In 2024, Jakarta is set to undergo a significant transformation. It will no longer retain its status as a Special Capital Region (DKI). According to Law Number 3 of 2022 concerning the National Capital, Indonesia's capital will shift to the Ibu Kota Negara (IKN). Consequently, Jakarta, which has long served as the capital and implemented a smart city ecosystem, will see a change in its designation to the Special Jakarta Region (DKJ) and take on the role of a global city.

Despite this shift, Jakarta will continue to function as a smart city, leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and fostering synergy among stakeholders. However, these smart city initiatives will now align more closely with Jakarta's vision and mission to attain global city status.

This prompts us to explore what defines a global city and the steps Jakarta, particularly through Jakarta Smart City, has taken to position itself as a smart city on the global stage. 

Why is Jakarta a Global City?

The question arises: Why is Jakarta considered a global city? The report, "Building Jakarta as a Smart City on a Global Scale," published by the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) of DKI Jakarta Province, sheds light on this concept. According to the report, a global city plays a crucial role in integrating the transnational economy, serving as a primary node in the world economic network. It has the capacity to attract capital, goods, human resources, ideas, and information on a global scale.

Several factors contribute to Jakarta's potential transformation into a global city. As of 2022, Jakarta boasts a population of 10.7 million, equivalent to 3.9% of the national population. Notably, 71.27% of its residents fall within the productive age bracket, totaling 7,613,510 people. Furthermore, Jakarta's Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) stands at IDR 3,200 trillion, comprising 16.6% of the national share. The highest GRDP contributions are detailed as follows:

• Financial Services and Insurance 10.78%
• Construction 10.81%
• Processing Industry 11.72%
• Information and Communication 13.42%
• Wholesale and Retail Trade 15.75%

Upon scrutinizing the map provided below, it becomes evident that a substantial portion of Jakarta incorporates mixed-use development. This signifies the integration of residential spaces, offices, shopping centers, and various urban functions within specific areas of the city. The amalgamation of these diverse sectors in a given region contributes to the heightened agglomeration of Jakarta's population.

This phenomenon is further substantiated by the depiction of intensified human activity during the night, as revealed by the Night Time Light Map. The bustling movement of people during nighttime hours underscores the dynamic and vibrant nature of Jakarta's urban spaces, emphasizing the efficacy of mixed-use development in creating lively and interconnected communities.

An overview of Jakarta's potential to become a global city

 

Apart from that, throughout 2022, realized foreign investment will reach US$ 3.7 million or around Rp. 53.8 trillion. All these factors make Jakarta ready to promote itself as a global city.

Currently, Jakarta has been ranked 45th out of 48 cities in the Global Power City Index (GPCI), ranked 152nd out of 183 cities in the Cities in Motion Index, ranked 139th out of 173 cities in the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) Livability Index, and ranked 69th out of 156 cities in the Global City Index (GCI). The enthusiasm to improve the level of this global city will be pursued in 2024.

Jakarta's Steps to Realizing a Global City

Jakarta has a lot of potential to become a global city. However, what efforts has the government made to achieve this? Before knowing the efforts that Jakarta has made to become a global city, Smartcitizens need to know what things a global city needs to have.

Referring to the Regional Development Planning Agency of DKI Jakarta Province, there are six indicators of a global city, namely a well-established and globally connected economic sector, good and continuous research and innovation capacity, comfortable place to live, cultural value that is interesting to visit, clean and comfortable environment. and sustainable, and connected intra- and inter-city.

The Jakarta Provincial Government has implemented various efforts to fulfill each characteristic of this global city. The following is the description.

1. A well-established and globally connected economic sector

In creating a well-established and globally connected economic sector, a city needs to have the world's top 500 companies. To achieve this, Jakarta is developing a digital startup ecosystem. One of the ways is to build synergy with startups in developing digital public services. Through the Hack4ID hackathon, for example, startups with ICT-based innovations get together to brainstorm and are guided by experts, so they can create innovations to help Jakarta residents solve industrial problems. In this program, startup founders can also network with fellow founders, investors, and government officials. Next, these startups will join an incubator program that will help with their development.

Apart from trying to have a top 500 company in the world by developing a startup ecosystem, Jakarta is also trying to meet the indicators of this global city by having a skilled workforce. Jakarta Smart City plays a role in this by holding JSC Hands On Workshop, Data Science Trainee, and JSC Goes to School. These activities equip young talents with digital skills and prepare them to enter the industry. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Manpower, Transmigration and Energy Department has the JakNaker program, to equip young people with job training and a portal to find work. The JakNaker site has also been integrated into the JAKI (Jakarta Kini) application, as a form of realizing a skilled workforce in Jakarta.

