Yogyakarta
The imaginary line of Yogyakarta
by :IeFand's
Relevant to the philosophy and belief of local mystery, the imaginary axis also called as the macrocosm of yogyakarta both infamous and very dominant are the south sea ( parang tritis ) beach and mount merapi axis lie in one straight line with panggung krapyak kraton yogyakarta ( yogyakarta palace ) tugu pal putih. This simbolyse the miystical value of both poles, south sea as the palace of queen kidul and mount merapi as the home of gods. The straight line is therefore belived as the “Proccess line towards the perfection of life”
merapi mountain is a treasured mountain for Yogyakarta, both in factual ways and in symbolic ways as the lava of mount merapi gives fertility to the land of yogyakarta and its surronding areas.
The south sea is the symbol of the kingdom of the royal Highness of queen kidul that conquers supernatural creatures such as genies, ghosts, etc. Symbolically, the south sea characterizes Yoni and Merapi Mountain characterizes Lingga. This is one of oldest belief and has been with the people for ages. The marriage between Lingga and Yoni is the symbol of fertility.
The journey towards the marriage , by imagenatif way depart from the south sea accros panggung krapyak , kraton yogyakarta and the tugu pal putih and towards Mount Merapi. When the king is in the siti Minggil Kraton Yogyakarta, tugu pal putih and mount merapi will lie ahead. This is a symbol of contemplation/meditation towards the purity of direct contact with the creator.
Cultural and historical overview
Yogya’s rich living culture today has its roots in the distant past. Habitation of the region dates back to Java Man ( pithecantropus ) whose remain have been found in the solo area, some 60 km away. Inded , the Yogyakarta – Solo plains, being extremely fertile thanks to their volcanic soil, have been cultivated since the dawn of history.
Hinduism and Buddhism arrived early in Java from India, brought by traders sometime around the 1st or 2st century AD, and were grafted onto the animistic beliefs of the indigenous population. Archaeological remains from the Hindu and Buddhist ( Majapahit ) kingdoms in Central Java are today a principal tourist attraction. These include the UNESCO designated World Heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan. Hindu and Buddhist cultural influences are still very important in modern javanese dialy life, especially in the performing arts.
The History of modern Yogyakarta can be formally dated to the officially founding of the city in 1755, after the kingdom of Mataram was divided in two under a treaty with the Ducth colonial rulers. The first Sultan was Hamengku Buwono X , the tenth in line. Islam arrived in the 15 century brought by Arab and Indian Traders , and rapidly spread from the coast inward. Today, the overwhelming majority of Yogyakartans are Muslims ( 90% ), with significant Christian and Buddhist minorities scattered throughout the province. Despite these official affiliations, traditional religious beliefs are still of great importance of the Javanese. Traditional Javanese mysticism continue to play an important role in the dialy lives of the people.
The Dutch ruled the area known then as the Ducth East Indies for 300 years, with Indonesia declaring independence on August 17th , 1945 . after a brief struggle, the state of Indonesian was formally recognized by the world in 1949. The Crucial role played by Yogya during the flight for independence (when it also acted as the temporary capital of the young republic ) , earned it the ‘special region’ status.
Today the province of Yogyakarta is the only independent sultanate in Indonesia, and it has an elected provincial assembly. With the progressive moves towards decentralization under a newly-elected reform goverment in Jakarta, the provincial goverment in taking over many of the economic decisions and public responbilities that were formally under the tight control of the central goverment
Geography
The special province of yogyakarta ( Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta ) is the second smallest of the 26 provinces of Indonesia, with only the country’s capital area, Jakarta being smaller. Yogyakarta , or “Yogya” as it is familiarly known is located in the central southern part of java and is surrounded on three sides by Central Java and on the fourth by the indian Ocean with a 100-km long coast line. In the north Mount merapi (2968m) Indonesia’s most active volcano rises above the surronding plains, easialy visible from the city, some 27 km away. The city of Yogyakarta also serves as the provincial capital. Other districs include Bantul , Wates, Sleman and Wonosari . provincial administration is devided into five districs, with the city itself being a single administrative unit.
