The History of Sriwedari Park as a Public Sphere

Abstract

Sriwedari is a cultural heritage which is full of historical value as the King's garden in the Pakubuwana X era. Since its inception, Sriwedari Park has been designed as a place of reflection and an amusement park for the royal family, until it was finally opened to the public. The purpose of this study is to see the history of Sriwedari Park in Surakarta as a public sphere for the wider community by looking into several aspects of the public sphere by using the approach of Jürgen Habermas. The results of this study explained that Sriwedari Park has a long history and is included in one of the historical-cultural heritages for the people of Surakarta City. The hectic atmosphere of Sriwedari Park is also more or less described in Kartodikromo's writings as a crowded place that is communal and becomes a public sphere. Sriwedari Park also has a spatial aspect in facilitating the wider community to build public interactions, mainly in self-expression and political deliberation.