VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Public Works and People Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono ensured that urbanization is not seen as burden or problem anymore with three requirements. They are excellent planning, proper regulation, and sufficient funding. That was conveyed by Minister Basuki Hadimuljono when opening High Level Roundtable on Fostering Growth and Inclusion in Asia’s Cities, held in Jakarta on Monday. According to Minister Basuki, the three requirements will affect the success of urbanization as growth machine.

The Minister added, government’s plan to relocate national capital city to East Kalimantan also adopts those three conditions. Therefore, capital city relocation is expected to be growth machine instead of problem. More overly, East Kalimantan is located precisely in the middle of Indonesia. Minister Basuki then exemplified Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan that is also in the middle of the country and become national growth machine.

Nevertheless, the Minister predicted the urbanization trend in Java Island will be more rapid in the next few years, along with the toll roads construction. Minister Basuki said, toll road network in Java will be complete, because in the next five years, there will be new corridors complementing the Trans Java corridor that has been connected from Merak in Banten, to Probolinggo in East Java. According to the  Minister, the toll road has at least can changed economic activity pattern.

The Minister further said that currently, Indonesian population living in cities is 137 million people or 54 percent of total population. He predicted that in 2025, population in cities will keep increasing up to 68 percent of the total population.

Meanwhile, Country Director Asian Development Bank for Indonesia Windfried F Wicklein in similar event explained that urbanization had become global trend, no exception in Indonesia. Wicklein even said, urbanization had happen in almost 55 percent of Indonesian population. That can be a challenge and an opportunity for Indonesian government to make the cities worth living.