Yogyakarta is linked by road and rail to jakarta (600km), Surabaya (320km), Semarang(120km) and Solo (60km). There are also dialy domestic flights to Jakarta (50 minutes, 6 flights ) and Bali, Indonesia’s primary tourist destination ( 1 hour, 5 flights ) , as well as to other major Indonesian cities.
Lying only seven degrees south of equator, yogya enjoys a tropical climate similar to other parts of java, with year-round temperatures between 26C and 28C. Humidity averages 84%, altoughs this varies according to the season.
The rainy season last from october to march and the dry season from April util september, annual precipitation is 1,759 mm, and the wettest period is between january and march, when monthly rainfall can exceed 300mm. During the dry season , a pleasant dry wind blows from the south, resulting in less humidity and only 3 mm of precipitation.
Population Profile
Yogyakarta has about 3,2 milion inhabitants in an area of 3,185 km2, making it one of the most densely populated provinces in Indonesia, with an average of 1,000 inhabitants per sequare kilometer. The city itself and its suburban settle ments are home to some 600,000 people with a population density of almost 15,000 inhabitants per square kilometer.
The majority of Yogya’s inhabitants are native javanese. Only in the crowded center of Yogya are there significant numbers of Indonesians from other parts of the archipelago, mostly students. Yogya is known as Indonesia’s education city due to its pleathora of universities, research centers and higher education intitutes, which lend a perpetually youthfull air to the city. There is also a large number in the province ,mostly involved in business or trade, or studying Javanese culture and pervorming arts.
Economic Overview
The service sector dominates the local economy, contributing approximately 35% to the regional Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ). This include tourism, education , hotel and catering facilities. Agriculture accounts for a further 20% of GDP, and transport and communication services around 11% altough there has been a slight shift towards the secondary and tertiary sectors in recent years, the manufacturing industry still ranks at third, with 15% of the regional DDP. The contructions industry and the financing and property sector each account for 10%. Total GDP in 1998 ( at current prices ) was US$ 2.7 billion.
Yogyakarta is well known asa a center of traditional Javanese handicraft and leather producs , mostly produced by small enterprises at village level throughout the region. The emergence of modern tourism and education services center of national importance. With its highly skilled workforce and pool of university graduates, Yogya is now focusing on the light industry, software, telecomunications, medical and other high-tech sectors.
Yogya's regional economicdevelopment in the 1990s ( until the nationwide economic and political crisisof 1996-98 ) was an above average 7%. the most impressive growth figures were found in the utilitie, manufacturing , finance , and real estate , hotel , catering and service sectors. The building of educational instutions and hotels , finaced by private investors or goverment authorities, led to the growth of the construction industry during this period.
The effects of the severe political and economic crisis are still being felt in the province, which has had to endure two years of negative economic growth rates and a dearth of domestic and foreign investement, there also been a significant drop in tourist numbers, due in large part to negative international media publicity resulting from ethnic clashes occurring in the more remote parts of the archipelago.
Present predictions for economic recovery are more optimistic, with the Bank of Indonesia aiming for a 5-7% growth rate for the country as whole in 2000/2001, and an inflation rate of less than 10%.
Foreign trade and investement
in 1998, the volume of foreign trade in Yogya amounted to US$ 120,5 million , an increase of nearly 5% over the previous year, the geographical distribution of Yogya's foreign trade has remained relativey stable.
In 1998 the province's main export were the United States ( US$ 44,5 million ) , Hong Kong ( US$ 32,6 million ) , Japan ( US$ 10 million ) , Italy ( US$ 4,4 million ) and the Netherlands ( US$ 4 million ). The main export producs were textiles and related producs ( US$ 36,5 million ), wood-craft and furniture ( US$ 16,6 million ) ready -made leather ( US$ 10,9 ), other craft items ( US$8,1 million) and foot producs ( US$ 6 million ).
the province's main import trading partners are the USA ( US$ 2,5 million ) , Australia ( US$ 2,5 milion ) , New Zealand ( US$ 0,5 million ) and South Korea ( US$ 0,3 million ) . other import markets include Singapore, Taiwan , the Netherlands and Germany , imported producs include raw matterials for textile
Selasa, 03 Juli 2007
Jumat, 29 Juni 2007
mega-problems
Billions in the developing world are shifting from rural to urban areas, bringing poverty to dangerous new levels.
