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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Chinese cemeteries in Semarang

Figure 14. The Chinese cemeteries (A – I), Semarang urban growth, and city planning map of 2011. Source: Drawing by Kezia Dewi based on the Google
Earth and city planning documents of 2011

the opportunity to expand their physical presence in the to modernity, a concept embraced by many newly
territory and carved margins of mobility access to areas independent states.
outside of their assigned place. Local authorities assisted in the emptying of a Chinese
This position was challenged after Indonesian grave at Mrican (cemetery H in Figures 12 and 13).
independence when the colonial system changed: The According to a letter dated 1984, local authorities allowed
Dutch were no longer in power, and the natives no longer the kampung community to transfer 21 graves without the
accepted the higher position of the Chinese-Indonesians. proper ceremonies permitted during colonial times. The
The natives became politically stronger than the Chinese, 1975 city planning document still registered the area of
so they did not accept the Chinese cemeteries (as allowed Mrican as Chinese graves, but by the 1995 city planning
by the Dutch) on what they considered native land. They plan, the area had already been converted into settlements.
simply took back their land. The local administration granted permission to several
Urban development was particularly crucial for the investors – mostly Chinese-Indonesians – to demolish
newly formed Republic of Indonesia to project an image some urban kampungs in the city center to build hotels
of a society that was not only free of colonial subjugation and shopping malls, contributing to the city’s economic
but also modern and beautiful, with a tidy landscape development. However, this did not happen to kampung,
symbolizing hopes for a “good city.” The ultimate purpose which were historically Chinese cemeteries. The landscape
of the new republic’s government was to ensure the well- did not lend itself to such structures, and therefore, the
being of the population, especially the indigenous people municipal authorities did not attempt to forbid illegal
who had been marginalized during colonial times. Due to squatters from establishing dwellings inside the cemeteries.
the city’s rapid growth and expansion, Chinese cemeteries, On the other hand, analysis of the actual city expansion
which were formerly situated on the outskirts, were now compared to the city planning plan showed that in post-
found in the city center. Some municipalities used this colonial non-west regions, the government created policies
situation as justification for their policy to close or alter based on pragmatic observations of how things worked
Chinese cemeteries, claiming that the cemeteries did in reality. Instead of controlling informal kampung,
not contribute to the visual appeal of the city (Husain, Semarang’s municipal authorities chose to legalize the
2015). Moreover, Chinese cemeteries were not connected informal kampung that had overtaken the Chinese

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 12 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3254