Where Will the People Go?

Jakarta is Sinking: A Reflection and Lament

Riding in a 3-wheeled bajaj in Central Jakarta, October 2023.

It is fair to say that I fell in love with Jakarta on my visit in October. How could I not? It is a warm, gentle city in which I made friends, visited places, and experienced life in a part of the world very different from my own in terms of its flora and fauna. And the traffic! Watching the way that the motorbikes, which outnumber cars and trucks by three to one[1] (although honestly, it seemed greater), would weave in and out of other vehicles to get on their way, calmly and without the road rage we should see here if that happened, was almost magical to this North American. From the open-air bajaj, the three-wheeled taxi that I often used to get around the city, I would hear the frequent light ‘tap-tap’ of a vehicle horn, an informational sound that said “coming up on your right” or “here I am on your left!”

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Jakarta was a city in which I was able to leave the stress of my day-to-day life back in Canada, discover a part of the world in which I had never been before, and reflect on my call as an ecotheologian and climate activist. Jakarta was good to me; I want to be good to Jakarta in return.

But I learned something that I will admit that I did not know before my trip:

Jakarta is sinking.

When I was told this by a local resident, it made sense to me. Jakarta is a low-lying city on the coast of the sea. Thirteen rivers flow in and through Jakarta; because of this Jakarta lies on a low-level alluvial plain (an alluvial plain is a flat or undulating landform made up of sediment from the flowing water; below them are important sources of groundwater).[2] Jakarta, being in a region with monsoons, has always been prone to flooding during the monsoon season.

Although I did not yet understand the various factors that are leading to Jakarta being one of the fastest sinking cities in the world, knowing that global heating is leading to sea level rise and increased storm activity, I immediately understood that Jakarta might be at risk. That said, I was shocked when I was told how urgent the matter is.

It is predicted that Jakarta will be underwater by 2050.

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