By Nicolas P. Retsinas, NICOLAS P. RETSINAS is the director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and chairman of the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity International.February 28, 2007
THE WORLD HAS reached a point of hyper-urbanization: 2007 marks the first year when more than half the global population is "urban," not "rural." Indeed, this is the era of the "mega-city" — metropolises of 10 million-plus. In 1950, only Tokyo and New York met that threshold. Today there are 20 mega-cities, including Mexico City, Karachi, Manila, Dhaka, Lagos, Jakarta and Chongqing.This type of drastic population shift isn't without precedent. During the Industrial Revolution, concentrations of people in U.S. and European cities were part and parcel of a factory economy. But that economic and technological progress came with a price — decades of fetid slums, horrific child mortality, raging epidemic disease. This time around, with cities 10 times bigger and demand for workers uncertain, the costs could be exponentially larger.In general, an optimist might cheer urbanization as a sign of modernization; Residents of developed countries are much more likely to live in cities than their counterparts in still-developing nations (74% vs. 43%). The city, after all, is the hub of culture, a magnet that draws artists, writers, musicians — the place where creative spirits create. Great cities have ballet troupes, opera companies, orchestras. The city is, likewise, the hub of industry, generating the bulk of most countries' gross domestic product. Most important, the city is the hub of ideas. The mingling of people spurs the intellectual innovation that fuels thriving societies, at least in the developed world.But urbanization historically also has spawned an impoverished underclass of the marginally employed, or unemployed, living in a cruel despair. Think of Charles Dickens' London: Scrooge wanted to diminish the "surplus population." Or remember Karl Marx's ruminations on the "lumpen proletariat," doomed to subsistence. Cholera, typhoid, influenza — all cut a swath through 19th and early 20th century urban populations. Yet in time those horrors abated as infrastructure — clean water, enclosed sewers, labor laws, public education, medical advances — was created. In time, the 19th century cities morphed into exciting places. Today, Dickens or Marx could contentedly sip cappuccino in Florence, take in the opera at London's Covent Garden or peruse the museums of Paris. Cities in the United States and Europe still have dense clusters of the poor, to be sure. They live in cramped housing with few amenities, but they no longer starve or die from cholera. Immigrants, in particular, who crowd — legally and not — into these developed cities believe that however desperate their straits, their children will fare better.The newly ascendant mega-cities in the developing world, though, can dishearten even the most persistent optimist. They are relentless agglomerations of people, drawn not so much by the promise of prosperity as by the hope of survival. It is internal migrant populations that are pouring into most of these exploding urban areas. In China, for instance, 150 million people have left their rural homes in the last 10 years, leaving a dearth of workers in the agricultural sector. Political and war refugees, too, flow in steadily. A fortunate few may realize a steady income, maybe even own property, but most live in slums whose filthy water, political chaos and nonexistent municipal infrastructure would startle Dickens and Marx. The United Nations estimates that, today, 2.8 billion people live on less than $2 a day. And it is this huge, desperate underclass that is filling these mega-cities. Children are more likely to roam in gangs than attend school. Cholera and typhoid — diseases listed as "rare" in Western textbooks — are endemic. Often there is no geographic core, just as there is no governmental core to oversee the chaos. Parts of these cities are modern, with the familiar skyscrapers, highways and BlackBerry-toting workers. Yet they are surrounded by rings of shocking poverty where millions live in paper-covered hovels.Without some concerted action from nations and international institutions, these mega-cities will grow larger and more desperate. Philanthropy helps, but these developing countries need public policies that promote property ownership, increase access to credit and enhance government transparency. There is no quick panacea to improving the lot of billions of people; it took more than 50 years to address the slums of the 19th century. But there is an urgency to today's task. The slum dwellers of Lagos and Manila and Karachi are part of the global economy, bound to the rest of the world. Their misery will spill beyond their borders, and if that happens, our urban age risks becoming a global nightmare.
posted by IeFand's
Billions in the developing world are shifting from rural to urban areas, bringing poverty to dangerous new levels.
