Is Jakarta a child-friendly city?

Abstract

The Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Area consists of 3 regencies and five cities, making it the second-largest conurbation in the world. The city is grappling with massive environmental issues and rampant social problems that give a rise to a child-unfriendly city. Jakarta is not only unfriendly to the lower-class children but also the higher-class groups. The disconnected transportation network has rendered families, especially those from the middle to high-income groups, to rely on private vehicles for their daily mobility. Due to this situation, children might spend more time on car rides or child-care services such as daycare or domestic nanny. The government has been trying to improve the Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Area’s child-friendly city by creating some child-friendly city policies and interventions. But how effective are they to resolve the current issues faced by many Jakartan families? Through this article, we intend to identify families’ everyday problems in Jakarta to meet the juggle demands and assess the effectiveness of those policies to resolve the daily issues faced by families in Jakarta. The data were collected through document analysis, internet-based data collection, and in-depth online interviews with 16 respondents living in Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Area. The findings indicated several improvements that Jakarta needs to address to provide a child-friendly environment for its residents.