Corry Elyda, Surabaya – Developing urban areas is never an easy job for the government, let alone local administrations, due to the complication of problems and issues, including those involving residents.

However, many stakeholders at the UN Third Habitat Preparatory Committee (PrepCom3) have stressed the importance of involving residents and not leaving anyone behind in the development of a city.

UN Habitat's research and capacity development director, Eduardo Moreno, said during a discussion on Monday that any improvement in the city needed to respect the rights of the residents, including those living in slum areas.

"This is the position of the UN. If they are to be removed, they need to follow proper and lawful process," he said. He added that if they were concentrated in low-cost apartments, they would be isolated.

"A good city is one with a good density where different people live together, as much as possible. Middle class with rich and poor and the middle class so they are not separated," he said.

The Jakarta administration has been relocating slum dwellers or those lacking deeds to low-cost apartments without holding proper talks with the residents.

According to research by the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), the city administration carried out 113 evictions in 2015, with 8,315 families evicted and more than 6,283 businesses affected.

The research also shows that 84 percent of the respondents said they were not included in any discussions before they were evicted.

The city plans to evict more people and relocate them to low-cost apartments this year. Previous reports by The Jakarta Post show that many people relocated to apartments experience income loss and their daily needs increase.

Moreno said it was essential for the city administration to pay extra attention to its poor residents. "Fulfilling their needs is a fundamental human rights perspective. If the administration does not take care of them, it will create social problems in the future," he said.

Separately, Somsook Boonyabancha, currently the secretary-general of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, said people were often involved in development projects.

"People usually see whether they can fit or unfit to the development, not vice versa," Boonyabancha said at a different forum at the UN PrepCom3, which is being held in Surabaya from Monday to Wednesday.

She said that kind of development would create a bigger gap, especially if the key player was a private entity. "The private sector is supposed to be the tool, not the social architect. We often use the contractor to become the architect," she said.

She said all stakeholders should consider people the important development actor. "We also need a new creative financial system to support people who live in a kampung," she said, adding that they should not live in "boxes".

Public Works and Public Housings Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said cities in Indonesia could be inspired by Surabaya.

"The Kenjeran Beach project is an example of improvement without eviction. Sanitation was upgraded and the market was converted into a fish center," he said.

PrepCom3, attended by around 3,500 representatives of UN member states, is the last opportunity for UN member countries, local governments and other stakeholders to give input on a new urban agenda to be proposed at the third UN Habitat conference.

The next phase of the conference will take place in Quito, Ecuador, in October. PrepCom3 is the final round after PrepCom1 and PrepCom2 were held in New York in 2014 and Nairobi in 2015, respectively.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/07/27/un-urges-jakarta-listen-its-people.html