[Kabar-indonesia] Johan Silas: Caring for Kampongs

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post 
Sunday, July 2, 2006

Johan Silas: Caring for Kampongs

Surabaya is commerce central, raw and gritty. The republic's second biggest 
city hits the newcomer with a concrete statement wreathed in smog: Here, the 
rupiah rules. There's plenty of room to make millions, but little space for 
intellectual debate -- particularly for those who think a pinch of chaos is a good 
promoter of change but unrestrained development a damaging ethic, especially 
for the poor.

That hasn't stopped award-winning architect Johan Silas from pushing urban 
planning issues with vigor. He's been doing this through the mass media to an 
often indifferent public and a bored bureaucracy for much of his professional 
life.

Now people are listening -- and reacting. Silas spoke to The Jakarta Post 
contributor Duncan Graham in the housing and human settlements' laboratory at 
Surabaya's 10 November Istitute of Technology (ITS).

Like any good architect, Professor Silas has a well-hewn, lived-in face. That 
doesn't mean homely; though polite and accommodating you get the feeling that 
if he tolerates fools he does so reluctantly.

The niceties have to be observed -- particularly in cultured East Java. So 
there's a bit of dancing around before he gets a grip on the questions and 
wrestles them down. He seems to be thinking: Is this going to be a demanding 
discussion -- or can I just go through the motions then get back to something more 
important?

As a veteran of the media, he understands the value of the one-liner; as an 
acclaimed academic he knows that planning is an immensely complex issue that 
demands seasoned responses.

To be fair, he'd just come back from two weeks in Aceh and was due to return 
in a few days' time. His job there is with the Asian Development Bank, and he 
runs a team of 30 supervising a huge rebuilding program.

With his ITS colleagues, Silas has designed a temporary timber house that can 
be nailed together in around a day using basic tools and limited skills. The 
materials cost about Rp 10 million (US$1,100). So far, more than 600 have been 
built for survivors of the 2004 tsunami.

For this and other innovations he was awarded the Scroll of Honor in 2005 by 
United Nations Habitat. It's not his first international recognition. 
Governments and professional bodies in France, Japan and the Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations (ASEAN) have also shown their appreciation.

Silas has been a guest lecturer in Australia, Europe and Japan, and the 
wonder is that he stays in East Java. He's not even a local, but a native of East 
Kalimantan who graduated from the seminal Bandung Institute of Technology 43 
years ago.

Now he can claim to have lived in Surabaya for longer than two-thirds of the 
present population, such is the huge and continuing migration to the port city.

For anyone sensitive to the ambience of place, the tone and mood of a 
community, the importance of blending past and present to create an acceptable new 
way of living, Surabaya must seem the pits.

A map of this sprawling ancient city looks like an upturned plate of noodles. 
There's no easily discernible center, no grid, no locus of power with 
radiating boulevards. A river twists and turns to the north, but also slices directly 
to the east. One arm is obviously natural, the other artificial.

Most cities make waterways the focal point for transport and recreation. A 
riverside home is usually prime real estate. But this is Surabaya, and the 
silt-laden sewer Kali Mas (Gold River) is grossly misnamed.

So the rich have left the once busy river to the poor and jobless, who squat 
on its black banks and watch styrofoam scum bob by. Those with cash and work 
have settled in gated suburbs to the west.

Here, they display their absence of taste by building European-style 
mansions. These don't even chance a nod of recognition to Javanese culture and 
traditional design, let alone a tropical climate. Question: Is planning in Surabaya 
an oxymoron?

Answer: It seems that way. There are building codes and penalties for those 
who break them. Local governments have the power to demolish unapproved 
constructions but that seldom happens. So people just pay the fine and regard that as 
the fee for bypassing regulations.

We certainly have urban planning, but there's a discrepancy between plans and 
implementation. I've been fighting this for a long time.

Was Surabaya always such a mess?

No, not at all. We're dealing here with a city at least 700 years old, 
probably more, which was planned on the mandala of Javanese cosmology. There were 
two keraton (Javanese royal palaces) north and south, where Jl. Pahlawan exists. 
Now only the names remain.

There were also two alun-alun (town squares). People lived in villages around 
the points of the compass according to their trades and backgrounds. The 
planning had harmony.

What happened?

It's very difficult to say. The Dutch tried hard not to disturb the structure 
but the center shifted to Grahadi (the governor's palace) about 200 years 
ago. Then early last century, the Dutch did development work to the south around 
Wonokromo and excavated a canal to drain flooding to the east.

