Bandung
Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the third largest city in Indonesia and Greater Bandung is the country's second-largest and second most populous metropolitan area, with over 11 million inhabitants. Situated above sea level, approximately southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler year-round temperatures than most other Indonesian cities. The city lies in a river basin surrounded by volcanic mountains that provide a natural defense system, which was the primary reason for the Dutch East Indies government's plan to move the capital from Batavia to Bandung.
The Dutch first established tea plantations around the mountains in the 18th century, and a road was constructed to connect the plantation area to the colonial capital Batavia. In the early 20th century, the Dutch inhabitants of Bandung demanded the establishment of a municipality, which was granted in 1906, and Bandung gradually developed into a resort city for plantation owners. Luxurious hotels, restaurants, cafés, and European boutiques were opened, leading the city to be nicknamed Parijs van Java.
After Indonesia declared independence in 1945, the city experienced ongoing development and urbanization, transforming from an idyllic town into a dense 16,500 people/km2 metropolitan area with living space for over 8 million people. New skyscrapers, high-rise buildings, bridges, and gardens have been constructed. Natural resources have been heavily exploited, particularly by conversion of the protected upland area into highland villas and real estate. Although the city has encountered many problems, it still attracts large numbers of tourists, weekend sightseers, and migrants from other parts of Indonesia. In 2017 the city won a regional environmental sustainability award for having the cleanest air among major cities in ASEAN. The city is also known as a Smart City, leveraging technology to improve government services and social media that alert residents to issues such as floods or traffic jams. The city is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which it joined in 2015.
Bandung is Indonesia's major technology centre.
The first Asian-African Conference, the Bandung Conference, was hosted in Bandung by President Sukarno in 1955 and is now a decennial event. Redevelopment of the existing Husein Sastranegara International Airport was completed in 2016. The new larger second airport for Greater Bandung - Kertajati International Airport - opened in June 2018, just in time for the 2018 Asian Games.
History
The official name of the city during the colonial Dutch East Indies period was Bandoeng. The earliest reference to the area dates back to 1488, although archaeological findings suggest a type of Homo erectus species had long previously lived on the banks of the Cikapundung River and around the old lake of Bandung. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch East Indies Company established plantations in the Bandung area. In 1786, a supply road connecting Batavia, Bogor, Cianjur, Bandung, Sumedang and Cirebon was constructed. In 1809, Napoleon ordered Governor Herman Willem Daendels to improve the defensive systems of Java to protect against a possible British invasion. Daendels ordered the construction of a road stretching approximately from the west to the east coast of Java, passing through Bandung. In 1810, the road was laid down in Bandung and was named De Groote Postweg, the present-day location of Jalan Asia-Afrika. Under Daendels' orders, R. A. Wiranatakusumah II, the Chief Administrator of the Bandung regency at that time, moved the office from Krapyak, in the south, to a place near a pair of holy city wells, the present-day site of the city square. He built his dalem, masjid agung and pendopo in the classical Sundanese orientation, with the pendopo facing Tangkuban Perahu mountain, which was believed to have a mystical ambience. In 1856, Bandung also became the capital of the Preanger Regencies Residency, which it would remain until 1925.The first major railroad between Batavia and Bandung was completed in 1880, boosting the light industry in Bandung. Chinese flocked into the city to help run facilities, services and vendors. The area adjacent to the train station is still recognizable as the old Chinatown district. In 1906, Bandung was given the status of gemeente, and then twenty years later, stadsgemeente.
From the early 1920s, the Dutch East Indies government made plans to move their capital from Batavia to Bandung. Accordingly, during this decade, the Dutch colonial government commenced construction of military barracks, the building housing the colonial Department of State-Owned Enterprises and other government buildings. However, this plan was cut short by World War II, after which the Dutch were not able to re-establish their colony due to the Indonesian Declaration of Independence.
The fertile area of the Parahyangan Mountains surrounding Bandung supports productive tea plantations. In the nineteenth century, Franz Junghuhn introduced the cinchona plant. With its cooler elevated landscape, surrounded by major plantations, Bandung became an exclusive European resort area. Wealthy plantation owners visited the city on weekends, attracting ladies and business people from the capital, Batavia. Jalan Braga grew into a promenade street with cafés, restaurants and boutique shops. Two art-deco style hotels, Savoy Homann and Preanger, were built in the vicinity of the Concordia Society, a clubhouse for the wealthy with a large ballroom and a theatre.
After Indonesian independence in 1945, Bandung was designated as the capital of West Java province. During the Indonesian National Revolution, some of the most massive battles occurred in and around Bandung. Dutch troops were virtually absent in Java at the end of World War II. To assist the restoration of Dutch sovereignty, British forces established a military presence in several of Java's largest cities, and issued an ultimatum to Indonesian forces in Bandung in an attempt to make them leave the city. In response, on 24 March 1946, much of the southern part of Bandung was deliberately set alight by Indonesian forces as they withdrew.
