Theoretically, intersection density shows rapid development as well as being one of the factors supporting the community walkability, and can increase transit use and reduce mileage (Fonseca et al., 2022). Does this apply in Kota Bekasi?
Intersection Density in Kota Bekasi — note: area of the hexagon on the map shows an area of 1x1 km. (Image by author)
The road network is one of the most important urban planning objects, it forms the structure of a city and connects the built objects in it. Kota Bekasi, which is part of the Jabodetabek metropolitan area and is directly adjacent to the capital city of DKI Jakarta, has had an impact on the rapid development that has taken place in it. With an area of around 21.049 ha, around 15.086 ha or more than half of the area is designated as built-up land, connected by a road network with a total length of 4.496,23 km as of 2021. [1] If broken down by type of road surface, then 2.031,67 km (45,18%) are paved and 2.464,55 km (54,81%) are unpaved. [2]
This article tries to present a visualization of the intersection density in Kota Bekasi. Theoretically, intersection density shows rapid development as well as being one of the factors supporting the community walkability, and can increase transit use and reduce mileage (Fonseca et al., 2022) [3]. Looking at intersection density in Kota Bekasi, it can be seen that areas with highest intersection density is Kecamatan Bekasi Timur. Referring to the RTRW Kota Bekasi, this area is the “Main Center for Bekasi City Government Services” (Pusat Utama Pelayanan Pemerintahan Kota Bekasi) with a city/regional service scale functioning as the main generator of growth triggers in the surroundings. This area is part of the CBD (Central Business District) with government activity centers and offices equipped with public space facilities inside. Then, followed by Kecamatan Mustika Jaya, Kecamatan Rawa Lumbu, Kecamatan Bekasi Selatan and Kecamatan Medan Satria. What makes it interesting, the areas with high intersection density are those districts (kecamatan) that border the Kabupaten Bekasi in the east, instead of the DKI Jakarta which is capital city of Indonesia.
If we refer to the theory that intersection density is one of the factors supporting the community walkability, this does not seem happened here. Based on a Stanford University study, Indonesia has been named the laziest country to walk with a record of 3.513 steps per day. As per 2016, the National Health Research Data (Riskesnas) showed that the adult population aged over 18 years who are obese reaches more than 40 million people. [4] This is in line with research by Anza-Ramirez, et al (2022) about the relationship between urban built environment (including intersection density) with BMI, obesity and diabetes in Latin American countries, which has similar climate characteristics to Indonesia. They say that living in an area with a high intersection density has a positive impact on obesity due to the lack of physical activity. [5] Maybe we will speculate that the tropical climate and hot weather are what causes all this to happen, but ironically, based on the Stanford University research mentioned earlier, Singapore with an area that is only 3,5x larger than Kota Bekasi is in 9th position out of a sample of 46 countries with a record of 5.674 steps per day. From this it can be seen that good urban planning with good roads development will have a good impact on the community in many aspects, including health and accessibility.
References:
[1] Kota Bekasi Dalam Angka Tahun 2022, BPS Kota Bekasi.
[2] Profil Investasi Kota Bekasi 2020 (http://mpp.bekasikota.go.id/270620/assets/images/upload/profil-upload.pdf)
[3] Fonseca, F., Ribeiro, P. J. G., Conticelli, E., Jabbari, M., Papageorgiou, G., Tondelli, S., & Ramos, R. A. R. (2022). Built environment attributes and their influence on walkability. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 16(7), 660–679. https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2021.1914793
[4] https://p2ptm.kemkes.go.id/artikel-ilmiah/kegemukan-dan-minimnya-tingkat-jalan-kaki-orang-indonesia and https://news.stanford.edu/2017/07/10/stanford-researchers-find-intriguing-clues-obesity-counting-steps-via-smartphones/
[5] Cecilia Anza-Ramirez, Mariana Lazo, Jessica Hanae Zafra-Tanaka , Ione Avila-Palencia, Usama Bilal, et al. (2022). The urban built environment and adult BMI, obesity and diabetes in Latin American cities: A cross-sectional multilevel analysis using individual and contextual-level data. Nature Communications, November 2021, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35648-w
[6] Cover Photo: Avi Waxman on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/upaJhH2bd8Y)
