Fatahillah Square was once a bustling hub of culture and nightlife. Now street vendors are forcibly removed, and hundreds of homes have been demolished in order to build corporate plazas. Has the area lost its soul?
Get off the square! the security guard yells into his megaphone. The place is going to be cleaned!
Its 10pm on Friday night in Fatahillah Square in the heart of Kota Tua, Jakartas old town, and the public are being herded out. Uniformed city workers take their place, sweeping up trash from the 1,300 sq metre pedestrianised area in the shadow of the Jakarta History Museum, formerly colonial city hall.
After 10pm, people werent coming for tourism, says Norviadi Setio Husodo, head of the Old Town Zone Management Unit, explaining the decision to limit visiting hours to what is ostensibly a public space. They came to make out in dark corners. We saw lesbians, homosexuals. We saw people getting drunk in the square. Garbage was piling up. Now we see much less garbage.
For decades, Jakarta has wanted to revitalise the old town, the centre of old Batavia, which once bustled with life and trade under the colonial Dutch administration. The effort has seen its ups and downs, but in the past two years has gathered steam, with a bid for the area to become a Unesco world heritage site and the city preparing to host the 18th Asian Games in 2018.
In particular, the city has attempted to woo private investors. Buildings have been renovated, there are plans to make over the black and putrid river, upscale tenants are being encouraged to open up shops and security has been beefed up.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/nov/23/fata-square-unsubtle-gentrification-jakarta-old-town