In 1955, the first Asian-African Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference, was hosted in Bandung by President Sukarno and attended by the heads of states representing twenty-nine independent countries from Asia and Africa. The conference venue was at the Gedung Merdeka, the former Concordia Society building. The conference announced ten points of declaration for the promotion of world peace and opposition against colonialism and is known as the Declaration of Bandung. This was followed by a wave of nationalism and decolonization movements around the globe which remapped world politics. The conference was also the first international conference of people of colour in history. In his book The Color Curtain, Richard Wright claims that there was an epic meaning to the conference for people of colour around the world.
In 1987, the city boundary was expanded by the 'Greater Bandung' plan, with the relocation of higher concentration development zones outside the city in an attempt to dilute population density in the old city. During this development, the city core was often uprooted, with old buildings torn down, lot sizes regrouped and rezoned, changing idyllic residential areas to commercial zones with bustling chain supermarkets, malls, banks and upscale developments.
In 2005, an Asian-African Conference was partly held in Bandung, attended by world leaders including Indonesian President Susilo B. Yudhoyono, President of China Hu Jintao, Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki and President of Nigeria Obasanjo.
Geography
Bandung, the capital of West Java province, is located about southeast of Jakarta. Its elevation is above sea level and is surrounded by up to high Late Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic terrain. The flat of central Bandung plain is situated in the middle of wide of the Bandung Basin; the basin comprises Bandung, the Cimahi city, part of Bandung Regency, part of West Bandung Regency, and part of Sumedang Regency. The basin's main river is the Citarum; one of its branches, the Cikapundung, divides Bandung from north to south before it merges with Citarum again in Dayeuhkolot. The Bandung Basin is an essential source of water for potable water, irrigation, and fisheries, with its of groundwater being a significant reservoir for the city.The northern section of Bandung is hillier than other parts of the city, and the unique truncated flat-peak shape of the Tangkuban Perahu volcano can be seen from the city to the north. Long-term volcanic activity has created fertile andisol soil in the north, suitable for intensive rice, fruit, tea, tobacco, and coffee plantations. In the south and east, alluvial soils deposited by the Cikapundung river predominate.
Geological data show that the Bandung Basin is located on an ancient volcano, known as Mount Sunda, erected up to during the Pleistocene age. Two large-scale eruptions took place; the first formed the basin, and the second blocked the Citarum river, turning the basin into a lake known as "the Great Prehistoric Lake of Bandung". The lake drained away; for reasons which are the subject of ongoing debate among geologists.
Architecture
Bandung is home to numerous examples of Dutch colonial architecture, most notably the tropical Art Deco, dubbed New Indies Style. Henri Maclaine Pont was among the first Dutch architects to recognize the importance of combining each architectural style with local cultural traditions. He stressed that modern architecture should interact with local history and native elements. In 1920, Pont planned and designed buildings for the first technical university in the Dutch East Indies, Technische Hogeschool te Bandung. He was named a Professor of Architecture at the university. A striking local Sundanese roof style is seen adorning the top of the campus' ceremonial hall and is embedded in his artwork.In the same year, another Dutch architect J Gerber designed Gouverments Bedrijven in line with the colonial government's plan to move the capital from Batavia to Bandung. The building is known as Gedung Sate, named after the distinguished small satay-shaped structure on the roof, and is today used as the head office of the West Java provincial government and House of Representatives. The building is an example of a harmonious mixture between West and East architectural styles, particularly the Italian Renaissance style of arch structures in the wings and pendopo-like structures commonly found in Java in the middle section.
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Villa Isola aan de Lembangweg bij Bandoeng TMnr 60026636.jpg|upright|thumb|170px|Villa Isola, is an art-deco building in the northern part of Bandung, now it serves as the rectorate building of Indonesia University of Education.
Several Dutch architects who shaped the city landmarks the architectural blending of modern and native traditions. In the 1930s, Bandung became known as an architectural laboratory due to the many Dutch architects who experimented with new architectural designs. Albert Aalbers added the streamline moderne style to the Art Deco by designing the DENIS bank and renovating the Savoy Homann Hotel. Charles Prosper Wolff Schoemaker was one of the architects who enormously added native elements in his artworks, including the Villa Isola, Hotel Preanger, the regional military headquarters, Gedung Merdeka and ITB Rectorate Building.
Though Bandung is known for its many old Dutch architecture buildings, the city is recently going through a high-rise building boom. There are more than 100 high rise buildings in the city, and many more are under construction or planned. The following list includes buildings in Bandung that are completed or topped off and above.