Bung KarnoSports Arena, formerly named Senayan Sports Arena from 1969 to 2001 and Asian Games Complex 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 main stadium, secondary stadium, the Sports Palace, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums, 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 host a main stadium with a capacity of 77,193 seats, athletic stadium, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums, hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. It is named after Sukarno, Indonesia's first President. It is the largest and one of the oldest sport complex in Jakarta and Indonesia, and also one of the largest in Southeast Asia. The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium is the main building within this sports complex. The abbreviation Gelora also means "vigorous" in Indonesian language. Other than hosting numbers of 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 weekend.
History
After the Asian Games Federation declared Jakarta to host the 1962 Asian Games in 1958, the minimum requirement that yet to be met by the 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 led by :id:Daftar Menteri Pemuda dan Olahraga Indonesia|Minister of Sports Maladi. 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. Frederich 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 the future downtown area will potentially create a massive traffic congestion. Sukarno agreed and instead assigned the Senayan area with an area of approximately 300 hectares. The first pole erection was done symbolically by Sukarno on 8 February 1960. Construction of Istora was completed on 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.
Initially the sports complex covers much larger area than it is today. During the 1980s to 1990s, several land plots were developed into non-sport facilities. Northern area were developed into government offices while the southern area were developed into hotels and shopping malls. The complex also had radio-controlled car circuit northwest of the main stadium, which was scrapped during the 2017 renovation.
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.
