No doubt Jakarta is a complicated city to deal with. There are no clear zoning profiles, everything is everywhere. People flock to malls instead of public open spaces. Pollution is high thanks to more than five million cars, motorbikes, trucks, and buses stuck in traffic jams all over the city.

Traffic management is almost nonexistent despite the efforts of the Traffic Management Control agency which is run by the police department. Roads are built, rebuilt, rerouted, and maintained to the whims of not the city authority but those who have the loudest voice and the most money. Potholes and road qualities not maintained according to regulations, responsibilities being tossed back and forth between real estate developers and the public office.

There are office spaces inside residential areas and vice versa, so called “central” business districts spawn uncontrollably all over Jakarta, there is a distinct lack of open space for the public to spend their free time at. Mayoral offices seemingly pointless or powerless with city authorities under control of the governor. Real estate areas pop up on what used to be natural reserves, apartments grow, marketed, and sold only to the haves, malls sprout up on nearly every other corner. 

Center of government, trade, business, culture, and entertainment, that’s what Jakarta is. Some of its functions need to be jettisoned yet none wish to be away from Jakarta due to lack of infrastructure and opportunities in other areas.

Jakarta is a time bomb waiting to explode. Stress levels are high. Traffic jams are predicted to gridlock the city by 2014, some say by 2011. Right now, localized gridlocks are the norm. Try driving through jalan Sudirman from Senayan to Semanggi during daytime, or check out Karang Tengah in Cinere with one dead traffic light and no traffic police. Metro Pondok Indah any day of the week, especially Saturday.

And I haven’t even mentioned the lack of green public space although things are moving along albeit rather slowly, with Taman Menteng and that other park near Mahakam having been built. 

Jakarta is not a healthy place to live in. It needs a coordinated effort from all of its municipalities, the different government departments, various city authorities, the business sector including real estate, transport, and construction, central government, and most importantly, its residents to fix everything that’s wrong with it.