Conflicting Images of Kampung and Kota in Jakarta

Jakarta is a complex city, a city of conflicts, a city of contrasts and a city of differences: the traditional and modern, the informal and formal, the unplanned and planned, the rich and poor, and the sacred and the worldly, often standing side by side. It is a big city or kota, and as well a big kampung. This research responds to the question: Why do people want to continue living in kampungs despite the tensions and conflicts they experience, seemingly caused by excessive and ever-encroaching development of kota? It examines the relationship and separation between kota and kampung resulting from different and conflicting images or concepts that arise in many aspects of urban lives—social, cultural, economic and political. It is essential to take account of the differences or even conflicts and, additionally, the seemingly symbiotic relationships between kampung and kota in Jakarta city planning, design and development.