An Unsinkable Village for the Sinking City - Reinventing Resilience for Kali Ciliwung by Gabrielle Lynn Utomo

An Unsinkable Village for the Sinking City Reinventing Climate Resilience using an Urban Acupuncture Toolkit for the Riverside Villages of Kali Ciliwung, Jakarta, Indonesia Written by : Gabrielle Lynn Utomo Primary Advisor : Dr. Eric Bellin Secondary Advisor : Dr. Simon Richter Undergraduate Honors Thesis Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (Hons) Department of Architecture College of Arts and Sciences The University of Pennsylvania 2021

Acknowledgement This thesis would not be possible, first of all, without the support and guidance of my advisors: Eric Bellin and Simon Richter. Thank you both for believing in the urgency of this issue, and for pushing me to pursue a solution that is not only inspiring but also feasible. If I succeed in adopting this project in reality, please know that it is largely thanks to your contributions. I would also like to extend my thanks to Richard Wesley and Katherine Linton, who graciously granted me the opportunity to pursue this exciting project. To my support system and sounding board: Dzung P. Nguyen, Daisy Angeles, Zahra Elhanbaly, Judy Zhang, Leechen Zhu, Louise Lu, Mindy Ma, Benjamin Zhang, Keren Stearns, Ryan Guan, Kengo Shigeta, Jason Chen, Justine de Jesus, Sherina Wijaya, Gracelynn Soesanto, Michelle Bahar, Hugo Leo & Vian Djianto, Janice Utomo, Audrey Tirtaguna, Eugene Enclona, Nelson Villamor, Michael Gokie, Finn Connors, Angela Bacaling, Jon Stensberg, Arliska Fatma Rosi, Ryan Fauzan, Michael Jonathan, and so many others that I am not able to mention. Thank you for your faith in me, for your listening ear as I perfect my thesis elevator pitch, and for inspiring pieces of this project! To Pak Sudirman Asun and Pak Sandyawan Sumardi, thank you for showing me the importance of anchoring this project on the basis of humanity. Talking to both of you connected me with the communities that live along the Ciliwung River, and taught me to view them as individual persons rather than as a collective problem. To Mr. Karel de Groot, thank you for the many incredible photographs that you so kindly lent me for this project. And to Bindi Purnama, whose thesis, Let It Flood: Ciliwung Delta, is a major source of inspiration for mine. Finally, I want to thank my family. Mom, Dad, Will, and Yeye, this thesis and all that I stand for would not have been possible without your unconditional love and support.

Author’s Note My freshman year at college, I learnt that my hometown Jakarta, Indonesia was the fastest-sinking city in the world from an international hallmate. I remember the shock that hit me when I learnt this was true, and the embarrassment I felt from my cluelessness. From that moment on, I found myself navigating through an obstacle course of classes, conversations, and internships that evolved around themes of water. From a course on sustainability taught by my advisor Simon Richter, to integrating themes of water into my architecture design studios, to learning about climate migration issues in a human rights political science course, to finally conducting an independent research course on the topic of land subsidence in Jakarta. Outside of university, I was keen to write opinion pieces on flooding and partook in an internship dealing with urban design and city planning in Indonesia. I believe all these opportunities have equipped me with a wide range of perspectives to view this issue of flooding and subsidence through design, policy, and humanitarian perspectives. Leaving Indonesia for higher education in the United States, I always held a fear of becoming estranged from local news and issues. Little did I know, I would grow more informed than ever, inviting other Indonesian international students to join my journey on relearning stories about home. I dedicate this work to all Indonesians, especially to those living alongside the Ciliwung River who inspired my project in the first place, and to all Indonesian international students who have so much talent and the potential. May we all toil for the progress of our nation.

