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BANJARMASIN (INDONESIA): River & Road as Warp & Woof (2009)
Location: Banjarmasin, Indonesia
Designers: RUA, Kelly Shannon, Bruno De Meulder, Guido Geenen, Daan Derden, Annelies De Nijs, Aryani Sari.
Commissioned by: City of Banjarmasin
Period of design: August-September 2009
ASIA
Challenges of Transformation in Banjarmasin
The water-based merchant city of Banjarmasin (population 600,000), the capital of South Kalimantan Province in Indonesia, is in the midst of dramatic transformations. Entry into the globalized economy requires a shift towards road-based transport and a change in the economies of scale of its production.
The existing city and its low-lying, flood-prone periphery will inevitably be overlaid with a new scale of both structuring elements and programs. At the same time, growth can be developed in sync with the natural processes of the dynamic landscape and in relation to the legacy of the city that was founded in 1582.
Banjarmasin River City
Historically, Banjarmasin grew along the Martapura River, forming an intense relation between its built fabric and the waterway(s).
Preserving Banjarmasin’s Water-Based Identity
The local culture of the Banjar people has traditionally been one of assimilation, and the latest wave of development must be regarded as simply another layer of this process—another threat that can be interwoven into the solid tissue and structure of the city. It is in that respect important to also revive and strengthen the water-based origins of Banjarmasin that were inscribing themselves in the natural conditions of the site.
A productive interplay between water structures and urban structures can then once again become a fundamental identity for the city and its environs.
RRWW’s Strategy for Sustainable Growth
RRWW recognizes the inherent qualities of the southern region of Borneo, with its rich watery mosaic, a deltaic landscape of mangroves and swamps linking to the ebb-tide of the Java Sea and edged by hills to the east.
The cities, either nestled at the foot of the hills or as raised platforms in clearings of the swamp, are strung together via infrastructure lines. RRWW develops a strategy of co-existence between river and road – acting as warp and woof of the fabric of Banjarmasin.
Main Infrastructural Lines
Banjarmasin itself is linked to the region via three main infrastructure lines. The increased accessibility promises to change the hierarchy of settlements
and new bridges will significantly alter the urban/ rural relationship. These three infrastructure lines complement the rivers and each establish a
different relationship with them. A new road that majestically floats over the lowlands and Barito River, an ancient road – connector and collector – of
development leading to the Martapura River, which, in the end is the civic backbone of the city and a road connecting with the harbor and industry at the Barito River.
Potentialities of Banjarmasin’s rivers & roads
A hierarchy of rivers and roads structures the future growth of the territory. The interplay of this three different waterways and road structures the city
and allows for a rich differentiation in urban fabrics capable to respond to the wide variety of development needs.
New Banjarmasin: River & road, land mosaic, urban developments
The project (re)creates a vibrant blue & green system – strengthening the potential of the landscape to restructure existing and guide new urbanization. The river and road networks determine the hierarchy of blue & green. East of the regional highway, is an intensive, industrialized and rationalized productive landscape (agri- and aqua-culture, edged by a storm-water canals and a series of flood retention ponds – protecting the city. Immediately west of the highway is an agricultural park that has different characters – (1) in the north the existing and organic water system dominates and hosts number of campus like/ urban enclaves; (2) in the center, at the highway entrance to the city, the productive orchard meets a city central park; (3) in the south, urban agriculture also serves as a land bank for future development. The water network is structures to increase irrigation canals, recover waterways that have disappeared, improve drainage and clean water through an aerated lagoon (link to the industrial area).
Interweaving Ecologies and Economies
The project simultaneously re-qualifies the existing city and its relationship to the delta of 107 rivers, creeks, and canals and develops complementary new platforms for development along the road-based network. RRWW develops a strategy for interweaving ecologies and economies in the swamp, delta, and floodplain of Banjarmasin.
Growth is developed in sync with natural processes of the dynamic landscape and in relation to the legacy of the city that was founded in 1582. The water-based origins of Banjarmasin can be revived and strengthened to once again become a fundamental identity for the city and its environs.