Trip Report: Medan

An airport train, the massive main square redevelopment, Jakarta-style Superblocks arrive, and the rejuvenation of the old city area that could put Medan on the tourist map.

Medan was the first place I visited in Indonesia, which is an unusual introduction for an Australian. I was arriving from Penang across the strait, and I wanted my introduction to Indonesia to be somewhere other than Bali.

I wasn’t the urbanist that I am today on that first trip, so I only stayed in Medan while waiting to go elsewhere. It was great to go back and see how Medan has changed. For a start, there is a new airport with an airport train. There is a massive redevelopment of the main square, and the old city area has the potential to be listed in those “cities to visit this year” travel listicles. The big “Superblock” developments that are common in Jakarta have also arrived.

This is my Medan trip report for my visit in 2023.

Airport train

I arrived at Kualanamu International Airport, which is the airport that serves Medan. KNO Airport is part of an elite club of airports that have railways in Southeast Asia. Indonesia has the most airport railways by far, and arriving by airport train makes a great first impression of a city.

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Here is my review of the Kualanamu Airport Rail Link.

Merdeka Square Renovation

Lapangan Merdeka is the central square of Medan, bordered by the main train station and the old town area. The square is characterised by the giant 140-year-old rain trees that border the square. The buildings in the square looked run-down when I last visited, and I thought that the park could use a bit of landscaping. I did not expect the massive renovation project that is now underway.

Here is what Merdeka Square looks like as viewed from the train station.

The entire square has been cleared, and half of the land is being excavated for an underground complex. The big trees have been kept intact, and some old buildings on the north side remain. Some images on the construction fences show a cultural centre and other facilities underground. There is a mention in one news report that it connects to the train station, but I couldn’t find any information on whether this connection is also underground. There is also no reference to the proposed Medan LRT.

The project was significant enough for President Jokowi to officially launch the renovation project.

Medan Old Town Redevelopment

Medan has a surprisingly good old town. I say that because you never hear about it as a place to visit. It’s also surprising because Indonesia has had a track record of destroying remnants of its colonial past.

There is a good stock of interesting old buildings here that have potential. The problem is that the area has been neglected for so long that the buildings are in a great state of disrepair.

I remembered this area from my last trip, so it was the first place I visited when I returned. I was delighted to find that I had returned when the city was in the midst of an urban renewal program in the old city area. Here is one of the plans that was on display.

I haven’t been able to find any full-resolution images online yet, so here is the full-size photo to get an overview of the project.

The main street of the old city area is Jalan Jenderal Ahmad Yani. This starts at the corner of Merdeka Square, and it has the best collection of old buildings in the city.

The footpaths are being widened, and tree boxes are being added on the street. There are so many streets that have no trees, so removing a single on-street car park and replacing it with a tree box is one of the easiest wins to make a more pleasant city.

Where the trees are planted depends on where the drainage pipes are under the road. The old town renovation project also includes fixing the drainage.

I was feeling good about the old town regeneration until there was a big afternoon downpour. After it stopped raining, I went back out again, and some of the old town streets were flooded. This newly repaved street looked like a stream.

I was wondering where the drain holes were, so I walked along the street looking for them. These were the drain holes on the repaved road…

No wonder the street flooded so easily. For a city in the tropics that experiences frequent downpours, there should be bigger drains in the gutter.

I was looking forward to the thought of coming back in the future to find a thriving old town with restored heritage buildings, but I hope the drainage situation is worked out. If they get this renovation right, the old city of Medan will become a tourist attraction like the renovated old towns of KL and Ipoh.

The renovation map shows the old city streets that have been selected for renovation. This is a great start, but then it has to continue throughout the city. Here is one of the main streets in the city centre. The sections of the footpath that weren’t broken have been turned into a car park.

Warenhuis Building Revitalisation

While it’s good that the old city is being made pedestrian-friendly with tree-lined streets, the renaissance will also depend on the restoration of historic buildings. One of the most historic buildings is also one in most in need of restoration. The Warenhuis Building is gutted out on the inside, though the facade remains mostly intact. It will be rebuilt and turned into an expo and cultural centre.

Podomoro City Deli Medan

The last time I was in Medan, I arrived via Polonia Airport in the city centre. Having an airport in the city would have imposed height restrictions on city buildings. Now that the airport has moved, there is a skyline forming in the city. The most noticeable structure is Podomoro City Deli Medan.

This is what is known in Indonesia as a Superblock. This is a mixed-use development on one plot of land, usually built by one developer. They have multiple apartment towers crammed into one space. This is the sort of thing you would see in land-scarce Hong Kong, but it looks out of place in a city that is otherwise low-rise.

I have written about this before (Building better new cities in Southeast Asia), and this article goes deeper into the Superblocks of Indonesia.

It’s hard to show how dense the buildings are with street-level photos, but if you click through to the main website, you can see how the buildings are tightly packed.

In a normal city, you would have apartment blocks more evenly spread out. Single developers shouldn’t be allowed to just cram so many apartments in one space.

The other thing that makes me mad about these sorts of developments is how car-centric they are. I probably wouldn’t mind them so much if they were better integrated into the city at the ground level. I tried to find the main entrance to the mall and entered via a steep and narrow staircase. When I left the mall, it wasn’t obvious where pedestrians should go. I ended up walking along the car ramp until I thought better of it and looked for the stairs again.

I’m all for modern apartment developments, but there needs to be better government regulation. Have apartments more spaced out, and such developments must be built for pedestrians first.

Centre Point Medan

Another Superblock is Centre Point Medan. This is on the other side of the central railway station, and it has turned this “wrong side of the tracks” area into a vibrant shopping area. The apartment towers here have space around them.

North Sumatra Railways

One of the main reasons I was here was to see the railway system of North Sumatra, which has its main hub in Medan. I rode the main railway lines of the system, and I have updated my guide to the railways of Sumatra.