Will painted slums become a new tourist trend? (8 photos)

There's a new trend in Indonesia - painting slums in the brightest, juiciest colors possible. They call it "turning them into a tourist spot." The idea is that tourists will go to these places to take photos and film, and at the same time buy something in local shops and stalls.





To become an Instagram spot, it's not enough to paint the doors purple...

New paint job for slums

A slum area in Krendang, Jakarta, was recently ablaze with colors. The walls of the houses were decorated with cartoon drawings and original art. Many countries have such colorful areas, they are called "Instagram villages", one of the most famous is located in South Korea in Busan. But other countries often have such areas to attract tourists.



These are shots from Gamcheon, it's not scary to walk there

But the positioning of each painted area in Jakarta as a new place for tourists looks very weak. In some places, young girls who produce 90% of Instagram content are better off not even going.

What kind of a cleanliness contest is this

If the benefit for tourists is questionable, then in fact, there is a great social meaning hidden behind the ostentatious painting.

The thing is that the slums... compete for the right to be painted. It is known that in the poor areas of Jakarta there is a lot of garbage, and especially stench, people do not hesitate to urinate on corners and fences.





People are painting the fences of Krendang. A beautiful fence is not enough for tourists, but it will make the locals happier

And so among all these slum areas, cleanliness competitions are held. If you can remove at least some of the garbage from the gutters, if your streets are cleaner than others, your houses will be painted. They will not put up playgrounds, but the children will still be delighted.

This is a small change in the life of local poverty, but it is really very important for self-awareness. You live in a bright, joyful place, it gives a spiritual uplift.



Painted Keluran, do you want to come?

And this is also a victory for the residents of Krendang, because they managed to convince people who live in poverty and apathy that there is no need to throw garbage on the floor. Change the worldview of an entire area.

So painted houses do not help develop tourism?

The answer is - not in Jakarta. In this city, it makes sense to paint houses to improve public order.



These are painted slums in Malang, at least they hold festivals there

But in Java, this really helps stimulate tourism. For example, they managed to promote the colorful village of Jodipan in the city of Malang in East Java.

Once a slum area by the Brantas River, Jodipan has now risen to become a must-visit tourist spot in Malang.

It's all thanks to the students of the University of Malang Muhammadiyah who came up with the idea of ​​redeveloping the area and brought it to life.



Here's what Malang looks like from above, let's go?

The Malang administration has officially declared the hilly area with steep lanes and sharp turns a tourist village, shelling out billions of rupees to dispose of waste and build a parking lot. Now, 3,000 tourists come here every weekend. And this is from scratch!

The bad reputation that used to scare away tourists has disappeared.

The success of other cities has inspired the administration to create more themed villages throughout the region. Some try to come up with only their own theme, for example, a purely white village (where everything is the same color, just to be clear).

A similarly successful renovation "rolled" in the village of Kalisari near the capital of Central Java. Where 500 houses on Brintick Hill were repainted. Rainbow Village has become a new tourist attraction in Semarang.



This is what Kalisari looks like. Is this enough for a tourist??

True, to clear the streets, they had to do some redevelopment and the locals weren't happy. They're supposed to be building a dream village, but you poor people don't belong here anymore.

Would you go to a repainted slum like this just for the sake of bright photos? No, I'm afraid more than my aesthetic pretensions.



A completely crazy rainbow village in Taiwan... It hurts my eyes