They also attempted to build a walled city to the north but the soil wasn't 
suitable. It was still European thinking. What to you think of these 
developments to the northwest where the rich are now living?

I hate them, their bombastic names like Singapore in Surabaya and European 
street statuary featuring Greek and Roman myths. There's nothing Indonesian 
about these estates. It's all crazy.

But this is the private sector and it can build housing very quickly. I'm 
more concerned about homes for the poor.

Do you favor the destruction of the kampongs as in Singapore and their 
replacement by apartments?

No I don't, though I recognize space is at a premium. We've already designed 
rental flats for workers in the center of Surabaya and these have been a 
success. They're four or five storeys high and still retain the sense of community 
and togetherness that's such an important part of Javanese living. But the 
kampongs are horizontal living and can harbor and spread disease. They get 
crowded as more people come to the big city for work. There are problems with access 
and services.

Remember that the kampongs house 60 percent of the population. They are the 
places where people from the villages learn to live in the city. They're like a 
school.

There's a need to nurse the community and help people make decisions about 
the way they want to live. Through ITS we started Citizens' Councils where 
planning issues can be discussed using the people's language. Some of these 
discussions are broadcast on radio.

The Kampong Improvement Program (KIP) was first introduced in Surabaya in 
1924 and focussed mainly on sanitation. It's been intensified since then to 
improve the quality of life.

The program has been quite successful, but it can't keep up with the rate of 
growth. In the late 1970s KIP was introduced nationally for all urban areas.

We don't want the kampongs invaded and taken over by the middle classes. They 
are so important to maintaining cohesion. Without workers from the kampong 
the city couldn't function.

The idea is that the kampongs should be maintained as a transitional zone and 
improved. They should coexist with commercial and urban development to supply 
the labor and services they need. This is the "shared space" model of 
planning.

We can and should get a closer relationship between the middle-upper and 
middle-lower segments of society. The next generation should be better educated 
and trained and they'll be the ones who want to move out of the kampongs and 
find the privacy they seek.

Why is the river such a mess?

Bad maintenance and planning. It used to be the principle means of 
communication and transport. But a bridge collapsed across the river near the port about 
50 years ago and has never been repaired, so water traffic can't get upstream.

In the 1960s and 70s it was regularly flushed. Not now. It all comes back to 
costs. Don't ask me why -- I'm not in control! It certainly needs to be 
dredged.

Yes, I do get very angry about these things. The government raises all these 
taxes but doesn't spend the money on urban maintenance. Where does the money 
go? The shopping mall construction boom continues. Where are all the tenants 
and customers going to come from? Many shops are empty. I can't understand how 
they can survive.

Neither can I. The data used to sustain these developments is flawed and 
there's definitely an oversupply. There's been too much speculation and a lot of 
bankruptcies will follow.

They have also created problems of traffic management and infrastructure 
because planning codes have not been followed. Count your successes.

Until recently we've managed to constrain development to the south and 
prevent Surabaya linking up with Sidoarjo -- though that's happening now. We also 
contained industrial development to the southeast.

There's a master plan taking us through to 2025 and a law prohibiting the 
clearing of kampongs unless required for a major road. The kampongs survived the 
economic crisis surprisingly well. Are you optimistic about the future?

Surabaya is so different from anywhere else. People here have a great sense 
of attachment and egalitarianism. It's not like Jakarta -- we don't demand 
local identification cards -- anyone can move in. About 50 percent live close to 
their work.

It's the second best solution to Jakarta, the major transport, business and 
supply hub to most of Eastern Indonesia. It's the whole diverse deal, moving 
very fast and hugely important to this nation. The bridge to Madura (see The 
Jakarta Post, Feb. 3, 2006) will make a major difference.

You can't compare Surabaya to anywhere. It's twice the size of Kuala Lumpur 
with one-tenth of the resources. I stay here because it's so interesting.

The people are starting to understand the issues because they are feeling the 
effects of bad decision-making through crowded streets and cramped living 
space. They have the right to enjoy urban facilities. I detect frustration. But 
they don't yet have the power.

Democracy in Indonesia is still a kind of ritual. It's not yet a way of life. 
I hope that soon it can become a bargaining chip for the people to make a 
better city.

I'm an anarchist -- change comes from chaos. And change is the only 
certainty. We have to understand the past so mistakes are not repeated.

Improving the kampongs has been my lifetime's work. Yes, I'm always 
optimistic. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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