Abstract Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the word. A densely populated metropolitan city with a tropical climate, flooding is an issue that strongly pertains to Jakarta especially along its many river veins. One river in particular is Kali Ciliwung or the Ciliwung River. The longest river that runs through Jakarta, the Ciliwung has many miles of “informal” riverside settlements that is home to estimatedly over 250,000 persons. Many blame the river’s residents for the devastating floods that overtake Jakarta, and thus the government’s main mode of tackling the issue has been through river normalization. However, the main cause of flooding, land subsidence is lesser known and not properly dealt with. This thesis aims to reinvent the solutions previously ascribed to solving flooding by reframing the conditions of the community settlers. Instead of viewing them as a congregated problem, this thesis proposes that we understand them as resilient individuals who have much to lose from the government’s forced eviction and displacement programs. By viewing the communities as a valuable unit, this article of work envisions a series of acupuncture solutions that can be adapted to each community as they see fit. In this thesis, I propose a three-module acupuncture architecture toolkit consisting of a water module, a trash management module, and a retention marsh module. In tandem, the three modules tackle root causes of flooding (namely land subsidence due to groundwater overextraction, and improper disposal of waste) in a dignified manner, without forcibly uprooting the riverside communities.

Table of Content Acknowledgement 2 Author’s Note 3 Abstract 4 Table of Content 6 I. SETTING THE STAGE 8 i. Introducing Jakarta and the Ciliwung River 8 ii. Land Subsidence 16 Iii. Flooding 18 iv. River Conditions 28 v. Framing the Problem 38 II. THE TOOLKIT 44 i. Toolkit Overview 46 ii. The Water Module 48 iii. The Trash Management Module 50 iv. The Retention Marsh Module 52 v. Overall Implementation 54 Afterthought 56 Bibliography 58

I. SETTING THE

i. Introducing Jakarta and the Ciliwung River Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and a city of 10,56 million people1, of which 36,108 families were recorded to live in riverside slum communities2. Assuming each family consisted of 4 members, at least 144,000 people live in these slums, and the reality is that families might run large and many families might be undocumented, only adding to this already high statistic. Decent housing is a prominent issue in Jakarta, which has struggled with rapid urbanization since Indonesia’s independence. The Government Department of Libraries and Archives held that a majority of migrants in the 1960s and 70s resided alongside Jakarta’s riverbanks, which were the cheapest places to live at the time3. “Sensus 2020: Penduduk Jakarta 10,56 Juta Jiwa, Terbanyak Di Jakarta Timur,” last modified 15 February 2021, https://megapolitan.kompas. com/read/2021/02/15/13573391/sensus-2020-penduduk-jakarta-1056-juta-jiwa-terbanyak-di-jakarta-timur. 2 “INDEKS POTENSI KERAWANAN SOSIAL PROVINSI DKI JAKARTA 2019,” last modified December 2019, https://statistik.jakarta.go.id/ media/2020/01/IPKS-2019-30122019.pdf. 3 “Permukiman dan Permasalahan Sepanjang Ciliwung,” last modified 19 April 2019, https://dispusip.jakarta.go.id/dispusip/2019/04/19/ permukiman-dan-permasalahan-sepanjang-ciliwung/. 1

STAGE

Photo by Karel de Groot To provide a holistic image of the city, in 2019, a staggering 42,73% of Jakarta’s households were qualified as slums4. A slum household was defined by four dimensions: it was a household that did not have proper access to drinking water, decent sanitation, floor space equal or greater than 7.2m2 per capita, and decent roofing, flooring, or walls. These four dimensions are strongly evident in the riverside slums especially, where the houses are built with only very elementary features. My site of choice, the Ciliwung, river is the longest of thirteen rivers that flow through Jakarta at 119 km or 74 mi long. In 2013, the government estimated over 250,000 residents living along the river5. This number was triple that of the year prior at 14,36% in 2018. “Banyaknya Desa/Kelurahan Menurut Keberadaan Permukiman di Bantaran Sungai, di Bawah Saluran Udara Tegangan Ekstra Tinggi (SUTET), dan Permukiman Kumuh, 2014 & 2018,” https://www.bps.go.id/dynamictable/2019/02/08/1580/banyaknya-desa-kelurahan-menurutkeberadaan-permukiman-di-bantaran-sungai-di-bawah-saluran-udara-tegangan-ekstra-tinggi-sutet-dan-permukiman-kumuh-2014-2018. html. 5 “250.000 Warga Tinggal di Bantaran Ciliwung, Bisakah Dipindahkan ke Rusun?,” last modified 22 January 2013, https://finance.detik.com/ berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-2149678/250000-warga-tinggal-di-bantaran-ciliwung-bisakah-dipindahkan-ke-rusun. 4

The Ciliwung River, higlighted in the left drawing as the dark blue river, runs through the entirity of Jakarta.

