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New and improved facilities at Kuta Beach in Bali are now open. As a part of a wider program to develop the stretch of coastline from Kuta through the Seminyak and Legian Beach areas, the provincial and regency government have undertaken a series of initiatives to improve public facilities in the area. Now locals and tourists can enjoy the new playground, skatepark, and outdoor gym at the world-famous Kuta Beach.
The Project Manager for the Tunas Jaya Sanur (TJS) project, I Nyoman Agus Sandika, told reporters that the installation of a playground, gym, and skatepark came as a response to requests from the local community. The new infrastructure is located next to the Batan Santen Temple and the Kuta Tsunami Shelter Building.
The new facilities are ideally placed close to Kuta Beach’s food and cold drinks stalls. There are hopes that this will make Kuta Beach more accessible and enjoyable for families. Older family members can relax at the beachside cafes while the youngsters can play and explore the playground and skatepark. Sandika said that the facilities had been created with the wider community in mind.
“These three playground facilities are to accommodate the lifestyle of the millennial generation who tends to be dynamic and like to exercise.” Sandika said the playground is now open, with more developments coming soon. He said, “Playground area is located only in Kuta.
Currently, the construction has been completed. There are two games, namely seesaw, and slide.” The project is set for completion on the 6th of February, and Sandika said that the whole initiative is 97% complete, with just the finishing touches to be added.
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The development of the playground, skatepark, and outdoor gym are just some of the requests made y local residents. In the early stages, officials explored the feasibility of creating a futsal court, a volleyball court, and other sporting facilities.
However, it was discovered that coastal abrasion along Kuta Beach would mean that such facilities would not be viable in the long run. Sandika said that the outdoor gym at Kuta Beach had been designed based on the equipment installed at Puputan Badung Field in Denpasar.
These latest facility upgrades come as part of a larger plan to redevelop Kuta Beach as a tourist destination. In recent years, even before the pandemic, tourism leaders have observed that tourists from across all demographics are starting to favor trendy Canggu over classic Kuta.
This is an obvious cause for concern for local business owners, and so the local governed have committed to a series of ‘beautification’ works in the area to help encourage tourists back to the island’s original vacation hotspot.
Speaking in December 2022, Puspa Negara, the Chair of LPM Legian and the Chair of the Alliance of Marginal Bali Tourism Actors, said that the beautification works are essential to ensure that Kuta remains a destination of choice for tourists.
He explained, “We feel that we are starting to seem like we are being abandoned. That’s why we need to arrange destinations into an aesthetically futuristic appearance…Along with developments in structuring Kuta – Legian – Seminyak beach destinations, it is indeed necessary to have beautification that leads to maximizing the aesthetics of the beach area so that tourists don’t leave it”.
The Badung Regency Government has budgeted IDR 28 billion (USD 1.7 million ) in 2023 for developments to the stretch of the coastline. Part of the plan is to renovate the beach wall. The intention is to allow pedestrians or anyone passing by the beach from the in-land roads to be able to see the beauty of the beaches. The wall will be renovated to include traditional Balinese stonework that officials hope will become a cultural landmark for visiting tourists.
