Context

Surakarta, popularly known as Solo, is a major city in the Central Java province of Indonesia. Its total area is 44.02 km2, with approximately 12.45% of it categorized as public open space. Similar to other cities in Indonesia, urban planning and development processes are still conducted in a top-down manner, which often results in spaces that do not adequately address the needs and aspirations of communities. Vulnerable groups, such as low-income households and children, have been left out of the decision-making process as they are often viewed as objects of a policy or program, rather than as actors of change. Furthermore, formal public spaces—such as enclosed parks, ceremonial venues, etc.—are the predominant paradigm of public space development in Solo. This issue often limits the scope and accessibility of outdoor public spaces and becomes a particularly urgent issue as outdoor spaces offer significant health, social, and environmental benefits for the community. Meanwhile, the quality of small-scale common spaces such as neighborhood parks and streets is often overlooked when they actually present opportunities that are equally available and needed by the communities. 

Precedents

The movement emerged from a long-standing collaboration between Kota Kita and the Surakarta City Government starting from a city-wide participatory mapping project called Solo Kota Kita in 2010. It also builds on Kota Kita's experience in co-designing common spaces with local communities starting with the Firm Foundation project, which is the creation of a riverbank common space at a dense settlement in Banjarmasin in 2011. The proposed practice has adopted new and innovative participatory approaches and methodologies, particularly in engaging children and youths. 

While participatory planning processes in Surakarta and other Indonesian cities are already conducted through a participatory budgeting mechanism known as Musrenbang, the practice has been rife with bureaucratic issues that have dampened meaningful citizen participation in cities and hindered actual project implementation (MAVC: Improving the Transparency, Inclusivity and Impact of Participatory Budgeting in Indonesia, 2016). In the effort to ensure meaningful citizen participation in urban development processes, we saw an opportunity to reclaim the process by using participatory and inclusive design approaches to equip citizens with the capacity for information and participation to collectively design and develop urban spaces.

Methodology

The practice involves the creation of new inclusive urban spaces in Solo through a participatory, multi-stakeholder approach, aligning the aspirations of marginalized citizens with the local government's agenda. Developed between 2021 and 2023, the initiatives include the Kali Pepe Riverbank Public Space project (supported by UN-Habitat) and the Sukaria Street for Kids project (supported by the Global Designing Cities Initiative).

The Kali Pepe Riverbank Public Space project started in October 2021 with stakeholder interviews, a citywide public space assessment, and participatory visioning at the neighborhood level to determine the site location. This was followed by a co-design process with residents of the selected site using tools like Minecraft, allowing the residents, especially children, to design their ideal public space. Ideas were prioritized by residents through voting and discussions to form a collective vision for co-management and technical features. The Taman Rukun Mangkubumen park, completed in March 2023, includes accessibility features, a shaded area with benches, a multipurpose field, and a rainwater harvesting system. The Sukaria Street for Kids project began in February 2023 with a kickoff involving government stakeholders, a student mobility survey, and site observation. During the co-design phase, schoolchildren engaged in journey mapping using illustrated maps, a child-led tour, and a design solution activity with maps, toy figures, and handicrafts. Completed in November 2023, the street design features street zoning with paint, a comfortable school shelter, and an interactive mural space.

Key strategies

• Participatory tools and methodologies to create a safe space for citizens to express their aspirations
• Gamification to engage first-time participants such as children
• Inclusive design principles to mainstream inclusive values
• Partnership with local government to encourage policy adoption
• Multi-stakeholder consultations to secure approval

 

Commmunication

The communication strategy of the practice consisted of:

• Meeting with the Mayor of Surakarta followed by regular coordination with the Regional Planning Development Agency, the Department of Housing and Public Works, and the Department of Transportation
• Participatory design sessions with local communities (children, elderly, women, persons with disabilities)
• Multi-stakeholder consultations with related stakeholders i.e., neighboring communities, private sector
• Social media content (Instagram and TikTok) promoting the participatory and inclusive methodologies used in the practice
• Mini documentaries capturing the process as well as the perception of local communities post-implementation
• Activating the space for local communities through outreach activities, such as mural painting, sports competitions, and regenerative farming
• Booklets & reports
• Site visits and events to share practices with practitioners, government officials, and other communities such as the Urban Social Forum

Innovation

The innovation involves a paradigm shift in children's participation in urban development processes. During the visioning phase, we positioned children not only as participants but as active co-designers and planners of the future spaces where they will play and interact. To make the design process accessible and ensure meaningful participation, we used creative tools and methodologies that simulate their usual play settings, such as video games and toys. In the Kali Pepe Riverbank Public Space project, children participants used the video game Minecraft's building block feature to design the public space they wanted to build on the existing empty lot next to their social housing. In the Sukaria Streets for Kids project, we utilized maps of the area and toy figures, allowing the students to create physical models and place them on the map in their desired locations. These tools not only helped to visualize the space but also to facilitate the discussion of the children's ideas.