The mouth of the Ciliwung is located up the North coast of Jakarta.

Along the river are various conditions of dense settlements.

The river’s source is located in Bogor, a mountainous region South of Jakarta, which is 3,000m or 9,800ft above sea level, 11

12 12

To provide a holistic image of the city, in 2019, a staggering 42,73% of Jakarta’s households were qualified as slums. A slum household was defined by four dimensions: it was a household that did not have proper access to drinking water, decent sanitation, floor space equal or greater than 7.2m2 per capita, and decent roofing, flooring, or walls. These four dimensions are strongly evident in the riverside slums especially, where the houses are built with only elementary Because of avery combination offeatures. the geography and dense occupation, communities alongside the Ciliwung My siteare of doubly choice,vulnerable the Ciliwung, river is the longest of floods thirteen rivers that flow through Jakarta atas 119well km or mi to flooding due to flash from rainfall in the highland source as74 local long. In 2013, the government estimated over 250,000 residents living along the river. floods in crowded spaces where the river flow is bottlenecked. 13

Flooding is an issue that plagues the entire city of Jakarta, especially because of its heavy tropical rainstorms. Aside from heavy rainfall, another crucial cause of Jakarta’s floods is land subsidence, or the gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth’s surface due to removal or displacement of subsurface earth materials.

The image above is a mosque in North Jakarta that is now partially underwater because the land where it stands sinks 10-25cm, or 4-10in per year. There are four factors that cause land subsidence: over extraction of groundwater, load of construction, natural consolidation of soft alluvium soils, and geotectonic subsidence. Groundwater extraction is the largest factor for Jakarta’s subsidence in particular.

Reclaimed coastline Original coastline

ii. Land Subsidence Map of Batavia from 1866 with the purple line showing current coastline of Jakarta, and the red line showing original coastline. Retrieved from Let It Flood, originally from maps.library.leiden.edu.

Map showing rate of subsidence in Jakarta (red marks areas of fastes subsidence). Peta Penurunan Muka tanah Provinsi DKI Jakarta Periode 2014-2017, Dinas Perindustrian dan Energi Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta.

These three maps show the rate of subsidence throughout Jakarta, a comparison of Jakarta’s current coastline (purple line) and Batavia’s coastline in 1866 (red line), and an overlay of the two maps. North Jakarta is the part of Jakarta that is sinking the fastest and accordingly so, as most of current day Jakarta was reclaimed after the Dutch colonized Indonesia. 17

Combined Flood Map

iii. Flooding Returning to the issue of flooding, this is a combined map depicting the frequency and intensity of flooding in the years 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2020. Across the four years, the areas of darkest blue are where flooding was most common and most intense. As visible from the map, there the areas around the river show significant flooding. Redrawn by author. Data for 2015 floods taken from: “PETA BANJIR TAHUN 2015 - BPBD Geoportal,” http://gis.bpbd.jakarta.go.id/documents/207. Data for 2016 floods taken from: “PETA BANJIR TAHUN 2016 - BPBD Geoportal,” http://gis.bpbd.jakarta.go.id/documents/156. Data for 2019 and 2020 floods taken from: “Peta Riwayat Banjir Jakarta 2010-2020,” JakartaSatu, https://jakartasatu. jakarta.go.id/portal/apps/TimeAware/index.html?appid=d9f49442413e4584ac98ce22aeec44ac.

Photo by Karel de Groot Without expanding too much into the statistics, the worst instance of each dimension of flooding among the four years were:

Highest rainfall

: 377 mm/day (2020)

Highest Flood Depth : 360 cm

(2016)

Casualty : 19 (2020) Evacuees : 41,202 (2015) Lives Impacted

: 231,566

(2015)

Families Affected

: 64,458

(2015)

No. of Districts Affected

: 38

(2015)

Neighborhoods Affected

: 615

(2015)

Days for Flood to Recede : 7

(2015)

Jakarta Flood Map: 2015

Redrawn by author. Data for 2015 floods taken from: “PETA BANJIR TAHUN 2015 - BPBD Geoportal,” http://gis.bpbd.jakarta.go.id/documents/207.

