Bekasi


Bekasi is a city in West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta. It serves as a commuter city within the Jakarta metropolitan area, although it has notable trade, business and processing industries. According to the 2018 estimation by Statistics Indonesia, Bekasi has already overtaken Surabaya as the second most populous city proper in Indonesia. The city is bordered by Bekasi Regency to the north and the east, Bogor Regency and Depok to the south, and East Jakarta to the west. It is Indonesia's most populous satellite city, and one of the most populous worldwide, but still trails the likes of Incheon and Yokohama.
Bekasi is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being the capital city of the Kingdom of Tarumanagara. At that time, the name of Bekasi was Dayeuh Sundasembawa. The earliest evidence of its existence dates from the 5th century according to the Tugu inscription. During the Dutch East Indies period, Bekasi was a part of Batavia residency. As a dormitory city, many middle-up satellite areas have been developed in Bekasi, complete with their own shopping malls, schools, hospitals, club houses, water park, and shuttle bus services to central Jakarta. The large number of multinational companies, has apparently attracted many expatriates to settle in Bekasi.

Economy

Bekasi has already grown to become one of the centre of growth in Indonesia. The city has accounts for 2.11% of total national GDP. Recently, many foreigners have set up their business to take advantage of its dynamism and boost its economy. Bekasi's economy was mainly based on service and manufacturing.

Commerce

Bekasi is one of the most promising property markets in Indonesia, and several high-value developments have transformed its property market. Many of country's big property developers are building apartments, hotels, and shopping malls in the city. In recent years, some residences have developed along the Jatiwarna/Jatibening — East Bekasi toll highway, further to Cibatu in Bekasi Regency. These include Harapan Indah, Summarecon Bekasi, Kemang Pratama and Grand Galaxy City.
Prime business and commercial centres in the western part of city. There are some of financial, restaurants and shopping centres along Jalan Ahmad Yani, Jalan Sudirman, Jalan KH. Noer Alie as well as Harapan Indah Boulevard. Bekasi has the upper-middle class shopping malls which are consist of high-street brands such as Uniqlo, Marks & Spencer, H&M and Cotton On. The largest shopping centre is Grand Metropolitan with over of floor space. Other shopping centres include Metropolitan Mall, Summarecon Mal Bekasi, Mal Ciputra Cibubur, Mega Bekasi Hypermall, Grand Galaxy Park, Grand Mall, Blu Plaza, BTC Mall, GP Mall, Bekasi Cyber Park, Plaza Pondok Gede, and Lagoon Avenue. Many hotels developed in Bekasi, such as Santika, Horison, Harris, Aston Imperial, Amaris, Amaroossa and Tune Hotel.

Industry

In addition to its numerous residential areas, there are several important industrial areas in the outskirts of Bekasi. Most of them are in Bekasi Regency, rather than the city limits. These include the Jababeka, MM 2100, Bekasi International Industrial Estate, Delta Silicon Industrial Park, Lippo Cikarang, Greenland International Industrial City and East Jakarta Industrial Park districts. Many large companies, such as Honda, LG, Converse and Samsung, have factories in Bekasi. Nowadays some 4,000 companies are operating in Bekasi and surrounding areas. It is estimated that approximately 1,000 expatriate workers and over 500,000 labourers are working in the area.
Hankook Tire of South Korea is building a US$353 million tire plant in Bekasi and started production in 2014.

Infrastructure

The development of large scale residential areas and industrial parks in Bekasi has been induced by infrastructure development, especially roads, highways and railways.

Road and highway

Bekasi is connected by the Trans-Java Highway, the main road across Java. There are three highways connections from the Jabodetabek urban area. The Jakarta–Cikampek Toll Road, which has three exits in Bekasi; the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, which provides access to Tangerang, Jakarta and Bogor as well as the new Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu Toll Road. In 2019, Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road will operate to ease traffic in current toll road between Cikunir to West Karawang with a total length of 36.4 kilometres. Owing to its location as a satellite city of Jakarta, heavy rush hour traffic jams have become common on the roads between East Jakarta and Bekasi.
KMToll RoadToll GateDestination
08Jakarta–Cikampek Toll RoadJatibeningJatibening, Jatiwaringin, Cikunir
12Jakarta–Cikampek Toll RoadBekasi BaratKayuringin, Pekayon, Summarecon Bekasi
16Jakarta–Cikampek Toll RoadBekasi TimurMargahayu, Bulak Kapal, Bantar Gebang
37Jakarta Outer Ring RoadJatiwarnaJatiwarna, Kranggan, Pondok Gede
41Jakarta Outer Ring RoadJatiasihJatiasih, Cikunir, Jatimekar
47Jakarta Outer Ring RoadKalimalangKranji, Jakasampurna, Bintara Jaya
49Jakarta Outer Ring RoadBintaraBintara, Bintara Jaya, Harapan Baru
13Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu Toll RoadJakasampurnaJakasampurna, Jakasetia, Grand Galaxy City

Railway

The government is currently constructing a double track railway connecting Manggarai to Cikarang, which would be finished around 2020. Beside a double track railway, the government also building a 17.9 km light rail transit line connecting East Bekasi-Cawang-Dukuh Atas across Greater Jakarta.

Transportation

At present, rapid transit in Bekasi across Greater Jakarta consists of a BRT TransJakarta and a commuter rail KRL Jabodetabek. KRL Jabodetabek serves from Bekasi to Jakarta Kota via Pasar Senen/Manggarai vice versa. Another train service is airport train service connecting the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Bekasi.
TransJakarta and the Transjabodetabek premium serves commuters from Harapan Indah, Summarecon Bekasi, Bulak Kapal, and Jatiwarna, as well as the feeder buses from Kemang Pratama and Grand Galaxy City to Jakarta city centre. The Trans Patriot operates a route within the city. Damri shuttle bus service is available from the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport to Kayuringin, Harapan Indah and Summarecon Bekasi. Taxis are widely available. The primary means of public transportation is by minibus, called angkot. They serve certain routes throughout the city.
The main bus terminal is Terminal Bekasi, located in East Bekasi. The other terminals are Pondok Gede, Harapan Indah and Kayuringin.

Demographics

The latest official statistic of Bekasi's population was 2,931,897, giving a density of. Bekasi is inhabited by many different ethnic groups, mostly Betawi and Javanese descent. Sundanese are the largest minority as well as other minorities include Minangkabau, Bataks, and Chinese.
Most citizens in Bekasi adhere to Islam. Other religions include Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

Sport

Bekasi was the home base of the soccer team Bhayangkara F.C., with Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium as the home stadium of the club.

Administration

Bekasi City is divided into 12 districts :
DistrictPopulation
Jatisampurna129,036
Pondok Gede282,817
Pondok Melati147,674
Jatiasih230,143
Bantar Gebang112,167
Mustika Jaya214,071
East Bekasi258,391
Rawalumbu241,859
South Bekasi221,519
West Bekasi293,144
Medan Satria178,612
North Bekasi353,578

In popular culture

People from Bekasi

Notable people from Bekasi include: