A slum redevelopment project with a face: Converting the slum into a valuable city center and considering the slum dwelers and street hawkers as the center of the (co)development process.
WITH A HEART.
THE BACKGROUND:
The “CITRA NIAGA” Urban Redevelopment Experiment was conducted in 1983 to 1987 as an attempt to re-develop an existing slum in the center city district in the city of
Historically , as was told, the land was previously a Public Recreation Park which was abandoned and thereafter “attacked “ by the illegal squatters and becoming the blightest slum in the city.
At the periphery, the low mid and middle class merchants build “make shift” stores and “behind” it , a very dense and fire hazardous squatter settlement. . It was then often called the “black zone”.
This slum was then turned to become a new attractive mixed-used city center . it includes a people’s street fair bazaar in a plaza and a stage surrounded by shops and kiosks. As of Phase I through Phase III, the Project has completed 141 shop houses for the economically stronger income groups with a profitable venture, 79 kiosks (smaller shops) were then developed for the middle –lower income groups as a “break even” venture, and 224 informal sector stalls for the “street peddlers” was rented practically “free of charge” for the lowest income group. Other public spaces includes the management office and the tower and even a public bathroom that can surprisingly earn about Rp2 million per month!
So far, as an architectural urban monument, Citra Niaga , was recognized by the national government as a model urban redevelopment concept without eviction. It has received the Adipura Award (a presidential city management award), the Indonesian Architect Association (IAI) and the Aga Khan International Award. But most important of all,
Citra Niaga became a living monument and a new urban space that can attract its people, the youth, the old and all factions of the community to come to enjoy.