Data for flood statistics from: “Begini Data Banjir Era Jokowi-Ahok-Djarot-Anies,” last modified 4 January 2020, https:// news.detik.com/berita/d-4846575/begini-data-banjir-era-jokowi-ahok-djarot-anies.

The worst instance of each dimension of flooding in February 2015 were:

February 2015 Highest rainfall

: 277.5 mm/day

Highest Flood Depth

: 200 cm

Days for Flood to Recede : 7 No. of Districts Affected : 38 Neighborhoods Affected : 615 Families Affected

: 64,458

Lives Impacted

: 231,566

Casualty : 5 Evacuees : 41,202 21

Jakarta Flood Map: 2016

Redrawn by author. Data for 2019 floods taken from: “PETA BANJIR TAHUN 2016 - BPBD Geoportal,” http://gis.bpbd.jakarta.go.id/documents/156.

The worst instance of each dimension of flooding in April 2016 were:

April 2016 Highest rainfall

: 124.5 mm/day

Highest Flood Depth

: 360 cm

Days for Flood to Recede : 2 No. of Districts Affected : 18 Neighborhoods Affected : 134 Families Affected

: 7,833

Lives Impacted

: 27,607

Casualty : 0 Evacuees : 20,945 23

Jakarta Flood Map: 2019

Redrawn by author. Data for 2018 floods taken from: “Peta Riwayat Banjir Jakarta 2010-2020,” JakartaSatu, https://jakartasatu.jakarta.go.id/ portal/apps/TimeAware/index.html?appid=d9f49442413e4584ac98ce22aeec44ac.

Photo by Karel de Groot The worst instance of each dimension of flooding in April 2019 were:

April 2019 Highest rainfall

: no data

Average Flood Depth

: 250 cm

Days for Flood to Recede : 1 No. of Districts Affected : 17 Neighborhoods Affected : 94 Families Affected

: 2,915

Lives Impacted

: 8,851

Casualty : 2 Evacuees : 3,600 25

Jakarta Flood Map: 2020

Redrawn by author. Data for 2020 floods taken from: “Peta Riwayat Banjir Jakarta 2010-2020,” JakartaSatu, https://jakartasatu.jakarta.go.id/ portal/apps/TimeAware/index.html?appid=d9f49442413e4584ac98ce22aeec44ac.

Photo by Karel de Groot The worst instance of each dimension of flooding in January 2020 were:

January 2020 Highest rainfall

: 377 mm/day

Highest Flood Depth

: 350 cm

Days for Flood to Recede : 4 No. of Districts Affected : 35 Neighborhoods Affected : 390 Families Affected

: 22,148

Lives Impacted

: 83,406

Casualty : 19 Evacuees : 36,445 27

Ciliwung River Conditions

Normalized Partially Normalized Naturalized

iv. River Conditions Along the Ciliwung River are various riverbank conditions. This map above depicts the varying conditions: whether the river’s edges have been normalized (yellow), partially normalized (yellow-green), and naturalized. Three instances of the river edges are depicted on the right. Normalization is the use of concrete walls or soil levees to build up barriers on either or both sides of a river to contain the river water in an attempt to prevent flooding. Towards the south end of the river, where most of the river is either naturalized or partially normalized, there is notably more significant instances of flooding (be it in terms of frequency or intensity). 28

Normalized

Partially Normalized

Naturalized 29

Ciliwung River Elevation

B C

Normalized Partially Normalized

(m)

Naturalized

As you might notice, normalization is especially pertinent towards the northern half of Jakarta, where the land elevation is relatively low, and so the normalization occurs more to protect the area from local floods during high coastal tide. Keeping in mind the varying conditions, geographic location, and elevation of the river, I selected six points A-F to study closely.

