Jakarta's Subsidence Monitoring & Groundwater-Free Zones
This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.
How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means
The ground was already sinking more slowly before the pumping ban took effect in 2023, so the rule inherits a trend it cannot claim. Of 496 audited buildings, 70 still drew on wells as well as pipes.
what does this mean?
The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 10 more in Jakarta · 💧 Water guide · 🌱 Environment projects
Geodesists at Bandung Institute of Technology have tracked Jakarta sinking since the 1970s using levelling, GPS and InSAR, measuring typical rates of 3-10 cm a year between 1974 and 2010 and far more in a few North Jakarta bowls, driven mainly by groundwater pumping. Governor Regulation 93/2021, in force since 1 August 2023, bars buildings over 5,000 m2 or eight floors inside nine designated areas and twelve road segments from pumping, and requires calibrated meters reporting into the water agency's system. By February 2024 the agency counted 396 of 496 audited buildings on piped water; 70 still used both.
📊 Impact
Of 496 qualifying buildings audited by February 2024, 396 had switched to piped water, 70 still used both sources and 5 remained on groundwater alone; the remaining 25, per the agency's figures, relied on tanker deliveries or had not reported their supply. PAM Jaya piped coverage reached 80.24% of Jakarta at the end of 2025.
🎓 Lesson
Jakarta's subsidence had already slowed before the ban commenced — peer-reviewed InSAR puts the 2015-2020 rate near 3 cm a year — so the rule inherits a trend it cannot claim to have caused. A pumping ban is only as strong as the pipe next to it: buildings still fall back on wells when supply falters.
Sources
Show 3 more sourcesShow fewer
Continue exploring
Compare this project
Explore the wider context
📎 Cite this project
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Jakarta's Subsidence Monitoring & Groundwater-Free Zones” — Jakarta, Indonesia. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/jakarta-subsidence-groundwater/ (last verified 2026-07-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.