2. Good and continuous research and innovation capacity

To be able to increase research and innovation capacity, Jakarta needs to prove excellence in academic performance by publishing scientific journals. This was done by Jakarta Smart City by releasing the Journal of Future Cities page on the Jakarta Smart City website. This page contains the latest smart city essays from JSC, including those published in Q1-indexed journals and prestigious conferences such as the IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2).

Not only that, the publication of scientific papers in international journals also aims to attract the attention of international students and researchers, so that Jakarta can increase its research capacity. In addition, welcoming visits from other countries to the Future City Hub is carried out, so that students and researchers from abroad can study the smart city ecosystem in Jakarta and its products. Jakarta Smart City also often participates in international scale exhibitions such as Tech in Asia and the Indonesia International Smart City Expo & Forum, to attract the attention of experts from other countries.

Ease of research and development is an important value so that a city's research and innovation capacity can be good and continuous. For this reason, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government also has a Jakarta Open Data site which contains data from all Units and Work Units in the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government. The same thing is done by Jakarta Smart City by presenting open data dashboards related to flooding, poverty mitigation, regional/subdistrict areas, stunting, Rapid Community Response, Current Jakarta Map, Joint Class, and City Data.

3. Comfortable to Live in

A global city also needs to be a comfortable place for its citizens from various sectors to live. First, global cities need to provide adequate and easily accessible health facilities. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is trying to make this happen with the JakSehat program which provides digital health services such as queuing for health facilities online, mental health consultations, as well as stock checks and blood donations at PMI. To facilitate citizens' access to JakSehat, Jakarta Smart City integrates JakSehat services into JAKI through the Jakarta Sehat feature. Apart from that, there is also a stunting dashboard developed by Jakarta Smart City so that residents can find out the number of toddlers and Posyandu (Integrated Health Service Post) with nutritional problems, distribution of data on nutritional problems at the city/district level, categories of toddlers' conditions, and other visualization data related to stunting.

Second, there needs to be adequate educational facilities of good quality in a global city. For this reason, Jakarta Smart City provides free Wi-Fi services via JAKI in city parks, densely populated residential areas and other public spaces. This free Wi-Fi service can be used for students to study independently and develop their interests and talents. Adequate educational facilities in Jakarta are also supported by JSC Goes to School activities from Jakarta Smart City to schools in Jakarta. Through this activity, the Jakarta Smart City team provides students with knowledge and ideas related to jobs in the digital industry that can be used as a reference after graduating from school.

Third, decent and affordable housing, clean water supply, and adequate electricity also need to be considered by global cities. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government through the Public Housing and Settlement Areas Service has a Sirukim program that covers this. The program offers online housing services, such as registering to live in rental flats (rusunawa) in Jakarta. Jakarta Smart City has also integrated this application into JAKI, so that it is easier for people to access it.

Fourth, Jakarta also needs to guarantee city security. Therefore, Jakarta Smart City provides an Emergency Contact feature in the JAKI application. This feature contains information on emergency numbers that residents need to know and contact if they experience an emergency. Residents can also contact emergency numbers directly from this feature. Similar but not the same, there is also the integration of the Safe Jakarta application on JAKI which provides a call for help service during an emergency.

Fifth, a global city that is comfortable to live in needs to provide citizens with access to information. Jakarta Smart City realizes this through the JAKI application. Several features on JAKI allow citizens to get the most accurate information about Jakarta through the News feature. There is also a Jakarta Current Map feature which contains information on the coordinates of public spaces in Jakarta to help residents explore the city.

 4. Attractive cultural value for visitors

From a cultural perspective, global cities also offer attractive values for visiting citizens and tourists. Jakarta meets this indicator because it has a large selection of international quality tourist attractions that are attractive to tourists. To further support easy access to this tourist attraction, Jakarta Smart City integrates the Jakcation feature on JAKI to search for tourist destinations, events, hotels, transportation, culinary delights, and even tour packages. JAKI offers a Guide Around Jakarta on the JAKI application for tourists who want to explore the city. The JAKI application can also be accessed in English, to make it easier for foreign tourists to access information and services.

To meet these indicators, global cities also need to host safe and comfortable international events. This is realized by Jakarta Smart City through organizing international activities and visits to the Future City Hub as well as triangular cooperation between Jakarta and its sister cities, namely Berlin and Bangkok.

