Lably
Skip to content

Bekasi

Largest city in West Java, Indonesia

  • 7 min read
  • 12 chapters
Seen here Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Toll Road, Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road along with Jalan Kalimalang, with railways and buildings around Kalimalang.
@preplime · CC BY-SA 4.0

Related on Lably

Through Multinational corporation

Bekasi is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being the capital city of the Kingdom of Tarumanagara. At that time, the name of Bekasi was Dayeuh Sundasembawa or Jayagiri. The earliest evidence of its existence dates from the fifth century according to the Tugu inscription, which describes the name of two rivers that run through the city, i.e. Candrabhaga and Gomati and one of those rivers, i.e. Candrabhaga is the origin of the name Bekasi where the name Candrabhaga evolved into "Bhagasasi" – due to the Sanskrit word candra (which means moon) evolved into Old Sundanese word 'sasi' which also means moon – and then the name Bhagasasi was mis-spelt as "Bhagasi", and then the Dutch colonial government also mis-spelt the name Bhagasi as "Bacassie", and finally it became "Bekasi". 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 125,000 m2 (1,350,000 sq ft) 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.

Sign in to keep reading

11 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Cities

Washington, D.C.Capital city of the United StatesBerlinCapital and largest city of GermanyChicagoMost populous city in Illinois, USViennaCapital and largest city of AustriaPhiladelphiaMost populous city in Pennsylvania, USBostonCapital and largest city in Massachusetts, United States