Jokowi urges Apeksi to prepare big plan for city development

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has urged the Association of Indonesian City Governments (Apeksi) to prepare a big plan for city development to welcome population growth until 2050.

“City design, big planning, big strategy, must be prepared now. All cities must have their own big plans,” he said at the 2023 National Conference of Apeksi in Bogor, West Java, monitored online here on Friday.

Jokowi noted that the global urban population has continued to grow rapidly since the 1900s until now.

In the 1900s, the urban population made up around 10 percent of the world’s total population, while in the 2000s, it increased to 50 percent and is estimated to reach 70 percent by 2050.

He further noted that the urban population constituted 56.7 percent of Indonesia’s population in 2020, and it is estimated that the figure will reach 70 percent in around 2045 to 2050.

On that occasion, he emphasized the importance of details in urban architectural design to bring out the uniqueness of regional character according to its strengths.

“First, the architectural design of the city; all cities have it, but (it should be) more detailed. There must be engineering details, so that it is clear what the city will be in 2050,” he remarked.

The president cited as an example that Sunnylands, California, the US, has 37 golf courses that have become an attraction for tourists from the upper class.

Another potential that can be duplicated in Indonesian cities is periodic exhibitions, which are currently held in several cities in the world.

“There are cities that hold exhibitions every two weeks, (such as) world-class exhibitions in Germany, while every two weeks, they hold exhibitions, photography exhibitions, outdoor exhibitions, furniture exhibitions, and technology exhibitions,” he said.

The president underlined that big cities in Indonesia must prioritize the potential that they have, such as Ambon, with its strength in the fishery sector; Lampung, with pineapple or banana produce as its potential; and Tomohon, with its flowers.

“Thus, with the city’s strengths, the city’s characters will show up. However, everything must be designed from early (on),” he said.