On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Jakarta, a flock of 20-somethings eagerly heads to Pasar Santa, a traditional market that’s recently been transformed into the city’s new creative hotspot. While the ground level looks like a regular local market – old garment shops, fruit and vegetable stalls – the first floor is quite different. Here, narrow corridors host something new in every corner, such as coffee shops or cold-pressed juice bars. The atmosphere is bustling, with a soundtrack of jazz from a vintage vinyl store playing in the background.

This area’s renaissance is a breath of fresh air for many Jakartans, who would otherwise consider a trip to one of the city’s countless shopping malls as the highlight of their weekend. It’s also a sign of the times. Jakarta has been going through drastic changes in recent years. The area has a growing population of over nine million as well as a rising middle class, triggering a boom in consumer spending.

Locals are getting tired of the capital’s reputation as a traffic island and their trailblazing governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, is working on a facelift and major infrastructure projects, including an upcoming mass rapid transit train system. It’s a change that’s also reflected in a wide variety of retail and hospitality start-ups popping up across the city. These range from restaurants and cafés to speciality boutiques and menswear stores, founded by a new breed of creative entrepreneurs seeking to reinvent the way Jakartans eat, drink and shop.

Primo Rizky, head of independent publishing house Studio Geometry and editor of We Indonesians Rule, a book on Indonesia’s creative talents, observes that there’s been a shift in the city’s social landscape. “The younger generations in Jakarta, especially those in their 20s to 30s, are heavily influenced by the information they consume through social media,” he says. “Some of them are also educated abroad, so they tend to replicate what’s trending or what they deem as cool in other countries when they come back.” At the same time, people in Jakarta are becoming more conscious of what they consume. “They want to know the process behind how a product is made or the story behind a brand in order to appreciate it more,” notes Rizky.

This change in lifestyle choices among millennials caught the attention of publisher Hadi Ismanto, who dedicates his online publication Manual Jakarta to documenting the most innovative places and people in the city. Ismanto, who has studied in Melbourne, was surprised by how much the lifestyle scene in Jakarta had begun to resemble that of the Australian city. “A large number of Indonesians studied overseas and came back to the country because of its promising opportunities,” he says. “They’re definitely influenced by the culture they experienced abroad when opening up these new businesses, but some also then try to customise it according to the market here.”

In addition to this global influence, many Jakartans have developed more sophisticated tastes as young industries have burgeoned in the city. “The south area has always been more forward-thinking in its outlook,” comments Ismanto. “Many of its residents are involved in the creative industry so are often more willing to try new ideas and places.”

Whiteboard Journal, an online magazine that reports on and discusses Jakarta’s culture, is one of the creative businesses in the dynamic Kemang district of the city. Editor-in-chief Max Suriaganda has noticed that young people in Jakarta are getting tired of malls and big-box retail stores. “They’re trying to find alternatives – and that’s something these new standalone establishments offer,” he observes. “Even though most of them are still small-scale, the young entrepreneurs behind them have unprecedented confidence when it comes to marketing their creations, thanks in part to social media.” Without a doubt, social media has also fuelled another trend gaining a foothold in Jakarta: pop-up markets. Events like Brightspot Market and Euphoria Project bring together a number of local fashion labels and culinary start-ups for a short period of time, usually just a weekend. Online marketing via platforms such as Instagram means these markets successfully attract a high number of visitors, through which an organic community has grown.

“I think it’s a clear sign of how the notion of retail in Jakarta is expanding,” says Suriaganda. “Having a physical presence is becoming less relevant for promotion and building awareness among new consumers – significant portions of brands’ resources are now geared towards building a digital audience.” In spite of this, there are still business challenges for these young entrepreneurs to face. “Customers in Jakarta are not particularly loyal,” says Rizky. “They’re still very much influenced by hype and trends and are always on the lookout for something new.” In response, many young business owners are focusing on the quality of their product to encourage customers to return to their stores.

Overall, there is an optimistic outlook in the city. “There are more people in Jakarta interested in building their own creative business,” Rizky says. “They see places like Pasar Santa and realise that, even with just a small amount of capital, you can create your own products and open up a store.”

