high - occasionally mingled with small factories,

make continuous linear development along with the streets

where street cars (artery) and bus system run. Attached small

residences behind commercial structures are occupied in

general by those who own the shops or who are in low income

groups. These areas are subject to becoming slum areas.

(Maki p.60-61)


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BIBILIOGRAPHY

Abeyasekere, Susan. 1987. Jakarta: A History. Singapore:

Oxford U P.

Cortes, Jose Miguel. Dissident Cartographies. Pap/Cdr ed.

New York: Seacex, 2008. Print.

Helmond, Arjan van and Stani Michiel. Jakarta Megalopolis:

Horizontal and Vertical Observations. Amsterdam: Valiz Publishing,

2007.

Jacobs, Jane.Death and Life of Great American Cities. New

York: Random House, 1961.

Knapp, Ronald G.Asias Old Dwellings: Tradition,

Resilience, and Change. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Kurokawa, Kisho. Metabolism in Architecture. Oxford:

Westview Press, 1977. Print.

Kusno, Abidin.Behind the Postcolonial: Architecture, urban

space and political culture. London: Routledge, 2000.

Maki, Fumihiko. Investigations in Collective Form. St. Louis:

Washington University, 1964.

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