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comment by maxwell
maxwell  ·  3667 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Jakarta, where 30 million people live, is sinking into the ocean

I honestly don't know what's going to happen to Jakarta. I was there two months ago, and seriously, something has got to give. The traffic is unlike anything I've seen anywhere in my life, in the States or Asia. I read something a while ago that said unless they manage to implement Mass Rail Transit by 2020 (which looks unlikely) the streets will reach total gridlock. As in cars won't be able to move at all. It sounds crazy, but I can definitely believe it having seen Jakarta at rush-hour. You can't go a block in less than 40 minutes.

The economic inequality is on another level. Vast slums abutted by huge skyscrapers. The bourgeoisie living in gated communities with jagged shards of glass embedded in massive concrete walls. It's got more in common with Lagos than Bangkok.

And then there's the flooding. This sort of flooding is a regular occurrence. I sure hope Jokowi is everything he's cracked up to be because Jakarta is a ticking time-bomb. I feel like there needs to be a global summit on Jakarta or something.





user-inactivated  ·  3667 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Very interesting perspective. Reminds me a bit of descriptions of Sao Paulo, though it has a bit more room to grow.