Jakarta 499 Years, the Party is Already Merry, the Residents' Questions are Not Finished

The lights on HI roundabout are bright. The music is echoing. Video mapping dances on the walls of tall buildings. Thousands of people spill out to celebrate Jakarta's 499th anniversary.

Of course, residents are happy with the festive celebration. Because the city needs to be celebrated. Especially Jakarta. A city that is loud, noisy, expensive, but always has a way of making people survive.

However, after the stage was dismantled and the lights were turned off, a classic question arose. Is the life of Jakarta residents really getting easier?

The question is often uttered but still cannot be considered trivial. Jakarta is one step away from the age of five centuries. At the age of almost 500 years, the measure of a city's success should no longer be how lively the party is. Not how beautiful the lights are turned on. The size is much simpler. How many problems have residents managed to solve.

As is known, Jakarta still has many classic problems that are homework. Floods still come almost every rainy season. Traffic jams continue to take time and energy. Air pollution has not been overcome. Garbage continues to pile up. House prices are increasingly difficult to reach. The gap between regions has not really disappeared.

In the celebration of the 499th anniversary of the DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung admitted that the flood would not disappear completely. What was promised was not a flood-free Jakarta, but a flood that was not as bad as before. The statement is realistic. But it is precisely there that the irony of Jakarta is seen. After almost five centuries of standing, this city is still fighting old problems.

In fact, Jakarta's capital is not small. DKI Jakarta's 2025 APBD reaches IDR 91.86 trillion. In 2026, the budget will fall to around IDR 81.32 trillion. Even though it has decreased, the value is still the largest for provincial governments in Indonesia. So the question is no longer whether Jakarta has money. The question is whether that much money really goes to the problems that residents feel the most?

Because what the residents need is not just a big project. Residents need a road that is not jammed for hours. Need air that does not make the chest tight. Need comfortable public transportation. Need a safe sidewalk. Need a house that can still be bought. Need fast and unbureaucratic public services.

The burden of Jakarta cannot be read only from the number of official residents. Data from the DKI Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Service for Semester I 2025 recorded the administrative population of Jakarta as 11,010,514 people. But the urban area of Jakarta is much larger. The World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report quoted by the IKI Foundation estimates that the urban area of Jakarta is inhabited by around 42 million people. This figure includes all metropolitan areas, including Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, and surrounding areas that are connected to Jakarta every day.

This means that on paper Jakarta is inhabited by around 11 million people. In everyday reality, this city supports the movement of tens of millions of people. Highways, public transportation, air, clean water, open spaces, and public services bear a much heavier burden than the number of Jakarta residents with KTP.

All of this happens in a land area of only about 664 square kilometers. With such density, small problems can easily turn into a crisis if they are not managed seriously.

Garbage is one example. From the 2026 New Year's Eve celebration, around 91.41 tons of garbage were collected. Bantargebang Waste Management Center (TKW) is the largest waste management center in Indonesia.

Modern cities are not just cities that have MRT, LRT, skyscrapers, and shopping centers. Modern cities are cities that make the lives of their citizens easier.

Children can go to school without fear of flooding. Workers do not lose three to four hours on the road. The elderly can walk on the sidewalk without worrying about being hit by a motorcycle. Small traders have a living space. The air is cleaner. Waste is more controlled. Public transportation is chosen not because it is forced, but because it is comfortable and reliable.

The momentum of the 499th anniversary of Jakarta should be a point of evaluation. Moreover, the status of Jakarta is still the capital of the country after the Constitutional Court in May 2026 officially rejected the test of the State Capital Law which was submitted as the constitutional basis for the relocation of the capital of the Republic of Indonesia. The challenge is still classic, Jakarta must prove itself as an economic center, business, services, culture, and a global city that truly favors the quality of life of its citizens.

So, the party can be lively. The government can also celebrate the achievement. But after the party is over, the measure of Jakarta's success must still return to concrete things.

Will residents get to the office faster next year? Will flooding decrease? Will the air improve? Will garbage be more controlled? Will public services be faster? Will young families still be able to reach their homes?

If the answer is not yet, it means that Jakarta's work is still long.

As Jakarta approaches its five hundred years, it is not being waited for to make a more magnificent party. Jakarta is being waited for to make the lives of its citizens really easier. That is the most appropriate birthday gift for this city. Hopefully.