Bekasi

Bekasi () is the largest city in the province of West Java and the third-largest city in Indonesia. Located on the eastern border of Jakarta, it serves as a commuter city within the Jakarta metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Census by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Bekasi had 2,543,676 inhabitants. The official estimate for mid 2025 was 2,648,272 (comprising 1,328,712 males and 1,319,560 females). During the Dutch East Indies period, Bekasi was a part of Batavia residency. As a dormitory city, many middle-upper class satellite areas have been developed in Bekasi, complete with their own shopping malls, schools, hospitals, club houses, water park, and shuttle bus services to central Jakarta. The large number of multinational companies has apparently attracted many expatriates (mainly Japanese and Korean) to settle in Bekasi.

Economy

Bekasi has already grown to become one of the main centres of growth in Jabodetabek. The city accounts for 2.11% of total national GDP. Recently, many foreigners (mostly Korean, Japanese, and Chinese) have set up their business to take advantage of its dynamism and boost its economy. Bekasi's economy was mainly based on service and manufacturing. Some headquarters of big corporations are located here, such as PT Metropolitan Land Tbk and PT Kian Santang Muliatama Tbk.

Commerce

Bekasi is one of the most promising property markets in Jabodetabek, and several high-value developments have transformed its property market. Many of country's big property developers are building apartments, hotels, and shopping malls in the city. In recent years, some residences have developed along the Jatiwarna/Jatibening — East Bekasi toll highway, further to Cibatu in Bekasi Regency. These include Kota Harapan Indah, Summarecon Bekasi, Kemang Pratama and Grand Galaxy City.

Prime business and commercial centres are situated in the western part of city. There are some financial centres, restaurants, and shopping centres along Jalan Ahmad Yani, Bekasi CBD, Jalan Sudirman, Jalan K.H. Noer Alie, and Harapan Indah Boulevard.

The largest shopping centre is Grand Metropolitan with over of floor space. Other shopping centres include Metropolitan Mall, Pakuwon Mall Bekasi, Summarecon Mal Bekasi, Mal Ciputra Cibubur, Mega Bekasi Hypermall, Grand Galaxy Park, Grand Mall, Blu Plaza, BTC Mall, GP Mall, Bekasi Cyber Park, Plaza Pondok Gede, and Lagoon Avenue.

Many hotels developed in Bekasi, such as Santika, Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton, Tune Hotel, Horison, Harris, Aston Imperial, Amaris and Amaroossa.

Infrastructure

thumb|right|Bekasi commercial centers

The development of large scale residential areas and industrial parks in Bekasi has been induced by infrastructure development, especially roads, highways and railways.

Road and highway

Bekasi is connected by the Trans-Java Toll Road, the main road across Java. There are three expressways connections from the Jabodetabek urban area: the Jakarta–Cikampek Toll Road, which has three exits in Bekasi; the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, which provides access to Tangerang, Jakarta and Bogor; and the Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu Toll Road. In 2019, Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road will operate to ease traffic on the current toll road between Cikunir and West Karawang with a total length of 36.4 kilometres. Owing to its location as a satellite city of Jakarta, heavy rush hour traffic jams have become common on the roads between East Jakarta and Bekasi.

{|class="wikitable

! KM !! Toll Road !! Toll Gate !! colspan="2" | Destination

|04||rowspan="6"|Tol Bekasi - Karawang - Tambun|| Pondok gede, Pondok bambu, Jaticempaka,

|08||rowspan="3"|Jakarta–Cikampek Toll Road||Jatibening||Jatibening, Jatiwaringin, Cikunir

|12||Bekasi Barat||Kayuringin, Pekayon, Summarecon Bekasi, Margajaya

|16||Bekasi Timur||Margahayu, Bulak Kapal, Bantar Gebang

|37||rowspan="4"|Jakarta Outer Ring Road||Jatiwarna||Jatiwarna, Kranggan, Pondok Gede

|41||Jatiasih||Jatiasih, Cikunir, Jatimekar

|47||Kalimalang||Kranji, Jakasampurna, Bintara Jaya

|49||Bintara||Bintara, Bintara Jaya, Harapan Baru

|13||Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu Toll Road||Jakasampurna||Jakasampurna, Jakasetia, Grand Galaxy City

Railway

A double track railway connecting Manggarai to Cikarang serves the city. Beside a double track railway, the government also built a 17.9 km light rail transit line connecting East Bekasi-Cawang-Dukuh Atas across Greater Jakarta.