Sections Through the Ciliwung River

A A

B C

C D

Points A and C are normalized using different engineering techniques. A makes use of soil levees to create natural-looking river plains, while section C uses concrete walls to create a sheer embankment. Points B and D show two instances of partially-normalized rivers. In both cases, the left side of the river is walled up while the right side is left in its “natural” state with the existing villages. Points E and F show the river left untouched, aside from the man-made structures hanging above and residing next to it. 31

SECTION A

SECTION B

SECTION C

SECTION D 32 32

SECTION E

SECTION F 33

Sections Through the Ciliwung River

A A

B C

C D

Despite the extent of normalization conducted throughout multiple governor terms in Jakarta, there are many problems with normalization. Not only are there heated political issues surrounding the effects of normalization on the surrounding environment and forced evictions of local residents, but also questions regarding its actual effectiveness in preventing flooding.

2016

September 2016

October 2017 The first photograph was taken in early 2016 in Bukit Duri, a village near point D in the map to the right. In September 2016, the village was demolished in order to normalize the river. Its previous residents were deemed “illegal settlers’’ despite having lived there for many years if not decades, inheriting the land from their ancestors. In October 2017, the evicted residents filed and won a class action lawsuit, winning each of the village’s 93 previous resident $14,000 (Rp.18,6 billion total). By contrast, the minimum wage in Jakarta is $3600 so the reparation would have given each recipient 4 years of wages. Unfortunately, there has been no news of whether the reparations were actually received by the victims. 35

Sections Through the Ciliwung River

A A

B C

C D

In addition to the socio political issue of normalization, there have been debates on whether the solution itself is truly effective. Critics of normalization argue the process often takes away the meander of the river in favor of straighter edges as evident especially in the Northern portion of the river. This not only decreases the volume of the river but also allows the water to rush through faster, which is especially harmful during the rainy season. Critics also claim that concrete walls make the river shallower than its original natural form. 36

Bukit Duri, 2014 Before normalization: more meander, greenery to allow absorption of rainwater.

Bukit Duri, 2017 After normalization: no greenery, many communities evicted to make space for walls. 37

v. Framing the Problem Hopefully, it is clear now the gravity of flooding issues in Jakarta and that normalization is not the perfect remedy for the problem. The reason why normalization (and forced eviction and displacement of riverside communities) is not the right solution to address flooding is because it does not address the three major root causes of flooding:

1. Land subsidence due to overextraction of groundwater 2. Lack of a proper trash management system 3. Lack of green space and absorptive areas

In this next section, I will discuss each aspect in greater detail.

Problem 1: Land Subsidence due to Groundwater Overextraction The greatest cause for land subsidence in Jakarta as a whole is overextraction of groundwater. The heart of this issue lies in a lack of a reliable source of clean water, as water infrastructure in Jakarta is not well maintained, and the city has less water basins than ideal for its size. The government has created much propaganda that blames land subsidence mainly on the riverside dwellers, claiming that they more than the average Jakarta citizen tend to depend on groundwater for daily use. However, the reality is that the majority of groundwater extraction is conducted by large commercial and government buildings including hotels and shopping malls.

This is an image of a random inspection in 2018 to check for high buildings that were using groundwater without proper permit conducted by governor Anies Baswedan. Despite this being a great first step, there was neither a follow-up measure nor clear implementation of the laws. By choosing to utilize normalization as a main approach against flooding, what the government continually fails to recognize is that normalization is a band aid solution that fails to address the root cause of: land subsidence due to poor water management. Not only this, normalization and forced eviction projects enforce a false belief among Jakarta citizens that riverside communities are the reason for Jakarta’s annual floods, thereby chipping away at the dignity of those allegedly informal communities regardless of the legal status of their habitation. Therefore, a sustainable solution for flooding should introduce a reliable source of clean water for the riverside dwellers while also holding other parties accountable for their use of groundwater. 39

Problem 2: Lack of a Proper Trash Management System

J E LA J A H

INDEPTH

MILD

CURRENT

R E P O RT

ISSUE

“It’s Easiest to Blame Floods on Citizens and Throwing Away Trash”

