Ridwan Kamil Becomes the Most Popular Mayor in West Java in History Today, March 24, 2015

Ridwan Kamil who served as the Mayor of Bandung in 2013-2018. (ANTARA)

History today, 11 years ago, March 24, 2015. The survey institution, Indonesia Indicator (I2) placed Ridwan Kamil as the most popular mayor in West Java. The narrative was revealed because the Bandung Mayor always attracted the attention of the mass media.

Previously, Ridwan was known as an architect who turned to politics. His action went smoothly because it was supported by many parties. This condition made him able to be elected as the Mayor of Bandung.

Ridwan Kamil's presence in the West Java political map cannot be taken lightly. Ridwan was originally famous as one of Indonesia's famous architects. However, when he was courted by the Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Gerinda) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to run in the 2013 Bandung Regional Election, everything changed.

Ridwan officially entered the political arena of the City of Bandung. He was paired with Oded Muhammad. Ridwan's contribution as an architect is considered capable of organizing the City of Bandung. The narrative makes Bandung residents infatuated.

Ridwan was also able to become the elected Mayor of Bandung in the 2013-2018 era. Ridwan tried to carry out all kinds of agendas to build Bandung. He wants the aspirations of the people of Bandung to increase. This desire makes Ridwan start to make Bandung a Garden City.

Ridwan Kamil when running for governor of DKI Jakarta with his running mate, Suswono, in the 2024 election. (ANTARA FOTO/Mohammad Adimaja/aww)

A city with abundant green open spaces. The presence of parks is considered to be powerful to heal the body and soul of Bandung residents. As a result, a fit body can make Bandung residents more enthusiastic about navigating life.

The development of parks was then accelerated. Ridwan considers that the more parks, the higher the welfare of its citizens. Not to mention other teachings of Ridwan who actively supports the Bandung people's pride football club, Persib Bandung.

"So that residents and the City of Bandung have a healthy feature, he intends to make Bandung a garden city. A number of parks will be made thematically, for example, the Sports Park under the Pasteur-Surapati flyover (Pasupati), the Zikir Park."

"The Statue Park, and the Gaul Elderly Park in Maluku Park. There will be electricity for music and gymnastics. The problem of Bandung residents, said Ridwan, among others, there are thousands of poor people and 600 thousand people are stressed. Based on data from Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, this stress is the result of a combination of poverty and the city's chaos. RK wants the happiness index of the people of Bandung to be high," said Anwar Siswadi in his report in the Tempo newspaper titled Ridwan Promises to Change Bandung into a Park City (2013).

Ridwan's actions beautify Bandung make him the talk of the town. He is expected to be able to become the Governor of West Java in the future. Ridwan is seen as able to bring success in building Bandung to the rest of West Java.

The increasing popularity was then proven by the results of a survey from Indonesia Indicator on March 24, 2015. The survey institution confirmed that Ridwan was recorded as the most popular mayor in West Java.

The narrative was revealed because Ridwan received a large news space in the mass media for one year. Ridwan was reported 7,669 times. Ridwan's presence also beat other mayors such as Bogor Mayor Bima Arya who was only reported 2,605 times and Garut Regent Dedi Mulyadi only 426 times.

"In a period of one year from March last year to March 2015, Ridwan Kamil, mendapateksposeterbesar in every news compared to the mayor or regent in West Java, namely 7,669 out of 343 media throughout Indonesia, both national and local," said Director of Communication Indonesia Indicator (I2), Rustika Herlambang as quoted by lamantempo.co, March 24, 2015.