Governor Ali Sadikin, 1971 (Photo: National Library of Indonesia/Historia)

After the fall of President Soekarno and the rise of General Suharto to power in 1967, the initially closed economic policies became more open. More vibrant economic activity brought prosperity to the people, cities emerged as new centers of growth. Among them the fastest growing was Jakarta.

Economic growth and increasing prosperity brought new problems, including population problems. People flock to Jakarta from rural areas throughout Indonesia, urbanization was inevitable.

The problem was that most of the people who came did not have jobs and a place to live in Jakarta, many of them became homeless and formed slums.

Slum area in Jakarta, 1971 (Photo: Spaarnestad)

As a result, Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin made a regulation that Jakarta became a closed city for immigrants. Immigrants who did not have a job and a place to live in Jakarta were prohibited from coming.

However, this policy was not effective, ID cards forgery were rampant and many migrants lived in their relatives home. As a result, the population of Jakarta soared rapidly, the policy to close Jakarta failed miserably.