Ruralization, Can We?

Insect Men

In this last couple of rainy weeks I have been through a tough time as a pedestrian in Jakarta. I did not face a wandering madman or Godzilla though, but I felt so much less important in this city life chain. I was almost hit by a motor biker who stupidly passed my precious pedestrian walk. And it was getting more insane when he yelled out at me because he (unbelievable) thought that I was stand in his way. But Thank God there was still good people with common sense who admonished him (with yelling out too, of course >:p). Here cars and motorbikes are in the top of city life chain. They have all the roads as well as the pedestrian sidewalk if there is traffic jam. Ironic and very unfair. People got crazy at that time and even the road could feel the intensity. That madness was actually encouraged by traffic jam. I just wondered is there any correlation between people - emotion - roads - city - traffic jam... It is must be the famous-number-issue again! Yes, people number. Population. The higher population, the more limited the land. In my case, I was almost lost my land; my precious pedestrian walk.. (read it in Gollum's accent).

Regarding to The Urban Age Project by London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society, world population living in the cities is increasing significantly where 10% in 1900, 53% in 2010, and predicted 75% in 2050. Moreover it has been reported that 2% of the earth's surface is occupied by cities but at the same time 53% of world's population lives in that 2% surface. Can you imagine it?

In 2012 Jakarta, where the area is 662 km2, has been lived by 9,6 millions of people. It means that in every 1 m2 there would be 14 people inside it. I would never imagined 2050 when Jakarta has to support 25 people in each 1 m2! We have to stop urbanization! But H.O.W? These people need money, these people love the updated modern life, these people is the breadwinner for their family who live in the country. City is like a bunch of lights, and the people inside it is the insects who fly, crawl, and jump around that big bulb. But not all the insects love light bulb, right? There is still a few who prefer leaf, grass, even a weathered wood. We need to learn how to make the leaf, the grass, and the weathered wood looks attractive as the bulb, even should more attractive since the bulb is artificial thing and could explode anytime. Pretty hard and nearly impossible, eh? Yes, I couldn't agree more.