Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama delivered an opening speech at the New Cities Summit in Jakarta. (Photo Source: New Cities Foundation Facebook page)
Jakarta, GIVnews.com – Governor Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama is widely known not merely because he is governor of Jakarta, but also because of his vision and personal style.
Ahok’s straightforwardness, coupled with his fluent English, captivated about 800 participants in the New Cities Summit Jakarta 2015, a leading global event on the future of cities. Ahok officially opened the three-day gathering on Tuesday (9 Jun 2015). Summit participants include world’s leading decision-makers, mayors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, thinkers, artists, and innovators.
In the summit, Ahok described his administration’s development programs, mentioning several of his implementation strategies. When asked by a foreign participant regarding his key strategy to successfully carry out the programs, the governor replied with: “Stop corruption! Everything must be transparent. That is why I fight all the parliament members”. To this blunt answer, Ahok received a spontaneous applause from the audience.
Ahok was the first keynote speaker in the three-day summit, which carries the theme ‘Seizing the Urban Moment: Cities at the Heart of Growth and Development’. The summit, which is being held at the Ciputra Artpreneur building in South Jakarta’s Casablanca business district, features around 25 speakers.
Among them are Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank; Poh June Kok, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development; Li Tie, Director General of China Center for Urban Development; Sarwono Handayani, Director at the Jakarta Governor’s Team for Development Acceleration; Charbel Aoun, Senior Vice President of Smart Cities in Schneider Electric; Mohd Azharuddin, Director of Performance Management and Delivery Unity at the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Department; Ahamed J. M. Muzammil, His Worship the Mayor of Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Leslie Koch, President of The Trust at Governors Island, New York City.
Urbanization
Urbanization was among the key points raised by all speakers on Tuesday, including Governor Ahok. Peter kindle, Head of Urban Design, Skidmore, Owings and Merill LLP, reminded the audience that the 21st century is the age of urbanization. Based on their experiences in several countries, Kindle said that city development absolutely requires strategic planning or a master plan. Unfortunately, he shared, that this matter is receiving little attention in many parts of the world.
In a brief interview with GIV News on the sidelines of the meeting, Kindle was in the opinion that Ahok might not be able and should not be forced to realize many of his visions and programs within one or two years period. It may take 15 or 20 years to fully realize them, Kindle shared. “This is because the most effective way is to develop a comprehensive vision for the region, or Jakarta, meaning that we craft simple but compelling visions for it,” Kindle noted.
Jalan Thamrin, Jakarta. (Photo: GIV/MB)
Transportation Issue
Also raised on Tuesday was the issue of city transportation including heavy traffic congestions. Almost all the speakers in a panel which focused on ‘Urban Mobility’ silently agreed that Jakarta has the worst traffic in the world. Only one of them disagreed, David Allen, who is in the opinion that Mumbai is worse than Jakarta. Allen is Head of Business Development and Special Projects, Asia pacific, Bombardier Transportation.
Besides Allen, there were other four panelists who participated in the lively session entitled ‘Unlocking the Grid: solutions for Urban Mobility’ session. The other four were Mohd Azharuddin from the Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia; Noni Sri Ayati Purnomo, President Director of Blue Bird Group Holding; Sutanto Soehodho, Jakarta Deputy Governor; and Jianping Wu, Professor and Director of Future Transport, Tsinghua University.
Both speakers and audience alike had the opportunity to share down-to-earth and lively examples about the development of transportation systems including trains, bus lines, mass rapid transit (MRT), light rail transit (LRT), and taxi mobile reservation services.
On system integration, Professor Jianping Wu reminded that the different systems and modes of transportation should not be developed separately from one another. Concerning transportation, “convenient means network”, Wu noted. He suggested that Indonesia and other countries learn from Beijing.
“In Beijing 18,000 passengers stay in the center of the city. And I was told that in Jakarta, 8,000 people stay at Central Park and another 5,000 in surrounding sites,” Wu added.
Urban Issues that Matter
Also discussed in separate panel discussions on Tuesday was the issue of water, housing, technology, model of governance, and public spaces.
This Wednesday (10/6), there will be special discussions about economic issues in relation to city infrastructure development, cultural tourism, and the internet of urban things.
Meanwhile, John Rossant, the Chairman of New Cities Foundation, will close the summit on Wednesday (10/6) afternoon. On Thursday, the summit participants will conduct site visits to Jakarta’s MRT project, Alam Sutera and BSD cities (west of Jakarta), and the Kota Tua (Old Batavia). The scheduled site visits on Thursday could provide participants with a memorable experience.
For Rossant, his encounter with Governor Ahok is another eventful experience. “He is really impressive. He is decisive and wants to get things done. He is a role model for city mayors around the world,” Rossant told GIV News.