PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan emphasized the importance of compliance with governance to ensure that the development of Bandung City is in line with the established spatial concept.

This was stated by Farhan when he was the main speaker at the Architecture Without Walls (AWW) 2025 forum held by the West Java Indonesian Architects Association (IAI) at Laswi Heritage, Bandung City, Sunday (28/9/2025).

In his presentation titled "Sustainable Spatial Planning Management," Farhan stated that Bandung already has eight City Sub-Regions (SWK) as guidelines for spatial development. However, he noted that implementation on the ground is often inconsistent.

"We have a good concept on paper, but are we faithfully implementing it in practice? We don't want the entire area to turn into a directionless shophouse complex," he said.

He gave the example of several SWKs, such as Tegallega, which should have become a hub for trade and services, but instead a dinosaur-themed park was built that did not comply with the spatial plan.

"As a native of Tegallega, I don't even know why there are dinosaurs there. We're losing a big part of the region's history," he said.

He also touched on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) to revitalize the city's movement hubs, and lamented the loss of a number of iconic buildings, such as the Premier Building in Cihampelas.

"We often get caught up in the glory of the past. Bandung is known as an architectural gallery, but we must have the courage to build new, visionary, and high-quality icons," he said.

Farhan invited architects to participate in preserving the city's heritage buildings, such as the Indonesia Menggugat Building, Inggit Garnasih House, and the ITB West Hall.

Addressing the architects, Farhan stated that green and environmentally friendly city development is not just slogans. He emphasized that the key to success lies in compliance with governance.

"No vision will succeed without compliance. I learned from Lee Kuan Yew: the key to Singapore's success is compliance, starting with its leaders," he said.

He also explained the continuation of the city's two flagship programs, namely Kang Pisman (Reduce, Separate, Utilize) for waste management and Buruan Sae (Urban Farming) which have been proven to help stabilize the prices of chilies and shallots as psychological inflation commodities.

In closing, Farhan said, Bandung must become an "urban design laboratory" that combines creativity, history, and consistent governance.

"I hope Bandung can create a new architectural benchmark that will make people say, 'This is the Indonesian architectural gallery,' not just for the past 50 years, but also for the next 50 years," he said.

The AWW 2025 event was attended by hundreds of architects, academics, and urban planning activists, which took place from September 25-28, 2025. (Bandung City Communications and Information Service/UPI)