DOI: 10.5176/2301-394X_ACE18.137
Authors: Trias Mahendarto
Abstract:
Indonesia is experiencing a surge of construction boom that is being orchestrated by the government thru their infrastructure developments. The government has chosen areas that become the center of developments within their multiyear development plan. The constructions in these centers created a ripple phenomenon that affects the cities in Indonesia. This phenomenon was started by the private sectors that wish to gamble their chances into seizing the foreseeable economic potential of cities that became the government’s focus of construction. Yogyakarta is one of the case in which the city itself is not yet a center of the ripple, but it was affected by the ripples created by the surrounding development centers, mainly from Jakarta and Surabaya. Yogyakarta is a city with a strong sense of spirit of place due to the presence of the palace complex and historic quarters in the center of the city. But the outer perimeter of the city lacks this strength. Unfortunately, the construction ripple phenomenon hit these perimeter areas. The evolution of the city’s spirit of place is becoming a tug of war between the new high-rise buildings that are racing to become the areas’ iconic building. If this continues, Yogyakarta is threatened to lose its iconic heritage spirit of place. The pressure of change will double in the future due to the planned major infrastructure development in the city, which will transform Yogyakarta as one of the center of the construction ripple phenomenon. This paper’s goal is to locate key elements that can help steering the evolving spirit of place of the city to still maintain its traditional and unique features, and how these key elements can work together to reach that end. If done correctly, the city of Yogyakarta can welcome their new status as one of the center of the construction ripple process without losing its uniqueness. And these key elements can then be applied to other places that have the same problem as Yogyakarta.
Keywords: Yogyakarta, construction ripple phenomenon, infrastructure, genius loci, sense of place, built environment, interpretation.
Updating...