Makassar should be more like Singapore before being like Dubai

Makassar is the largest city in the Eastern Region of Indonesia. It has a population of about 1.5 million people, and the metro area has about 2.8 million people.

I wrote previously wondering why there are no great coastal cities in Indonesia, and Makassar stands out as such a city.

I think Makassar is a great city, but in this context, I mean great as in why is it not a more prominent regional city. It should be a bustling international city that anchors the eastern half of Indonesia.

Makassar Airport is the third-busiest airport in Indonesia and the 10th busiest in Southeast Asia. Makassar is the regional hub of the east, with flights funnelling passengers to be redistributed to flights further west. ⁠Despite its grand size, the only international flights are to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore⁠ (not including the seasonal Hajj flights to Jeddah and Medina that only serve outbound passengers).

I visited Makassar in 2015, and there were signs that the city had big plans for the future. A mega land reclamation project (Center Point of Indonesia) was being planned, and the Trans-Sulawesi Railway began construction in 2014. ⁠There is also talk of an MRT (or some kind of transit system), so Makassar is moving in the direction of becoming a dynamic city in Eastern Indonesia.

I returned to Makassar in 2024 to ride the Trans-Sulawesi Railway and to see the land reclamation project. Center Point of Indonesia is still under construction, but it’s open to the public. The Garuda-shaped islands are visible on Google Maps.

After visiting the new islands and walking around the city, I realised that Makassar needs to⁠ fix the fundamentals, such as sidewalks and open drains (like Singapore), before building the flashy thing-shaped islands like Dubai.

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