Home ! Wawancara

“Jakarta floods again, Ahok blames citizens living on riverbanks”

Sandyawan Sumardi

"Soal Banjir, Paling Gampang Salahkan Warga Buang Sampah"

Ilustrasi Wawancara Sandyawan Sumardi. tirto.id/Sabit

Oleh: Mohammad Bernie - 13 Januari 2020

' Dibaca Normal 9 menit

Anies maupun Jokowi harus kembali mendengarkan solusi komunitas dan akademisi kampung kota, saran Sandyawan The political climate surrrounding flooding as a whole is quite intricate as well. Often times, the Sumardi.

government has resorted to blaming the slum residents for improper trash disposal. Here are two instances of news articles that touch upon issues of government-resident conflicts on the matter. tirto.id - Memasuki tahun baru 2020, banjir besar melanda sejumlah wilayah di Jabodetabek, Banten, dan Jawa Barat. Dampaknya, sedikitnya 60 orang meninggal dan 92.261 warga mengungsi, menurut

Reconnect with friends and family on the water

In an interview with Pak Sudirman from local NGO, Ciliwung Institute, he explained that trash management in Jakarta and Indonesia as a whole makes use of landfill systems and is quite primitive. He described a further issue of trash management: studies have shown that a significant amount of trash comes from the source of the river, the Bogor region. The trash flows down the river and compiles so that despite the efforts previously taken to fish the trash out of the waters, there is simply too much trash from the source for the Jakarta government alone to handle. In other words, there is a never-ending flow of trash from upstream that cannot be trerated in the vacuum of Jakarta.

Problem 3: Lack of green space and absorptive areas

Jakarta’s green space (parts of which are visible in the zoning map above) makes up only 9,98% of the city, a far reach from the government’s goal of 30%1. Without an adequate amount of porous soil, the water would not be able to reabsorp into the ground. This lack of green space contributes to Jakarta’s exponential increase of land subsidence over the years, since there is no way to replenish the underground aquifer.

“Jauh dari Target, Ruang Target Hijau di Jakarta Cuma 10 Persen Saja,” last modified 24 December 2020, https://www. ayojakarta.com/read/2020/12/24/28765/jauh-dari-target-ruang-terbuka-hijau-di-jakarta-cuma-10-persen-saja.

Recapping the Problem

Having set the stage, I’ll reiterate the problem once quickly: informal housing is a city-wide problem in Jakarta, but it is especially pertinent among riverside communities, which are subject to frequent flooding throughout the year.

Those communities are especially subject to frequent flooding throughout the year due to their geographic loccation, and dense occupation, among other factors.

The geographic location of these villages are partially the reason for flooding, but it is also caused by land subsidence. In addition, land subsidence is the true root cause of flooding.

Although the government has attempted to alleviate the issue of flooding by normalization, the solution in fact fails to address the root cause, instead creating a stigma around riverside communities and forcefully evicting them. As seen in this image, flooding still occurs within the walls. 43

II. THE TOOLKIT

My thesis, which if you remember in the title suggests a solution in the form of a toolkit, is drawn from the concept of Acupuncture Architecture. To quote a design practice group called Urban Think Tank, “just like acupuncture relieves stress in the human body, urban acupuncture to relieve stress in the built environment; in other words insertion of small scale but socially catalytic interventions” 44

Edited by the author, original photo by Karel de Groot By utilizing acupuncture interventions, there would not need to be village demolitions and forced eviction of residents. Instead, I wanted to focus on an infrastructure that would be scalable, affordable, and simple, therefore making it easy to maintain by residents.

i. Toolkit Overview

Module 2: Trash Management

Module 1: Water Management Module 3: Retention Marsh For my toolkit, I have formulated three modules that can be implemented individually or altogether to address issues that pertain to riverside communities by introducing effective systems for water, trash, and river management.

The modules make use of locally sourced materials (bamboo and 200L drum barrels) that are easily accessible and affordable, so that maintenance would be feasible for the residents.

