Coastal Reform: Muara Angke 2100 | FuturArc Prize 2024 Second Place

Jakarta, the largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, is among the world’s fastest-sinking cities.

Due to massive groundwater extraction, its coastal areas experience land subsidence at an alarming rate of up to 15 centimetres/year.¹ It has been predicted that around 90 per cent of North Jakarta could be submerged by 2050 if no counter-measures are taken, directly affecting more than 3 million people.^2,3 The current measures that have been applied are limited to concrete walls (embankments) bordering the sea, but they have been criticised for their ineffectiveness, damage to marine ecosystems and negative impact on water quality.⁴

Instead of ‘hard’ measures that provide minimum advantages to both humans and Nature, this entry proposes ‘softer’ measures of landscape modifications with mangroves. The entrant asks: to allow Jakarta to function as a city, what kind of infrastructure would help achieve an urban-nature balance?

Learning from coastal protection infrastructures and strategies around the world, the proposal adapts dike rings as an ‘archipelagic strategy’ at a macro scale, envisioned to protect North Jakarta by dividing it into smaller ‘islands’ with dikes along their periphery. The proposal further details the infrastructure at the chosen site, Muara Angke, which is a fishing village that supplies around 40 per cent of Jakarta’s seafood.5 It is experiencing subsidence at a rate of 11 centimetres/year⁶ and is located next to a mangrove forest, which is also facing the threat of rising water levels.

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PROJECT DATA

Scenario
Climate Destruction

Location
Muara Angke Village

Country
Indonesia

City
North Jakarta

Site Area
50,000 square metres

FUTURARC PRIZE 2024: SECOND PLACE

Lyvia Simano is an aspiring designer with the belief that architecture has a significant role in shaping a better world. Her interest in sustainability encouraged her to embark on the proposal for coastal reform in Muara Angke. She believes that to sustain life on this planet, humans should work with Nature and not against it.

Read more stories from FuturArc 3Q 2024 Green Awards: Architecture for Life After!

¹ Abidin et al., 2015
² Abidin et al., 2012
³ https://lingkunganhidup.jakarta.go.id/jakartaberketahanan/?p=14981
⁴ https://www.mongabay.co.id/2024/02/13/apakah-pembangunan-tanggul-laut-di-teluk-jakarta-sudah-tepat/
⁵ Badan Pusat Statistik, North Jakarta Municipality, 2023
⁶ Abidin et al., 2015