Mark Soetantyo - Creative director and co-founder of Common House

Mark Soetantyo began his career as a graphic designer, but he always wanted to open a restaurant business. The idea finally came to life in 2013, when he and his business partners opened Common House, a restaurant and retail space situated in a two-storey building in south Jakarta’s leafy Panglima Polim area. “The idea was to have a mixed-use space where we can have retailers and dining under one roof,” explains Soetantyo. “We lease the retail spaces to a select group of brands while we focus on operating the restaurant.” Common House aims to create a local retail community through its tenants, which range from Bluesville, a local brand specialising in indigo-dyed products, to Footurama, a boutique selling pre-owned high-end goods. “The retailers we choose are owned by young creative types who are trying to support local industries,” says Soetantyo. “We can see that they’re committed to their businesses, which is why we want to work with them.” Common House also regularly holds events at its pop-up space, to allow new brands or young artists to showcase their latest work. This communal and entrepreneurial spirit reflects that of the creative denizens of south Jakarta.“I see south Jakartans as more experimental and always eager to try something new,” says Soetantyo. Not unlike Soetantyo himself; he and his colleagues recently opened Woodpecker, a new coffee shop just around the corner from Common House.

Hendri Kurniawan & Ve Handojo Co-founders of ABCD School of Coffee

Right in the middle of the bustling Pasar Santa market is a small wooden kiosk that goes by the name of ABCD School of Coffee – ABCD stands for A Bunch of Caffeine Dealers. It started in 2013 when Hendri Kurniawan and Ve Handojo, both coffee enthusiasts and certified judges for international barista competitions, noticed that the city lacked a place where people could learn about coffee. “We noticed that a lot of baristas were having a hard time practising in their own cafés,” explains Handojo. “The layout of our space happens to be similar to that of the World Barista Championship, so it’s a perfect place to learn.” In regular afternoon sessions, young baristas practise making cappuccinos – and allow passersby to enjoy their creations for free. As the pioneers behind Pasar Santa’s revival, Kurniawan and Handojo view the rapidly rising number of tenants in the market – from a ramen shop and a vinyl store to a patisserie and a barbershop – as a positive trend. “Prior to opening their own stores, some of these people collaborated with us via a pop-up space within ABCD,” says Kurniawan. As a result of all these exciting developments, however, there has been an increased demand for space in the market, which in turn has pushed up rent. In response, some tenants, including ABCD, have teamed up to form an association. “All of us band together in order to have stronger bargaining power when it comes to the market’s management,” says Handojo. “We also want to protect the older merchants and reduce any bad impact on the current ecosystem at Pasar Santa.”

Ahmad Hadiwijaya, Jean Tora Thosan & Aldo Ferdiansyah Co\-founders of Stockroom

Stockroom, a menswear store and restaurant spread over two floors, can be found at the corner of a narrow street in south Jakarta’s Kemang district. The space, founded in 2013 by friends Ahmad Hadiwijaya, Jean Tora Thosan and Aldo Ferdiansyah, focuses on Indonesian menswear. “We noticed that, as a developing country, Indonesia has a huge market – but it’s always been invaded by big international brands,” explains Hadiwijaya. “As an effort to compete with them, we opened Stockroom as a place where high-quality local brands can be showcased.”
Inside Stockroom’s second-floor store, shoppers can find a range of men’s clothing, shoes and accessories by the country’s emerging brands such as Voyej, Sagara and Oldblue Co, displayed within a light-filled, wood-dominated setting. These brands appeal to new, young, style-conscious customers, many of whom turn to online communities to discuss and share their interest in menswear. “One of our biggest markets is Darahkubiru.com, an online denim forum, through which we often promote our products,” says Hadiwijaya. Changing the mindset of mainstream customers in Jakarta who prefer to shop for international labels is a big challenge for Stockroom. “We want people to be more appreciative of local products. But thanks to annual events like Brightspot Market, a pop-up market showcasing Indonesia’s creative talent, there is a wider exposure to these brands,” observes Hadiwijaya. Similar places opening up across town also present another test for Stockroom. “We are facing some competitors, including other menswear stores in the city and Pasar Santa market,” explains Thosan. But Stockroom’s founders intend to rise to the challenge: “We plan to have more in-house events, such as product launches, as well as new collaborations with our brands.”