Public space is not given — it is made. In 2019, the community of Ledok Tukangan chose a strip of concrete riverbank that belonged to no one and made it belong to everyone. What happened next was not planned in any city office: it grew into a garden, a classroom, an art space, a meeting point, and a model.
Reclaiming the riverbank
The land along the Code River in Ledok Tukangan, Danurejan was grey and unused. In 2019, residents broke up the concrete surface, brought in soil from Bantul, and planted the first seeds. The act was simple and radical at the same time: a community asserting that public land is meant to be used by the public — for food, for gathering, for life.
Land rights as community knowledge
In June 2022, the community hosted Jagongan Hukum — an informal legal discussion on land rights and the use of public space. Residents, activists, and legal experts gathered in the garden to talk about who has the right to cultivate urban land, and what community stewardship actually means in Indonesian law. Knowledge made public, in public.
A space for everyone
Kebun Kali Code has hosted 80 psychology students from UST Yogyakarta (May 2023), summer school academics from multiple countries (August 2023), international volunteers from Canada (September 2024), and cross-cultural cooking classes (October 2024). The garden is a living proof that public space, when cared for by a community, becomes magnetic to the world.
Pioneer and model
Ledok Tukangan is now studied. More than 12 national and international universities use it as a field study location and research partner (2022–2026). What started as a neighbourhood decision to reclaim a concrete strip has become a reference point for urban public space activation across Indonesia and beyond.
“We didn't ask permission to make this land alive. We just started growing.”
Timeline
2019 — Concrete broken, first seeds planted
June 2022 — Jagongan Hukum: land rights discussion in the garden
May 2023 — 80 UST psychology students visit
Aug 2023 — Summer School on Environmental History Indonesia
Sept 2024 — International volunteer program (Canada)
2022–2026 — Academic partner for 12+ national & international universities
By the numbers
- 2019
- concrete riverbank reclaimed
- 12+
- universities using it as field study site
- 11
- countries whose communities have visited