How can Jakarta workers stay in Jakarta?

As the center of the economy, Jakarta is certainly a magnet for job seekers from all over Indonesia. However, while Jakarta remains a destination for job seekers, it is no longer a place to live.

Jakarta workers are forced to live in the suburbs of Jakarta. This is because housing prices in Jakarta are too high, making life in Jakarta unaffordable.

With a high number of Jakarta workers living in Jakarta's suburbs, during the day and weekdays, Jakarta is bustling. At night and on holidays, Jakarta is quiet. And when Jakarta is quiet, people's activities are actually busy in the suburbs of Jakarta.

Here are some important things related to the unaffordability of housing in Jakarta for Jakarta workers and how Jakarta workers can live in Jakarta.

How expensive is housing in Jakarta, causing it to be deserted on holidays and evenings?

According to a World Bank report titled Time To Act published in 2019, the ratio of house prices per resident income in Jakarta is 10.3. This figure shows that Jakarta's house price-to-income ratio is higher than many of the world's most expensive cities.

From the figures above it can be seen that housing in Jakarta is more unaffordable for Jakarta workers than in London (8.5), New York (5.7), Singapore (4.8), and Bangkok (7.7) for workers in each of these cities.

Not only affecting the workers, the high property prices in Jakarta eventually even made offices and commercial centers move to the outskirts of Jakarta. As a result, Jakarta is getting quieter.

What will happen when Jakarta gets less crowded?

If more and more Jakarta workers live in the suburbs of Jakarta and offices move to the suburbs of Jakarta, the consequences include:

1. The use of public facilities in Jakarta is less than optimal due to the lack of permanent residents,
2. Jakarta's income decreases as workers spend more time and money in Jakarta's suburbs, and
3. office and commercial areas in Jakarta, especially at night, become empty and lifeless, resulting in slower economic activity.

So, what is the impact on workers living in the suburbs of Jakarta?

Jakarta workers who live on the outskirts of Jakarta are forced to travel long distances daily to reach their workplaces in the city center. Some of the impacts include:

1. workers who travel long distances are prone to stress and other illnesses,
2. family time is reduced,
3. private vehicle drivers also feel isolated from neighborhoods and communities, and
4. The increasing number of private vehicles also exacerbates pollution and congestion.

How can Jakarta workers live in Jakarta?

Ideally, Jakarta workers can live in Jakarta, and not in the suburbs of Jakarta. To provide affordable housing for Jakarta workers, there are three things that the DKI Jakarta government can do, namely:

1. optimize land use by building affordable vertical housing on government lands, such as markets and terminals, thus encouraging mixed-use buildings,
2. planning a public transport-oriented city, which means building vertical housing near transit hubs, improving and constructing facilities that prioritize pedestrians, and improving public transport connections, and
3. adding parks and other public spaces, and improving the quality of facilities such as schools, hospitals, and markets.

With optimal land utilization, Jakarta can provide vertical housing at affordable prices for Jakarta workers who are currently forced to live in the suburbs of Jakarta. Automatically, the physical and mental health of Jakarta workers can be better maintained. In addition, Jakarta can also be more balanced: not only crowded during working days and hours.

Hopefully in the future, living in Jakarta will no longer be unaffordable for Jakarta workers. May Jakarta become a more affordable city for all!

For more information on how Jakarta workers can live in Jakarta with illustrations, please watch the videos Agar Pekerja Jakarta Tinggal di Jakarta (Part 1 of 3), Agar Pekerja Jakarta Tinggal di Jakarta (Part 2 of 3), and Agar Pekerja Jakarta Tinggal di Jakarta (Part 3 of 3).