Evaluation

The movement was evaluated through monthly progress and quarterly evaluation meetings with city government stakeholders and local residents to oversee progress and reflect upon challenges faced during the implementation. Organizations of persons with disabilities were also engaged during construction to test accessibility features (i.e., guiding blocks, ramps) to ensure the inclusivity of the spaces. Upon completion, we established a reporting mechanism with the local community and officials to ensure the sustainability of the public space management model and physical upgrades. This included creating a weekly cleaning schedule in the park and clearly defining areas of responsibility in Sukaria between city departments and neighborhood residents. The impact of the Sukaria project on street safety was also assessed through a mixed-method approach, including traffic counting and safety perception surveys primarily targeting children from the school and the surrounding neighborhood.

Impacts and result

Through the movement, we have reached around 380 children and 300 adults in Surakarta (Solo) by involving them in the decision-making process of urban development and improving their access to safe and inclusive urban spaces. Project-specific impact include:

Kali Pepe Riverbank Public Space

• Involving the social housing residents from start to finish, particularly through participatory design, fostered a stronger sense of community, awareness of inclusivity values, and collective ownership of the park. This contrasts with their previous attitude towards the public space, as they do not consider themselves permanent residents.
• Providing the Department of Housing, Settlements, and Land Affairs of Solo with an inclusive public space model in social housing — this concept hadn't been done before.

Sukaria Street for Kids

• Providing a blueprint for child-friendly streets that truly reflects children's voices to the Department of Transportation of Solo (Solo's DoT) — this concept hadn't been done before.
• Sukaria's emphasis on involving children in the process strengthened Solo's DoT understanding of the importance of bottom-up approaches and the value of considering children's perspectives in implementing safer streets, prompting a trial regulation for one-way streets surrounding the school environment.
• Leveraging the project's viability, Solo's DoT is proposing to scale up the initiative into safe routes to schools using the city's participatory budgeting mechanism.

Experience overview

Surakarta, known as Solo, is a major city in the Central Java province of Indonesia. The city has a total area of 44.02 km2, approximately 12.45% of which is categorized as public open space, & a total population of 523,008 (as of 2022).

In Indonesian cities such as Solo, urban development processes are conducted in a top-down manner, which often results in spaces that do not adequately address the needs & aspirations of communities. Vulnerable groups, such as low-income households & children, have been left out of the decision-making process as they are often viewed as objects of a program, rather than as actors of change. To enhance citizen participation in urban development processes, we saw an opportunity to reclaim the process by using participatory & inclusive approaches to equip citizens with the capacity for information & participation to collectively design and develop urban spaces. 

The Surakarta Inclusive City Movement is a multi-stakeholder initiative that promotes inclusive common spaces such as parks & streets in Solo through participatory design. The movement encompasses the creation of new inclusive urban spaces through a participatory, multi-stakeholder approach, aligning the aspirations of marginalized citizens & the local government's agenda. These spaces were developed through two initiatives in 2021-2023: the Kali Pepe Riverbank Public Space project (supported by UN-Habitat), which led to the construction of a neighborhood park next to a social housing project in Mangkubumen neighborhood, & the Sukaria Street for Kids project (supported by Global Designing Cities Initiative), which created a safer & more enjoyable street for children in Kampung Baru neighborhood.

Key approaches:

• Participatory tools & methodologies to create a safe space for citizens to express their aspirations
• Gamification such as Minecraft & toy figures to engage first-time participants such as children
• Inclusive design principles to mainstream inclusive values
• Partnership with local government to encourage policy adoption
• Multi-stakeholder consultations to secure approval

The movement reached around 380 children & 300 adults in Solo by directly involving them in the decision-making process of urban development & improving their access to safe and inclusive urban spaces. It has also prompted the Solo government's interest in participatory planning practices, including a model of inclusive public space in social housing & a blueprint for child-friendly streets.

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