Ministry Of Home Affairs: Jakarta Will Not Be Able To Reject Urbanization Even Though It Is DKJ

UNSPLASH/Achmad Al Fadhli ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) assesses that Jakarta will not be able to refuse urbanization even though it will become a Special Region for Jakarta (DKJ) after the National Capital City moves to the Capital City of the Archipelago (IKN).

"Sometimes we think about how to limit people from entering. In fact, it is the fate of a city to be visited by many people, it is already everywhere," said Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs Suhajar Diantoro as reported by ANTARA, Monday, April 22.

Therefore, he said that Jakarta and all cities in Indonesia must be able to manage urbanization, considering that urbanization management in Indonesia has so far not been optimal, which can be seen from its impact on the national economy.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2020, 56.7 percent of Indonesia's population live in urban areas. He said this figure is predicted to increase until 2035 to 66.6 percent, which means that there are only 33.4 percent of rural or rural residents.

Degan thus, he revealed that only one in three Indonesians will stay in the village in 2035. As for various reasons people leave the village, he continued, namely job opportunities, education and health, infrastructure and accessibility, technological advances, as well as social and lifestyle changes.

This condition, according to Suhajar, also occurs in other countries in the world, such as Japan, which only took 50 years to increase urban population composition from 18 percent in around 1920 to 50 percent around 1970, making it one of the fastest urbanization rates in the world.

Nevertheless, he regretted the pace of urbanization in the country which had not had many positive impacts on the domestic economy.

In Indonesia, he said, the increase in 1 percent of urban population only increased 1.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, lower than the positive impact of urbanization on China's economy and East Asian and Pacific countries that were able to contribute twice as much.

Suhajar said the growth of 1 percent of China's urban population as well as East Asian and Pacific countries increased by 3 percent and 2.7 percent of their country's GDP per capita.

Therefore, he believes that urban area management must be managed more inclusively and prioritize the concept of sustainable development.

"This should be the concern of all mayors and governors in Indonesia," he said.