Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-biggest city, is distinguished by its watery terrain, history of colonial resistance, and perpetual movement of people and products. In the early 20th century, Surabaya’s urban landscape was significantly altered due to the quest for modernity. The colonial authority established Surabaya as a port city including broad boulevards, sidewalks, and a new commercial centre adorned with grand Art Deco buildings juxtaposed with traditional open-air markets. In Surabaya, we call open-air markets a range of names in Bahasa Indonesian: pasar kaget (startling market), pasar krempyeng (additional/extended market), pasar tumpah (overspill market), pasar senggol, pasar malam (night market), and bazar (bazaar).
In 1915, the quantity of regulated marketplaces in Surabaya was just 8, but by 1938, it had escalated to 43. However, traditional open-air markets experienced significant growth in the early 20th century, triggering architects, city bureaucrats, and urban planners during this colonial period to become involved in discourse regarding the mapping and planning, required to control straatsverkooper (street vendors) and ongeorganiseerde pasar op den weg (unregulated markets on public roads).This fundamental data regarding the market in Surabaya during the early 20th century was published in Locale Techniek (Soerabaja-Nummer, 8e Jaargang, Nummer 2, Maart-April, 1939), a journal recording the activities of municipalities in colonial Indonesia.
During my archival research in April 2021 at Surabaya City Archives and Library Agency, I found two documents issued by the Surabaya city administration regarding illegal markets: list of street names and kampung used by illicit traders/illegal markets in 1956 (Badan Perpustakaan dan Kearsipan Surabaya, Arsip Pasar Box. 2 No. 49) andList of illegal markets in Surabaya North in 1972 (Badan Perpustakaan dan Kearsipan Surabaya, Arsip Pasar No. 60). The enforcement of discrimination, threat, and displacement of street vendors and the unregulated markets on public roads by the government persisted in Surabaya post-independence. The Surabaya municipal administration characterized the increase in the number of markets from the 1950s to the 1970s as “illegal markets,” or pasar liar, due to the lack of government-established markets to accommodate population expansion. To investigate the extent to which government agencies engage in discourses regarding illegal markets through their policies and enforcement strategies, these archives are essential for researchers. Currently, there is no significant study on markets in Surabaya, and archival access is limited. As a result, I have taken to mapping and ethnographic research to make up for these gaps.
From January 2020 to October 2021, I mapped the markets of Surabaya by conducting site visits and utilizing Open Street Maps. I identified 185 markets, established between 1915 and 2018, which were categorized into 72 markets managed by the Surabaya City Government (PD Pasar Surya and the Cooperative and MSME Office), and 113 markets managed by the community. Community members serve as the managers of Neighborhood Associations (Rukun Tetangga-RT), Community Associations (Rukun Warga-RW), Community Resilience Institutions (Lembaga Ketahanan Masyarakat Kelurahan-LKMK), or as individuals. The 113 markets managed by non-government entities are dominated by open-air markets, with 74 open-air markets in Surabaya. The significant number of non-government markets is no surprise, with the population of Surabaya doubling from under 1.5 million people in 1970 to almost 3 million people in 2020. However, the number of government markets remain the same, leaving communities to find ways to make up for the shortfall. Through this mapping, I am questioning why these open-air marketplaces are deemed illegal while the government neglects fulfilling people’s need for affordable and fresh everyday goods.
Pasar tumpah Tembok
The ambiance of the bustling market at Tembok Dukuh Street, named pasar tumpah Tembok in Surabaya in December 2020 was energetic, reaching the height of vibrancy 10 minutes before 6am. Traders and buyers make use of the last 10 minutes to draw in newcomers to the market and to persuade those who remain indecisive about their purchases. This wet market extending down Tembok Dukuh Street, involving over a hundred traders, starts its activity around 3am. The Satpol PP, the municipal police unit, stationed a truck and its officers on the west side of the road, prepared to remove traders and market patrons from Tembok Dukuh street. At precisely 6am, the road barriers positioned to the west and east of the street by the security personnel employed by Rukun Warga (RW)/Citizens Association, RW VIII of Kampung Tembok Dukuh, were lifted, allowing hundreds of vehicles and their drivers to rapidly occupy the congested market at Tembok Dukuh street.
Pasar tumpah Tembok since May 2020 has been “officially” overseen by RW VIII of Kampung Tembok Dukuh. ‘Kampung’ means ‘urban settlement’ and is used to indicate particular neighbourhoods in urban cities. Pasar tumpah Tembok is situated on Tembok Dukuh Street, extending from the entrance of Tembok Dukuh I alley to Tembok Dukuh VI. Nevertheless, the market clientele include people of Kampung Tembok Dukuh, Kampung Tembok Lor, Kampung Tembok Gede, Kampung Kalibutuh, and Kampung Tembok Sayuran, in addition to sellers of vegetables who frequent and purchase goods at this street market.
