Rooftops are an amazing choice for creating gardens, especially if you are talking about urban rooftops where almost every available space has been used up for a living and for purposes that are commercial. However, there are exceptions in every trend. Welcome to Jakarta where a developer has managed to transform the rooftop of a shopping mall into a complete suburb of sorts with small homes, paved streets, a tennis court, and lush greenery. The project is named Cosmo Park.
Cosmo Park is located ten stories up on the roof of the Thamrin City Mall located in Central Jakarta. However, it looks like a suburb on the ground. The 3-acre rooftop has seventy-eight two-story houses along with asphalt roads where kids ride their cycles, and elders can jog or walk their dogs. Residents can even drive to the top of the roof using a ramp. A tall metal fencing has been placed around the perimeter for making sure that no one falls or drives off the rooftop.
The residents of Cosmo Park have said that the community is safer as opposed to a regular suburb. Although it is located on top of the mall, living in Cosmo Park is not as isolated as living in an apartment. A resident named Fazila Kapasi said, ‘It is so good. There is so much open space; my son can ride his bike around. It’s so central, it’s really safe, and there is a lovely neighborhood feel. It’s a lovely oasis. I cannot recommend it enough.’
Another resident of Cosmo Park, Indri Lestari, said, ‘It’s high here, for sure. But lots of places are, and here we have more space and privacy, and it’s better for my family. My son can play outside, just out the door.’ Cosmo Park is not the only village located in Jakarta on top of a commercial mall. Another luxury housing complex by the name of The Villas is located on top of the Mall of Indonesia in North Jakarta.
Wendy Haryanto, Executive Director of Jakarta Property Institute, said, ‘This could be a win-win solution. Public enterprises earn extra income from unused air rights for developers to build low-income apartments that they are obligated to construct anyway; markets get more business; low-income households live in the city. Once some residents of low-rise housing have moved to nearby vertical flats in TODs, Jakarta can carve out land for green areas. This will help Jakarta fulfill its obligation to allocate 30 percent of its land for greenery.’