Jakarta – City spatial planners must listen to the voices of the urban poor in order to tackle poverty in the city, a study revealed Tuesday.

The comparative study on public participation in city space management and the rights of the poor between Jakarta and Bangkok, issued by the Jakarta-based Institute for Ecosoc Rights, concluded that Bangkok had fared better out of the two cities, despite both facing similar challenges.

Institute researcher Dewi Susanto said,"The Bangkok administration's commitment to addressing poverty, as seen in their vision and mission for the city, is clearly more realistic and serious about tackling the root causes of the problem than the Jakarta administration's (approach)."

Dewi said Jakarta's approach to poverty alleviation saw poverty as concerning individuals, rather than an issue of access to space and economic resources. She said this had hampered economic progress in the city.

"Bangkok residents and the administration acknowledge that poverty is a communal problem that is part and parcel of the city, whereas Jakarta sees it as a social illness to be exterminated," Dewi said during a workshop at the Santika Hotel in West Jakarta. "This kind of attitude really affects the end results of poverty alleviation programs."

During Tuesday's workshop, the institute also presented the results of a May to June 2007 public perception poll on urban problems in Jakarta. The poll revealed that traffic jams, floods and pollution were the top three concerns of city residents. 500 respondents were interviewed for the poll.

Dewi said one example of the city administration's failure to help the poor was the lack of space and business opportunities given to street vendors, despite the fact that revenue from vendors contributed around Rp 17.97 trillion to the provincial budget in 2006.

"The city administration needs to acknowledge the role and contribution of the informal sector in developing the city's socio-economy by giving street vendors room to do business while organizing them in a way that doesn't hinder their activities," she said.

Dewi suggested the city administration follow Bangkok's success story in providing housing for the urban poor by being more open to approaching poor residents and allowing them to actively participate in developing their own communities.

"The government has so far focused on developing modest apartments for the poor, but facts in the field show subsidized housing projects are often used by those who are not categorized as poor," she added. "Obviously, modest housing flats are not effective for addressing the problem of housing for the marginalized."