JAKARTA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is preparing to develop satellite cities across several provinces to address the unresolved housing backlog, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Nusron Wahid said on Tuesday.
Wahid said the satellite city program was part of President Prabowo Subianto's plan to create new urban growth centers alongside the development of vertical housing.
"To address the housing backlog, the president will establish new urban centers. In addition to vertical housing, there will also be new satellite housing areas," he said in Jakarta.
The ministry has identified more than 129,000 hectares of potential land nationwide, covering North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Lampung, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, West Kalimantan and South Sulawesi. Three more provinces -- East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Nusa Tenggara -- had also submitted proposals that were still under verification, he said.
Wahid said each satellite city would require at least 200 hectares of land on average. He added that the identified land was state-owned, including former private land use rights that were not renewed and would be reorganized by the government.
While the government would prioritize vertical housing in urban areas, larger land parcels had been prepared for satellite city development, particularly to support housing expansion, he said. ■
