The Government to Build Ten Metropolises

The government seriously plans to expand ten cities to become metropolises, four towns in Java and six others are outside Java. The Java-based cities are the provincial capitals: Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, and Surabaya. Medan and Palembang will be the metropolises in Sumatra, Banjarmasin in Kalimantan, Denpasar in Bali, Manado and Makassar in Sulawesi. The project will hopefully disperse population and wealth away from Java.

To realize the dispersion, the metropolis development outside Java will focus on building economic networks around the city. Special economic zones for tourism or industry, for example, will support the main city’s development through the creation of new jobs for surrounding areas. The National Development Planning Minister or the head of the National Development Planning Agency, Bambang Brodjonegoro, revealed that the project could consequently push down the wealth gap between developed areas.