The Monocle Minute

Campaigning in Indonesia gets under way today ahead of November’s local elections – the country’s second major democratic event this year after February’s presidential vote. Across the sprawling archipelago, hundreds of would-be mayors, regents and governors will spend the next two months shaking hands and handing out T-shirts. But there’s only one race that really matters on a national level: the gubernatorial battle in Jakarta.

Governors of Indonesia’s largest city have a good chance of becoming president and the current candidates will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who steps down in October. Earlier this year the odds were on for a rerun of the divisive 2017 election that pitted Anies Baswedan against Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. Fortunately, the electorate has been spared that ugly battle and can look forward to appointing a fresh face.

Monocle readers might be interested to see Ridwan Kamil on the ballot. The former architect-turned-rising political star has appeared in our pages multiple times while mayor of Bandung and during a successful campaign to become the governor of West Java. Now 52 years old, Kamil has the backing of a major political party and has opened up a strong poll lead against his closest competitor, former cabinet secretary Pramono Anung Wibowo. Kamil would be a smart choice for Jakarta at a time when the sinking city is facing competition from Jokowi’s new capital, Nusantara.

Whether Kamil can develop into a force at the next presidential election in 2029 will largely depend on backroom deals between Jakarta’s powerful political dynasties, old and new. Anies Baswedan’s failure to get on the ballot in Jakarta appears to be the result of an attempt to lock out any potential rivals to Jokowi’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is about to be sworn in as president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s vice-president. Some political experts in Indonesia say that Kamil lacks the background to make it to the very top. However, they used to say the same thing about Jokowi.

James Chambers is Monocle’s Asia editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

With hundreds killed and even more people injured in the last 48 hours in Lebanon as a result of Israeli airstrikes, the question is whether the death toll could surpass the month-long 2006 war, when Hezbollah and Israel last engaged in an all-out conflict. Israel says that it is conducting precision strikes on Hezbollah targets and yesterday announced that it had killed the organisation’s rocket and missile force chief Ibrahim Qubaisi, as well as several other top commanders.

According to Lebanese officials, however, most of the airstrikes have hit civilian homes. Lebanon’s hospitals and beleaguered volunteer ambulance service, already struggling due to the country’s financial crash, are overwhelmed. Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled their homes in the south of the country and the Beqaa Valley, blocking roads to the capital. Lebanon is seen as a vital ally in the Middle East for many global powers. Israel’s government says that it plans to intensify its bombing campaigns, while much of the world desperately tries to seek de-escalation and avert a full-scale war.

The return to the office after the coronavirus pandemic has been slow in US cities, leading to empty office buildings, population decline and fewer taxes coming into city coffers. The answer to these problems, however, might lie in the simple park. According to a new study published this week by the US non-profit Trust for Public Land, investing in high-quality public spaces can have a transformative effect on downtown areas.

Focusing on five different cities – Boise, Plano, Minneapolis, Boston and Atlanta – the report shows that when local authorities invest in parks and open spaces, economic growth follows. New firms choose to relocate to the area and workers are less likely to move elsewhere, leading to a boom in everything from property to retail. “Parks are superfoods for cities,” says Bianca Clarke, the parks initiative lead and associate vice-president for Trust for Public Land.

The Monocle team rounds up highlights from this year’s edition. Expect Design Innovation Medal winner Natsai Audrey Chieza, the landmark pavilion ‘Vert’ and a visit to Kindred record store.