Transport

thumb|[[Jabodebek LRT arriving to Jati Mulya station, Bekasi]]

thumb|A TransPatriot fleet in Bekasi

At present, rapid transit in Bekasi across Greater Jakarta consists of rail KRL Commuterline, Jabodebek LRT, and a bus rapid transit TransJakarta.

KRL Commuterline's Blue Line serves from either , or to Jakarta Kota (via Pasar Senen/Manggarai) and Cikarang. Bekasi Station also serves intercity trains to cities across Java.

Jabodebek LRT serving on Bekasi Line which serves trips from Dukuh Atas station to Jatimulya station. The distance traveled in this fully-elevated line is 29.54 km.

Transjakarta and the Transjabodetabek premium serves commuters from Harapan Indah, Summarecon Bekasi, Bulak Kapal, Vida Bekasi, and Jatiwarna, as well as the feeder buses from Kemang Pratama and Grand Galaxy City to Jakarta city center. The TransPatriot operates a route within the city. DAMRI shuttle bus service is available from the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport to Kayuringin, Harapan Indah and Summarecon Bekasi. Taxis are widely available. The primary means of public transportation is by minibus, called angkot. They serve certain routes throughout the city. The main bus terminal is Terminal Bekasi, located in East Bekasi. The other terminals are Pondok Gede, Harapan Indah and Kayuringin.

Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport and Halim high-speed train station are located on the border of Bekasi and East Jakarta.

Hydrology

The City of Bekasi is traversed by the main river, the Kali Bekasi (Bekasi River), along with its tributaries. The Bekasi River originates from the confluence of the Cikeas and Cileungsi rivers, which have their sources in the mountains of Bogor Regency. Surface water in the Bekasi area includes the Bekasi River, several smaller rivers, and the Tarum Barat irrigation canals used for irrigating fields. This water serves as the raw water source for the drinking water needs of the Bekasi region (both the city and the regency) and the DKI Jakarta area. Currently, the surface water condition of the Bekasi River is polluted by industrial waste originating from the southern part of the City of Bekasi (industries located in Bogor Regency).

The City of Bekasi is a part of the Bekasi river basin, located in the downstream area of the basin with slopes ranging from 0 to 2% and elevations between 11 meters to 81 meters above sea level. This topographical condition leads to frequent flooding in many areas of Bekasi, especially during the rainy season, such as in the districts of Jatiasih, East Bekasi, Rawalumbu, South Bekasi, Pondok Gede, and Pondok Melati. with Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium as the home stadium of the two clubs.

Administrative districts

Bekasi City is divided into twelve districts (kecamatan), listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census,

In popular culture

Chairil Anwar's poem Karawang-Bekasi (1948).
Pramoedya Ananta Toer's novel Di Tepi Kali Bekasi (1951) is set mainly in Bekasi.
"Bekasi Swag" song by Young Lex (ft. Doms Dee; 2015).

People from Bekasi

Notable people from Bekasi include:

Adixi Lenzivio: football player
Luitenant der Chinezen Khouw Tian Sek: landlord, patriarch of the Khouw family of Tamboen
Shella Devi Aulia: badminton player
S. K. Trimurti: government minister, Independence activist, writer and journalist
Tutty Alawiyah: government minister and women's rights advocate
Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja: badminton player
Rinov Rivaldy: badminton player
Zanadin Fariz: football player
Arapenta Poerba: football player
Althaf Indie: football player
Syahwal Ginting: football player
Zahaby Gholy: football player