Global cities also have ecosystems that support the development of arts and culture. With the diversity of ethnicities and cultures in Jakarta, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government often highlights local culture in activities held in Jakarta. Supporting this, Jakarta Smart City disseminates information and invites the public to participate in arts and cultural activities through social media channels and notification messages on JAKI.

5. Clean, comfortable and sustainable environment

To become a clean, comfortable, and sustainable global city, Jakarta must have a good quality urban environment (air, water, land). Thus, Jakarta Smart City is developing environmental-related features, such as Air Quality, Flood Monitoring, and Register, check locations and emission test results in the JAKI application. Apart from that, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is also developing a Flood Control System (FCS) to control flooding in Jakarta as well as a Rapid Community Response (CRM) system which can be used to report violations and environmental problems in Jakarta.

1. Connected intra and inter-city

Cities that meet the indicators of being connected intra- and inter-city need to have a public transportation mode share of more than 50%. Mode or modal share is the percentage of tourists using a type of transportation or the number of trips they make using that type of transportation. To increase this capital share percentage, Jakarta Smart City developed the Public Transportation feature on JAKI. Through this feature, Jakarta residents can see routes, schedules and fares for MRT, LRT, Transjakarta, and Mikrotrans. Various outreach regarding Public Transportation features is also carried out via social media and JAKI.

Apart from that, global cities that are connected intra- and inter-city also have high ICT Readiness Scores. The ICT Readiness Score is a score on the level of readiness of a city to apply ICT in city planning. Jakarta fulfills this requirement by implementing and utilizing ICT based on the following components:

• Infrastructure access: DKI Jakarta Provincial Government through Jakarta Smart City provides free Wi-Fi services in Jakarta public spaces which can be accessed via JAKI;
• Digital accessibility: The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government and Jakarta Smart City provide free Wi-Fi services and an integrated public digital service platform through the JAKI application so that citizens can access digital technology easily;
• User competency: Jakarta Smart City organizes JSC activities, Hands on Workshop, Reading Group, A Cup of Tea, JSCLab Sharing, JSC Community Talkshow, hackathon, and others that aim to improve literacy and Information and Communication Technology skills of the community;
• Use of ICT: Jakarta Smart City held the JSC Goes to School program to measure how widespread the use of information and communication technology is in various sectors, especially education;
• Technological innovation: Jakarta Smart City established the Future City Hub as a laboratory for innovation and synergy for government, industry, startups, academics, and creative individuals to increase the progress and adoption of technological innovation in Jakarta.​

3 Core Points for Jakarta's Global City Development

All global city indicators are met by Jakarta. However, in global city development, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government focuses on three core points, namely as follows.

• Livability: covers aspects of housing to health for residents;
• Environment: includes waste, sanitation and wastewater processing facilities;
• Accessibility: covers aspects of the development of public transportation and road networks.

To achieve these three points, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is developing urban areas through the DKI Jakarta Provincial Spatial Planning Plan for 2023-2043. Efforts to develop urban planning will be intensified until 2043, when Jakarta is projected to no longer be the nation's capital and will fully become a global city.

Directions for the development of the Jakarta region's spatial planning towards a global city

Jakarta's spirit towards becoming a global city is not only demonstrated by its application in city planning and public services. In several activities, the spirit of this global city is also echoed. For example, at the peak event of the Jakarta Smart City Forum 2023, the Government Assistant to the Regional Secretary of DKI Jakarta Province, Sigit Wijatmoko, stated that the development of the global city of Jakarta requires synergy between stakeholders. "The government can create various smart city innovations for Jakarta to become a global city. "But, without community and participation from various parties, the results will not be optimal," he said. In this event, the development and development of Jakarta as a global city was the topic of discussion regarding Digital Transformation towards a Smart City: Experiences and Learning from Jakarta involving experts.

Additionally, the spirit of the global city was vividly expressed through the New Year's Eve festivities organized by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government on December 31, 2023, known as the Youth Night Festival: Jakarta Global City. Embracing a car-free night concept, the festival unfolded along the vibrant stretch from Jalan M. H. Thamrin to Jalan Jenderal Sudirman in Central Jakarta. The event featured an entertaining stage graced by local artists, the Jakarnaval parade, Kirana Jakarta, Gemilang Silang Monas, and captivating video mapping.

These initiatives exemplify the proactive measures taken by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, particularly Jakarta Smart City, in their pursuit of transforming Jakarta into a global city by 2024. You can contribute to Jakarta's global city aspirations by opting for public transportation and making use of digital public services offered by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, including the JAKI application. Feel free to download JAKI from the Google Play Storeor Apple App Storefor free! Next, what else do you want to know about global cities?