Can We Live in the Middle of Jakarta? Frequently Asked Questions

Living in the city offers convenience, one of which is time efficiency. The support of public transportation in the city shortens the travel time needed to reach your destination. Unfortunately, living in the city is becoming increasingly difficult to realize due to limited land and high housing prices. Even so, is it true that living in the middle of the city is now just a dream?

Could we live in the middle of Jakarta?

Very possible. Several ways can be done to make more people live in the city center. One of them is to increase vertical housing by increasing the height of buildings.

But the price of apartments in Jakarta is very expensive. Is it still possible to live in the city center?

Maybe. The high price of apartments in Jakarta is due to the lack of supply while the demand is high. The more supply of housing, the more affordable the price.

The high cost of land, the slow and complicated processing of development permits, spatial regulations that limit the height of buildings are factors that make housing prices expensive.

Simply put, the more limited the land available, the more expensive it is. The longer it takes to build vertical housing, the more expensive it is. The lower the building floor coefficient, the fewer dwellings that can be built.

How to realize affordable housing in the middle of Jakarta?

Since there is almost no more vacant land, the government's creativity and innovation to optimize the use of regional assets is key. Government or BUMD land such as terminals and markets usually have a low building floor coefficient (KLB). The government's policy to allow an increase in KLB in terminals and markets makes these areas potential locations for vertical residential development.

Once the KLB increases, funding for vertical housing construction can come from developer obligations. So far, developers are subject to the obligation to build low-cost flats for their development activities. Instead of waiting for time-consuming land acquisition from the government, the obligation converted into a vertical residential development fund on terminal and market land could be one option.

Why live in vertical housing in the city center? How is it different from living in the suburbs?

Of course you don't have to, but living in the city offers efficiency. Living in the city center saves you money and travel time.

The reason is that the city center is where people do their daily activities such as work, sightseeing, school, and so on. In addition, living in the middle of the city means having more public transportation options. There's MRT, Transjakarta, commuter trains, and LRT. If the destination is close by, walking can even be an option. Not only does walking contribute to reducing traffic congestion, it can also reduce stress levels.

Conversely, living in the suburbs means eliminating cost and time savings. This is because the distance traveled automatically increases. It is possible that people who live in the suburbs also have to use two modes of transportation to reach their destination in Jakarta.

Living in the middle of the city means adding to its population density? Isn't Jakarta already congested?

Density is relative. Jakarta is crowded during the day, but quiet at night. This is because many people work in Jakarta, but live outside Jakarta. Jakarta is horizontally dense, not vertically. Jakarta looks crowded because it is not organized properly.

If vertical housing is already available, should we rent or buy it?

This choice adapts to each person's space needs. Factors that influence this are a person's mobility, type of work, and so on.