Jakarta's New Old Town
The Kali Besar area in Kota Tua, Jakarta's old town, has been revitalized and was opened to the public on July 6. The former Dutch colonial complex is now becoming the capital city's new tourism site.
Wide sidewalks and old buildings bring back the architectural ambiance of Batavia during the Dutch East Indies. However, it will not enter Unesco's world heritage sites list.
The revitalization project, which cost Rp 260 billion ($18 million), has been criticized by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the organization which nominates historical sites for the list. The council said reconstruction works should have been supervised by historians to avoid altering the buildings' original shape, at which Jakarta failed by using too much concrete.
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