Kebayoran Baru: The Last Dutch-Planned Suburb of Jakarta
Have you ever hang out around Senopati Street, Shopped at Blok M district or Mayestik Market, on Melawai Street doing Jalan-Jalan Sore, and thinking what’s the story behind the making of this area? Buckle up and get ready to get the scoop: History of the development of Kebayoran Baru!
In the post-war Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia fighting for its independence, the Dutch planned for a satellite city — acting as a residential area and taking in the concept of a “garden city”. This development area was to be constructed for the purpose of providing Batavia (now Jakarta) with an additional living space, relieving Menteng and other areas of the city from the burden of overcrowding. That task of building was handled by newly-established Centrale Stichting Wederopbouw, CSW (Dutch for Central Foundation for Reconstruction) in 1948.
Kebayoran Baru was originally planned by blocks (blok in Indonesian) from Blok A to Blok S, but few of the naming remains; Blok A, Blok M, and Blok S. The satellite city is connected by Jenderal Sudirman street and M.H. Thamrin street to the city centre in the 1950s, but during the construction of those two artery roads access to Kebayoran Baru is connected by Palmerah Street. Because of its closeness to the Tanah Abang-Serpong Railway line, the burden of transporting construction materials was significantly reduced.
Clearing lands for development wasn’t an easy task, as many Betawi landholders refused to let go due to their mistrust and anti-Dutch feelings, but eventually the dutch let the leader of Jakarta at that time to “persuade” them and relocates the Betawi inhabitants further south to Cilandak, South Jakarta. Despite Indonesia gaining its de jure independence recognition from The Netherlands in 1949, construction of Kebayoran Baru still progresses as funding came from the private sector.
Dutch construction of this satellite city concluded in 1955, but Indonesian development continues even today. For example, the purposely central green area was developed into the Al-Azhar Great Mosque, various government offices (mainly Police Headquarters), and more spontaneous commercial buildings. What was once a middle-sized housing area in Senopati street and its surroundings has now been heavily commercialised. An area south of Kebayoran Baru and now integrated to it was once designed as a radio broadcasting station (Radio Kebajoran) — never fully developed but still lingers on the street naming; Antene street and Radio Dalam street.
As the rising population of Jakarta needed a place to live — especially PNS, Pegawai Negeri Sipil (Indonesian for Civil Servants) are supposed to flock Kebayoran Baru’s 19 Blocks — but with a twist, an originally designed to accommodate low-income newcomers, instead the more wealthy moved into the area. The likes of Brawijaya and Kertanegara street are now almost homogenously inhabited by the high incomers or Orang Kaya Lama in current terms. The process of gentrification in Kebayoran Baru had been started long ago and now achieving parity with Menteng as the affluent areas of today’s Jakarta.
A noble concept of making a suburb in the south of Jakarta, even though a lot has changed for its original planning and its subsequent spilling of development into nearby areas (SCBD, Sudirman Central Business District), its legacy is seen as one of the most planned and one of the most affluent areas of Jakarta. Kebayoran Baru is an inspiration to many new developments in Jakarta and Indonesia and transforms the area into the new heart of Jakarta.
-DFF
