Bung Karno Sports Arena (Indonesian: Kompleks Gelanggang Olahraga Bung Karno, known as Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex), formerly named Senayan Sports Arena (Indonesian: Gelanggang Olahraga Senayan) from 1969 to 2001 and Asian Games Complex (Indonesian: Kompleks Asian Games) on its early days, is a sports complex located in Gelora, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. It is usually misperceived to be located at Senayan, South Jakarta, hence its former name. The sports complex hosts a main stadium, secondary stadium, the Sports Palace, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums (indoor and outdoor), hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. The complex was built in 1960 for the 1962 Asian Games and recently underwent a major reconstruction for the 2018 Asian Games and Asian Para Games.
The sports complex hosts a main stadium with a capacity of 77,193 seats,[1] athletic stadium, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums (indoor and outdoor), hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. It is named after Sukarno, Indonesia's first president and the sitting president during its development and initial opening.[2] Built over 279 hectares of land, it is the largest sports complex in Indonesia, as well as in Southeast Asia.[3] The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium is the main building within this sports complex. The abbreviation Gelora also means "vigorous" (like the flame or ocean wave) in the Indonesian language. Other than hosting several sports facilities, the sports complex is also a popular place for people of Jakarta to do physical exercises; jogging, bicycling, aerobics, and calisthenics, especially during the weekend.
History
After the Asian Games Federation declared Jakarta to host the 1962 Asian Games in 1958, the minimum requirement that was yet to be met by Jakarta was the availability of a multi-sport complex. In response to this, President Sukarno issued Presidential Decree No. 113/1959 dated 11 May 1959 about the establishment of the Asian Games Council of Indonesia (DAGI) led by Minister of SportsMaladi. Sukarno, as an architect and civil engineering graduate, proposed a location near M. H. Thamrin Boulevard and Menteng, namely the area of Karet, Pejompongan, or Dukuh Atas. Friedrich Silaban, a renowned architect who accompanied Sukarno to review the location by helicopter, disagreed with the selection of Dukuh Atas because he argued the construction of a sports complex in the center of the future downtown area will potentially create massive traffic congestion. Sukarno agreed and instead assigned the Senayan area with an area of approximately 300 hectares.[4]
The first pole erection was done symbolically by Sukarno on 8 February 1960. Construction of Istora was completed in May 1961. The secondary stadium, Swimming Stadium, and Tennis Stadium followed in December 1961. The main stadium was completed on 21 July 1962, a month before the games.[5]
Also called Lapangan Softball Pintu Satu (Gate One Softball Field) to distinguish it with the nearby, now-demolished Cemaratiga Softball Field. Can be upgraded with temporary seats to 2,000 capacity.
City Forest (completed in 2018, stands on what was the Senayan Golf Course & Driving Range)
Initially, the sports complex covers a much larger area than it is today. During the 1980s to 1990s, several land plots were developed into non-sport facilities. The northern area was developed into government offices while the southern area was developed into hotels and shopping malls. The complex also had a radio-controlled car circuit northwest of the main stadium, which was scrapped during the 2017 renovation.
Ministry of Youth and Sports office (completed 1983)
National Forestry Museum (Manggala Wanabakti, formerly Ministry of Forestry office, completed 1983)
Senayan Park (completed 2020, stands on the former site of Taman Ria Senayan)
Southern area
The southern area was originally an athlete village for the 1962 Asian Games. The village was demolished in the 1970s. Several buildings now stood in their location.
The sports complex hosted multi-event sport such as Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON, National Sports Week) and Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). The complex hosted the PON seven times between 1973 and 1996. The complex hosted the SEA Games in 1979, 1987, 1997 and 2011; the latter was co-hosted with Jakabaring Sport City complex in Palembang. It also hosted 2018 Asian Games along with Palembang's complex and some other venues across Palembang, Banten, Greater Jakarta and West Java, while it served only with other venues across Greater Jakarta and West Java during the subsequent Para Games.
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was held at a new 17,150 seater arena within the sports complex known as Indonesia Arena; Indonesia was the co-host along with Japan and the Philippines.