By Nicolas P. Retsinas, NICOLAS P. RETSINAS is the director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and chairman of the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity International.February 28, 2007
THE WORLD HAS reached a point of hyper-urbanization: 2007 marks the first year when more than half the global population is "urban," not "rural." Indeed, this is the era of the "mega-city" — metropolises of 10 million-plus. In 1950, only Tokyo and New York met that threshold. Today there are 20 mega-cities, including Mexico City, Karachi, Manila, Dhaka, Lagos, Jakarta and Chongqing.This type of drastic population shift isn't without precedent. During the Industrial Revolution, concentrations of people in U.S. and European cities were part and parcel of a factory economy. But that economic and technological progress came with a price — decades of fetid slums, horrific child mortality, raging epidemic disease. This time around, with cities 10 times bigger and demand for workers uncertain, the costs could be exponentially larger.In general, an optimist might cheer urbanization as a sign of modernization; Residents of developed countries are much more likely to live in cities than their counterparts in still-developing nations (74% vs. 43%). The city, after all, is the hub of culture, a magnet that draws artists, writers, musicians — the place where creative spirits create. Great cities have ballet troupes, opera companies, orchestras. The city is, likewise, the hub of industry, generating the bulk of most countries' gross domestic product. Most important, the city is the hub of ideas. The mingling of people spurs the intellectual innovation that fuels thriving societies, at least in the developed world.But urbanization historically also has spawned an impoverished underclass of the marginally employed, or unemployed, living in a cruel despair. Think of Charles Dickens' London: Scrooge wanted to diminish the "surplus population." Or remember Karl Marx's ruminations on the "lumpen proletariat," doomed to subsistence. Cholera, typhoid, influenza — all cut a swath through 19th and early 20th century urban populations. Yet in time those horrors abated as infrastructure — clean water, enclosed sewers, labor laws, public education, medical advances — was created. In time, the 19th century cities morphed into exciting places. Today, Dickens or Marx could contentedly sip cappuccino in Florence, take in the opera at London's Covent Garden or peruse the museums of Paris. Cities in the United States and Europe still have dense clusters of the poor, to be sure. They live in cramped housing with few amenities, but they no longer starve or die from cholera. Immigrants, in particular, who crowd — legally and not — into these developed cities believe that however desperate their straits, their children will fare better.The newly ascendant mega-cities in the developing world, though, can dishearten even the most persistent optimist. They are relentless agglomerations of people, drawn not so much by the promise of prosperity as by the hope of survival. It is internal migrant populations that are pouring into most of these exploding urban areas. In China, for instance, 150 million people have left their rural homes in the last 10 years, leaving a dearth of workers in the agricultural sector. Political and war refugees, too, flow in steadily. A fortunate few may realize a steady income, maybe even own property, but most live in slums whose filthy water, political chaos and nonexistent municipal infrastructure would startle Dickens and Marx. The United Nations estimates that, today, 2.8 billion people live on less than $2 a day. And it is this huge, desperate underclass that is filling these mega-cities. Children are more likely to roam in gangs than attend school. Cholera and typhoid — diseases listed as "rare" in Western textbooks — are endemic. Often there is no geographic core, just as there is no governmental core to oversee the chaos. Parts of these cities are modern, with the familiar skyscrapers, highways and BlackBerry-toting workers. Yet they are surrounded by rings of shocking poverty where millions live in paper-covered hovels.Without some concerted action from nations and international institutions, these mega-cities will grow larger and more desperate. Philanthropy helps, but these developing countries need public policies that promote property ownership, increase access to credit and enhance government transparency. There is no quick panacea to improving the lot of billions of people; it took more than 50 years to address the slums of the 19th century. But there is an urgency to today's task. The slum dwellers of Lagos and Manila and Karachi are part of the global economy, bound to the rest of the world. Their misery will spill beyond their borders, and if that happens, our urban age risks becoming a global nightmare.
posted by IeFand's
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