Photo by Karel de Groot

ii. The Water Module

The first module, which I call the water module, is centered on systems of rainwater harvesting and wastewater disposal. Rainwater is collected from the roof into a set of four blue barrels, where an optional filtration system can be introduced. Only 30mm of rain is required to fill four 200L barrels. The World Health Organization holds 50L of water as the minimum standard for daily domestic consumption, so this water module would be able to collect enough water for a family of four to last four days. This water can then be used for washing and, after some treatment such as boiling, drinking. After use, the wastewater would be funneled into a simple septic tank system consisting of a set of four purple barrels, where the sewage would settle. Afterwards, the cleaner water would be disposed into the ground rather than the river to assist with groundwater absorption, thereby also alleviating land subsidence.

Given the resources, residents can opt for additional filtration barrels for cleaner water.

Photo by Karel de Groot

iii. The Trash Management Module

The second module, or the trash management module, is one that provides a system for trash sorting, to allow for more efficient composting, reselling, or disposal of trash. The image in the previous page shows the terrible reality in some of Jakarta’s worst river trash pollution, caused by a lack of trash disposal systems. Again using 200L barrels but of different colors, I propose a second module that separates trash into three groups: compost trash (food wastes, paper, biodegradables), recycle (plastics, glass bottles for reselling), and inorganic trash (to burn and make batako bricks). This careful but simple sorting of trash can incentivize creative outputs by the community, such as tiles and bricks made of inorganic plastics.

TOP: Tiles made of plastic packaging by Enis Akiev, inspired by metamorphic rocks BOTTOM: Lightweight and lowcost plastic bricks by Gjenge Makers, Nairobi 51

Photo by Karel de Groot

iV. The Retention Marsh Module

The third module, the retention marsh, is an attempt to address the lack of groundwater absorption. Currently, the fast flow of the river means that the runoff is unable to absorb into the ground. There must be a buffer in the riparian area, or the area between the flowing river and the inhabited land, where water is able to slow down. A system of marsh grasses and shrubs would allow water to move slower and absorb quicker into the soil. Additionally, the marshes would also act as an additional biofilter before the water trickles into the ground, as well as stabilize the river edges to reduce erosion caused by the strong river current. The marshes would potentially attach themselves to the boardwalk or communal space that can be built atop uneven grounds, which latch onto the bamboo piles supporting the aforementioned water module.

v. Overall Implementation

Altogether, the three water, trash, and marsh modules introduce systems into the riverside communities that allow the residents to address root issues related to flooding by providing 1) sustainable access to clean water, thus reducing groundwater reliance, 2) an efficient way to manage trash, thus preventing a reduction of river volume due to disposing trash into the river, and 3) providing opportunities for groundwater absorption to reduce subsidence. 54

It is also crucial that the toolkit is in itself adapted to the community, both in its design process but also in the socialization, to allow for seamless adoption and integration into daily life. As a final note, these design solutions are far from sufficient to resolve the ongoing complex issues of flooding and informal river settlements. There must be policy solutions paired with it, whether to supply funding for the building of these modules, or provide maintenance and upkeep. 55

Afterthought

To close, I wanted to reflect on the dignity of the riverside community members themselves. I’ve personally seen how these communities have been perceived differently by different people. The media and government seem to portray them as leeches and barbarians, unwilling to conform to community standards and causing inconvenience for the city as a whole. Local leaders and NGO leaders tell a different story, describing the rich cultural heritage of these communities that have legally resided in their ancestral homes for multiple generations. In a somewhat middling view, academics have attempted to balance the two extremes. Still, the common citizens of Jakarta are best informed through the media and therefore buy into the former negative light. 56

There’s much to be said about the people themselves, but for one they are extremely, inspiringly resilient. Not only capable of picking themselves up after every terrible incident of flooding but doing so with smiles plastered across their faces. Coming into this project as an outsider, I was initially tempted to design some large scale housing project to try and mend their problems in a top-down manner whereas in fact, I found that this was not necessary and quite honestly not realistic given the biases of the government. Perhaps what the people really needed was a solution that was simple, acupunctural, easily absorbed into their own lives. Most importantly, any solution that we find and implement must not subtract from their unique experiences or paint a negative light on their humanity. 57

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