The community manages much of the urban logistics around Pasar tumpah Tembok.The market overflow in the alleys features a security staff responsible for parking and coordinates with the cleaning team. From May 2020 until my visit in early 2022, the market area has been designated as a car-free, pedestrian zone only for market activities. I convened with traders from Kampung Tembok Dukuh, Kampung Greges (a fisherman kampung), as well as from Madura island and Malang City. Mr. Pajar, the head of RW VIII, explains the pasar tumpah Tembok:
Pasar tumpah Tembok has been in existence since the early 1910s, originating from the Kampung Tembok Dukuh and the surrounding colonial settlement. The colonial authorities subsequently transitioned this trade activity into permanent buildings, which have persisted post-independence, exemplified by the Tembok and Tidar market buildings administered by PD Pasar Surya. The deteriorating quality and administration of the Tembok and Tidar market facilities stimulated the necessity for the open-air markets along Jalan Tembok Dukuh, Jalan Kalibutuh, and Jalan Patua
In 2019, we presented a suggestion to the Surabaya municipal administration concerning the management of the pasar tumpah Tembok. The concept involved deploying a security force to manage traffic during the open-air market. The idea received approval, and we assigned five personnel to the security team. The pasar tumpah started at 3 AM, occupying the road, and then moved to the street edge at 6 AM, with us orchestrating the arrangement.
In June 2020, the pasar tumpah Tembok, under the management of RW VIII, has established a cooperative initiative for traders under the Sugeng Rawuh Cooperative. This scheme intends to utilize cooperatives as a legal framework for traders, akin to a community group. The market has around 200 traders, of which around 150 are cooperative members, and 100 are active participants. This community-managed open-air markets had emerged as the optimal option for vendors due to daily payments for stall rental, storage space, and cleanliness fees, which range from IDR 5,000 to IDR 20,000. These expenses are reasonable and do not impose a significant hardship relative to monthly or yearly leases in regulated markets. The autonomous administration of the market by the kampung inhabitants facilitates optimal bargaining among community leaders, merchants, and the locals. This community initiative established pasar tumpah Tembok as the sole open-air market on Surabaya’s major road. The market is situated in the historical neighborhood and colonial infrastructure of Pasar Turi station.
However, the cooperative market was recently overturned. When I revisited the pasar tumpah Tembok at the end of July 2024, the RW VIII administrators were absent, and the street market is no longer overseen by the people of RW VIII. Numerous traders had departed the market before to 6am, following a ‘sweep’ conducted by SATPOL PP at 5am. The market is now confined to the roadside and no longer extends onto the street, confirmed in an online article published on 3 November 2023 regarding the market’s dissolution by the municipality. Some of the street traders I spoke to told me that the changes have been without a clear explanation. One trader commented that RW VIII fails to allocate enough money, in the form of bribes, to SATPOL PP.
From the colonial period until the present day, open-air markets have been seen as a nuisance by the Surabaya municipal administration. Street markets have been viewed as detrimental to the city’s cleanliness, unbeneficial to the local economy, and obstructive to vehicular traffic flow. The municipal government, equipped with regulations and personnel from SATPOL PP, efficiently restricts and diminishes the operational hours of markets, as well as displaces illegal markets, particularly those situated on prominent thoroughfares such as Tembok Dukuh Street, Kalimas Barat Street, Karang Menjangan Street, and Banyu Urip Street. The rule commonly employed by the government in Surabaya to limit and perhaps displace open markets is a law that defines a road as one meant for public traffic, and prohibits any alteration of its function.
The year 2024 signified a pinnacle in the expulsion of street markets and street vendors in Surabaya. Living in the old town of Surabaya, I see how the city government is actively transforming the area. The initial action implemented is the eviction of street vendors along KH Mas Mansyur Street, Nyamplungan Street, and Pegirian Street, the three main streets of the Ampel district—an old neighborhood and commercial hub in the old town of Surabaya. But it is not only the food markets: Similar to the situation at pasar tumpah Tembok, as a historical marketplace that has frequently been evicted by the government under the guise of modernization, the vibrant antique market is no longer held every Sunday morning on KH Mas Mansyur Street. A mobile coffee kiosk operating on KH Mas Mansyur Street since the 1950s must now “conceal” itself in front of a chemical supply store, as its longstanding selling site is currently taken by a SATPOL PP tent station. The histories of the market are unfolding right on the streets of Surabaya – we must work to understand and archive them.
With thanks to Robbie Peters, SB301, Suroboyo Ngalor Ngidul, Marco Kusumawijaya, and Indonesian Visual Art Archive for the collaboration and references they provided to support this article.