Next Batam: Fostering a resilient growth strategy. A combined transit oriented development and industrial clustering strategy, in order to create new investment opportunities and competitive advantages for the city of Batam, a Special Economic Zone affect

Next Batam: Fostering a resilient growth strategy. A combined transit oriented development and industrial clustering strategy, in order to create new investment opportunities and competitive advantages for the city of Batam, a Special Economic Zone affected by the global crisis.

Nita, C.E.

Vande Putte, H. (mentor)
Koppels, P.P. (mentor)
Zandbelt, D.D. (mentor)
Fernandez-Maldonado, A.M. (mentor)
Suryawina, D. (mentor)

Architecture and The Built Environment

Real Estate & Housing

Double graduation track Real Estate and Housing + Urbanism

2013-10-31

Similar to thousands other Special Economic Zone (SEZ) cities around the world, Batam, an Indonesian city-island at the border with Singapore, was developed by the central government to attract foreign investors and develop its industrial basis. Its strategic position made it an excellent location for the Singaporean manufacturing companies, in general light industry and electronics, which were looking for more space and cheaper production costs. But the present economic context, these companies, will leave these cities if the production conditions worsen. This is also the case of Batam, which began losing competitiveness in favor of other similar but cheaper cities in the SE Asian region, such as Vietnam or Bangladesh. Companies started to leave the city, this fact being confirmed both by the official economic data from the city and by the local media and businessmen. In the frame of the dual master track of real estate and urbanism, the project hereby is dealing both with the economic and the spatial problems that Batam is currently experiencing. The project addresses the poor housing conditions, reduced public mobility, degrading ecological balance of the island, the loss of competitiveness and the inefficient administration. The main tool for the planning strategy is a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) plan that uses a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system as main public transportation means. In tackling the problems the project uses the transfer stations to create destination activities (such as social and commercial services) and more and better quality affordable housing. The new public transportation system also creates new investment opportunities, along the main BRT lines and around the transfer stations. In dealing particularly with the loss of competitiveness the project proposes a cluster development based on the shipbuilding and oil & gas industry in the island. Through this intervention the living conditions in the city will improve and new opportunities will be created for larger private investments to take place in order to recover the competitiveness of the city. In this way Batam can better achieve its vision and continue developing on the long –term. Given the strategic importance of Batam at the national level as one of the main gates of foreign direct investment in Indonesia, it is likely that the central government would welcome such a proposal that addresses both the economic prospects and the overall living quality in one integrated spatial strategy.

Special Economic Zones
Transport Oriented Development
BRT
Batam
industrial cities
competitive advantage
industrial clusters

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0cacb27f-5619-462b-8ba9-9c5941632ebe

2014-11-01

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2013 Nita, C.E.