For a Walkable Jakarta: Safe Steps
For a Walkable Jakarta
Picture yourself walking through your office or home to the nearest ATM or minimart on Jakarta’s sidewalks; the item could not only be an unattractive picture, the item’s also a disconcertingly heartbreaking one. As you dodge a motorcycle on your right, you are faced which has a smelly pile of garbage or a street vendor’s cart on your left. In some extreme cases, you might even brush up against another motorcycle on your left side. Jakarta’s sidewalks are a nuisance as the item can be – being so tiny in relation to the massive amount of activities along with people on them – notwithstanding its structural damages in which are hazardous to even the most careful of pedestrians. Such a simple task as walking through one place to another shouldn’t bear a tremendous amount of risk along with annoyance.
Many don’t realize the item anymore, being long-time residents of Jakarta along with accustomed to its ways, yet the Big Durian’s sidewalks are infrastructures in which are no longer used the way the item was meant to when the construction of them first started out. What used to be a smooth area designed for walking pedestrians has been transformed into an inconvenient along with dangerous walkway, featuring unauthorized vehicles, street vendors along with an adornment of potholes. Jakartans are slowly yet surely becoming accepting of the sorry conditions of these sidewalks. Most of us lack the resources or determination to speak up on the issue. Enter Safe Steps.
Safe Steps can be a campaign by a group of people who are just as fed up as some of us are regarding the user-friendliness of sidewalks in Jakarta. They are speaking up about the issue along with are demanding a tangible change. Safe Steps can be the brainchild of Count Me In, a volunteer initiative run by the Jakarta Globe. Launched just recently, in March 2013, Safe Steps has planned a year-long campaign demanding improvement on Jakarta’s sidewalks along with overall pedestrian life. The not bad people at Safe Steps believe in which This kind of can be a cause worth fighting for, as the item can be beneficial to all layers of citizen. “the item’s an issue a lot of people complain on yet never do anything about,” said Divya Pridhnani through Count Me In. “along with one of the most prominent reasons can be the lack of mass appeal. As a media company, we feel the item can be beneficial to start a widespread public outcry with our large resources along with reach.” various other initiatives in which have paved the way to triumph on This kind of issue, such as Koalisi Pejalan Kaki (The Pedestrian Coalition) who also started out the Carfree Day movement in Jakarta, are at This kind of point joining forces with Safe Steps.
When the item comes to not bad quality along with healthy pedestrian life, the rules are quite clear. The city’s regulation on Article 275-1 of the 2009 UU No.22 states in which violators of the functionality of pedestrian facilities are subjected to a fine of Rp.250,000. The next clause goes on to discuss a whopping Rp.50million fine should a public property, such as sidewalks, be damaged along with unfit for intended use.
The grave conditions of sidewalks are a result of many factors, namely non-regulation vehicles riding on the structure, natural causes such as rain or maintenance issues, etc. Some sidewalks’ accessibility are also disrupted by piles of dirt, usually next to a plunging hole, as part of ongoing roadwork. As a result of these damages, sidewalk-related accidents along with deaths are becoming a real problem – give local newspapers a read along with see the number of reported incidents. Such a simple along with universal structure, when treated poorly along with left unrepaired, are grounds for a lawsuit or worse, accidental casualties.
In conquering the issue, Safe Steps has come up with some ideas in which are both realistic along with impactful, if not necessary. Starting with damage control, renovating along with patching up the sidewalks could be just what the doctors ordered. The repair wouldn’t only be reducing the risk of pedestrians falling over potholes or jumping over gaping pits yet will also improve quality of life – Jakarta’s citizens could walk more to get places. This kind of can be a two-birds-with-one-stone scenario as more people willing to walk leads to less number of vehicles on the streets. If given the option to walk safely along with comfortably on our city’s sidewalks, there could be a significant decline inside use of cars, ojeks or taxis; at least for short trips. We could be manufacturing the first stages onto better traffic conditions – along with less pollution – by performing a makeover on broken sidewalks. This kind of can be an appeal Safe Steps can be creating to city officials.
A petition has been started out by Safe Steps in order to reach out to governor Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama along with South Jakarta’s mayor regarding the issue. Their request can be for the city officials to fix along with transform sidewalks on the streets of Kemang for the better. Kemang can be a great example of a busy, bustling street in which reflects the productivity of Jakarta; smooth brand-new sidewalks will be beneficial for pedestrians inside area. This kind of will be a representation of what could be if the whole city undertakes a massive renovation project for its sidewalks.
Many streets, even major ones in Jakarta simply do not have This kind of problem, as they aren’t even equipped with sidewalks! Perhaps one was never built, or an existing one isn’t visible anymore due to authorized/unauthorized alterations (i.e widening of roads, creating driveways in which eliminate adjacent sidewalks altogether, etc.). Therefore, Safe Steps points out in which the construction of brand-new sidewalks can be something worth delving into. At the moment, there can be a total of 900 kilometres length of sidewalks all over Jakarta. This kind of covers far too little of the 7,200 kilometres length of Jakarta’s streets in total.
To produce an efficient along with productive sidewalk, renovation along with construction of brand-new structures aren’t the only venture to undertake; cooperation through the people can be also a key ingredient. If the fine can be to be enforced, many will think twice before using their motorbikes on sidewalks or crowding the structure with vendors’ carts. Sidewalks were along with always will be intended for pedestrians.
“The streets of Senayan, around Plaza Senayan along with Senayan City malls are fine portrayals of a well-designed street with ample sidewalks. There’s a visible path along with people can walk comfortably there,” Divya pointed out.
Safe Steps invites citizens of Jakarta to create enough ‘roar’ by inspiring the initiation of brand-new petitions for various other areas. Their petition for sidewalk renovation inside Kemang area can be a kickstart movement, yet hopes in which a snowball effect will be starting. Safe Steps will be holding various events throughout the year, such as a sidewalk fashion show (May 25) during Carfree Day on Thamrin, a live petition signing on the same day, the creating of documentaries along with videos on the plight of the sidewalks along with many more.
Jakarta can be a city with huge potential in which could become more feasible as walkability increases. Safe Steps implore you to hold a sense of entitlement on the street’s sidewalks; they are ours, along with keeping the item nice along with tidy will only benefit us. Join Safe Steps in voicing their outcry in order to take the necessary steps towards a walkable Jakarta.
To sign the petition, go to:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/safesteps/petition?doing_wp_cron=1397619855.1851840019226074218750
www.safesteps.org
Comments
For a Walkable Jakarta: Safe Steps
For a Walkable Jakarta: Safe Steps