Contents

Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex

Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex

Kompleks Gelanggang Olahraga Bung Karno
The main stadium complex in 2023
Full name	Gelanggang Olahraga Bung Karno
Former names	Asian Games Complex[a]
Location	Gelora, Central Jakarta, Indonesia
Coordinates	6°13′6.88″S 106°48′9.04″E / 6.2185778°S 106.8025111°E / -6.2185778; 106.8025111
Main venue	Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium Capacity: 77,193[1]
Other sports facilities	Madya Stadium Aquatic Stadium Sports Palace Tennis Indoor Tennis Outdoor Baseball Stadium Softball Field Rugby Field Archery Field Squash Stadium Indonesia Arena
Public transit	Istora Mandiri Palmerah Senayan BANK DKI Gerbang Pemuda
Owner	Government of Indonesia[b]
Operator	Pusat Pengelolaan Komplek Gelora Bung Karno (PPKGBK, Gelora Bung Karno Complex Management Center)
Construction
Broke ground	8 February 1960
Built	1960–1962
Opened	1961–1962
Renovated	2016–2018
Closed	2016–2018
Reopened	2018
Construction cost	$12,500,000 (1958) Rp3,5 trillion (renovation)
Website
gbk.id

Bung Karno Sports Arena (Indonesian: Kompleks Gelanggang Olahraga Bung Karno, known as Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex), formerly named Senayan Sports Arena (Indonesian: Gelanggang Olahraga Senayan) from 1969 to 2001 and Asian Games Complex (Indonesian: Kompleks Asian Games) on its early days, is a sports complex located in Gelora, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. It is usually misperceived to be located at Senayan, South Jakarta, hence its former name. The sports complex hosts a main stadium, secondary stadium, the Sports Palace, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums (indoor and outdoor), hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. The complex was built in 1960 for the 1962 Asian Games and recently underwent a major reconstruction for the 2018 Asian Games and Asian Para Games.

The sports complex hosts a main stadium with a capacity of 77,193 seats,^[1] athletic stadium, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums (indoor and outdoor), hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. It is named after Sukarno, Indonesia's first president and the sitting president during its development and initial opening.^[2] Built over 279 hectares of land, it is the largest sports complex in Indonesia, as well as in Southeast Asia.^[3] The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium is the main building within this sports complex. The abbreviation Gelora also means "vigorous" (like the flame or ocean wave) in the Indonesian language. Other than hosting several sports facilities, the sports complex is also a popular place for people of Jakarta to do physical exercises; jogging, bicycling, aerobics, and calisthenics, especially during the weekend.

History[edit]

After the Asian Games Federation declared Jakarta to host the 1962 Asian Games in 1958, the minimum requirement that was yet to be met by Jakarta was the availability of a multi-sport complex. In response to this, President Sukarno issued Presidential Decree No. 113/1959 dated 11 May 1959 about the establishment of the Asian Games Council of Indonesia (DAGI) led by Minister of Sports Maladi. Sukarno, as an architect and civil engineering graduate, proposed a location near M. H. Thamrin Boulevard and Menteng, namely the area of Karet, Pejompongan, or Dukuh Atas. Friedrich Silaban, a renowned architect who accompanied Sukarno to review the location by helicopter, disagreed with the selection of Dukuh Atas because he argued the construction of a sports complex in the center of the future downtown area will potentially create massive traffic congestion. Sukarno agreed and instead assigned the Senayan area with an area of approximately 300 hectares.^[4]

The first pole erection was done symbolically by Sukarno on 8 February 1960. Construction of Istora was completed in May 1961. The secondary stadium, Swimming Stadium, and Tennis Stadium followed in December 1961. The main stadium was completed on 21 July 1962, a month before the games.^[5]

Facilities[edit]

Sports venues[edit]

Other buildings[edit]

Other buildings inside the complex[edit]

• Jakarta Convention Center (completed 1974)
• Al Bina mosque (completed 2001)
• Jakarta Sultan Hotel (formerly Hilton Hotel Jakarta, completed 1971)
• Mulia Hotel (completed 1994)
• Krida Loka Park (completed 1987)
• City Forest (completed in 2018, stands on what was the Senayan Golf Course & Driving Range)

Initially, the sports complex covers a much larger area than it is today. During the 1980s to 1990s, several land plots were developed into non-sport facilities. The northern area was developed into government offices while the southern area was developed into hotels and shopping malls. The complex also had a radio-controlled car circuit northwest of the main stadium, which was scrapped during the 2017 renovation.

Northern area[edit]

• DPR/MPR Building (completed 1968)
• TVRI Headquarters (completed 1962)
• Ministry of Youth and Sports office (completed 1983)
• National Forestry Museum (Manggala Wanabakti, formerly Ministry of Forestry office, completed 1983)
• Senayan Park (completed 2020, stands on the former site of Taman Ria Senayan)

Southern area[edit]

The southern area was originally an athlete village for the 1962 Asian Games. The village was demolished in the 1970s. Several buildings now stood in their location.

• Century Park Hotel (completed 1990)
• Ratu Plaza (completed 1982)
• Plaza Senayan (completed 1996)
• Senayan Trade Center (completed 2006)
• Senayan City (completed 2006)
• fX Sudirman (completed 2008)
• Fairmont Jakarta Hotel (completed 2015)
• Multipurpose Building^[17] (completed 1987)

Demolished buildings or facilities[edit]

• Remote controlled-car racing circuit
• Asia Afrika Sports Hall
• Volleyball Arena that was used during the 1962 Asian Games
• 18 tennis courts located southern of the tennis stadiums.
• Roller sports court
• Gymnastics Building
• Cemaratiga Softball Field
• Senayan Golf Range
• Street Dirt Senayan

Sporting events[edit]

For the first time, the sports complex was host fourth Asian Games in 1962. The main stadium hosted the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. Other competitions held there were several AFF Championship finals and domestic cup finals. The Istora hosted numbers of BWF World Championships, Sudirman Cup, Thomas Cup and Uber Cup badminton competitions. The tennis stadium hosted most of Indonesia's home matches at the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

The sports complex hosted multi-event sport such as Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON, National Sports Week) and Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). The complex hosted the PON seven times between 1973 and 1996. The complex hosted the SEA Games in 1979, 1987, 1997 and 2011; the latter was co-hosted with Jakabaring Sport City complex in Palembang. It also hosted 2018 Asian Games along with Palembang's complex and some other venues across Palembang, Banten, Greater Jakarta and West Java, while it served only with other venues across Greater Jakarta and West Java during the subsequent Para Games.

The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was held at a new 17,150 seater arena within the sports complex known as Indonesia Arena; Indonesia was the co-host along with Japan and the Philippines.

Entertainment events[edit]

Main Stadium[edit]

Istora[edit]

Indonesia Arena[edit]

Tennis Indoor/Outdoor[edit]

Madya Stadium[edit]

Basketball Hall[edit]

Cancelled entertainment events[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Pour, Julius (2004), Dari Gelora Bung Karno ke Gelora Bung Karno (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Grasindo, ISBN 978-979-732-444-5.

External links[edit]

Media related to Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in Indonesian)