Developing Public Space Fit for Children in Jakarta
A stable or growing economy has always been the common measurement of cities’ achievement. However, considering children are the future of all cities, Jakarta has created a sensible innovation to build a city that is childfriendly and an encouraging space to support their development.
In building RPTRA, local government establishes cooperation with private companies in which they contribute to the project under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) s chem e. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Governor of Jakarta and CoPresident of UCLG ASPAC has recognized that developing public space is one of the key factors in achieving sustainable development. Thus, he initiated the project “Ruang Publik Terpadu Anak” (RPTRA), Child-Friendly Integrated Public Space in Jakarta.
As its name suggests, RPTRA is a public space that is child-friendly and designed based on local needs. Among its
goals is to provide space for people living in crowded areas, and RPTRA is expected to become a meeting spot of the local community: they can gather and socialize with neighbors, find out if any problems arise within the community and seek local authorities’ help if needed. Since the local government will assign RPTRA to local communities, they can also exercise their ownership of the RPTRA.
Governor Regulations (Peraturan Gubernur) No.196/2015 is the legal basis under which the local government developed RPTRA along with its facilities designed to meet 31 indicators of City Fits for Children, released by the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia. RPTRA provides services in basic legal administration (birth & death certificate), lactation room, integrated health service for children, early-age education center, sports center (gym and outdoor space), center for child creativity and arts, services for disaster anticipation (flood, fire), knowledge and skill development, family consultation and even revenue generation for family. Services presented in RPTRA differ according to land areas. Among all established ones, RPTRA Cililitan has the most complete facilities.
Since 2015 up to now, more and more RPTRAs have been inaugurated in various areas in Jakarta. Jakarta has been purchasing land to meet its target of 186 RPTRAs by end of this year.