Tebet Eco Park and the MLAA16 Excellence Award
The Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards is one of the region’s leading platforms for recognising outstanding landscape architecture projects. This year’s awards placed a strong emphasis on Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a result, projects were evaluated not only for design quality, but also for their contribution to environmental resilience and community wellbeing.
Receiving the MLAA16 Excellence Award highlights the role of Tebet Eco Park as a public landscape that integrates ecological restoration, flood resilience, and public life within a dense urban context.
Transforming a Fragmented Urban Landscape
Located in South Jakarta, Tebet Eco Park occupies a 7.3-hectare site within one of the city’s most densely populated districts.
Before its revitalisation, the site consisted of two separate parks divided by roads and a concrete canal. Furthermore, the area faced recurring flooding, deteriorating infrastructure, environmental degradation, and limited access to quality green space.
The project approached these challenges through a Nature-based Solutions framework. Ecological restoration, hydrological improvement, biodiversity enhancement, and public space activation were combined into a single landscape strategy.
One of the key interventions involved reconnecting the two parks while improving the canal corridor as part of a larger 3.67 km² urban catchment area. At the same time, the project transformed a fragmented landscape into a more connected ecological and social environment.
Ecological and Social Impact
Since opening, Tebet Eco Park has become one of Jakarta’s most visited public parks. During its initial opening period, the park recorded more than 60,000 visitors in a single day. This response reflects the growing demand for accessible and high-quality public green spaces in the city.
Today, the park accommodates a wide range of activities across eight interconnected zones. These spaces support recreation, exercise, environmental education, children’s play, and community gathering.
Beyond recreation, Tebet Eco Park demonstrates how public landscapes can function as ecological infrastructure. Water management systems, habitat creation, biodiversity enhancement, and public accessibility work together within a single landscape framework. Consequently, the project contributes to both environmental performance and everyday urban life.
Why the MLAA16 Excellence Award Matters
The MLAA16 Excellence Award acknowledges more than the physical transformation of the site. It also recognises the broader role of landscape architecture in addressing contemporary urban challenges.
As cities across Southeast Asia continue to face the pressures of urbanisation and climate change, public landscapes are becoming increasingly important. Tebet Eco Park offers one example of how ecological systems and public life can be strengthened together through design.
The recognition is also meaningful as part of a broader presence of projects located in Indonesia at this year’s awards. Together, these projects highlight the growing role of landscape architecture in shaping more resilient, inclusive, and environmentally responsive places across the region.
We would also like to acknowledge fellow award recipient Urban+, whose recognised work contributed to this collective achievement at MLAA16.
Looking Forward
For SIURA Studio, the MLAA16 Excellence Award reflects the contribution of many stakeholders involved in the project’s realisation.
We extend our sincere appreciation to the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM), the MLAA jury panel, project collaborators, clients, consultants, contractors, and communities who contributed to the success of Tebet Eco Park.
We are honoured to see the project recognised through the MLAA16 Excellence Award and remain committed to creating landscapes that work for both people and nature.
Interested in more public space and landscape projects? Explore SIURA Studio’s project portfolio and research initiatives across Southeast Asia.
Explore more of SIURA Studio’s public space and landscape projects.
