Metro

Metro – A city with strong ambitions

It may not yet stand in the same footing as other more popular places in the country, but that doesn't mean the city of Metro in Lampung doesn't have ambitions to go beyond its current station in life. Its Lampungese city motto of "Bumi Sai Wawai" ("The Beautiful Land") is designed to motivate its 173,870 residents to work towards its future goal of being a strategic metropolitan city that outsiders want to visit.

These plans include a regional expansion of its current 73.21 square kilometer territory, as well as improvements on infrastructure, public facilities and green spaces. It has already proven its seriousness by becoming the first "Complete City" (or a city that has had all of its land officially mapped and registered with the National Land Agency) in the island of Sumatra.

Places to visit when you're here include cultural landmarks such as colonial era buildings. There is a "Dokterswoning" living quarters that Dutch colonists designed for doctors that has been turned into a Historical Information House, as well as the Santa Maria Clinic where people during the colonial era had their diseases treated. The local Metro Freedom Park in the center of the city is also a place filled with regular cultural activities and serves as a social hub for locals. Other parks include the TMII Metro Indonesia park and the Japan-inspired Sakura Garden Park. There is the historic Taqwa Mosque that can accommodate 2,000 pilgrims. Nature lovers can check out the secluded Wara and Macan Putih caves.

The city has been on a continuous upward economic trajectory since the pandemic, having gone from 2.91 percent growth in 2021 to 4.51 percent in 2022 to 4.86 percent in 2023. Its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) at current prices in 2023 was Rp 7.86 trillion, with its biggest industries being wholesale and retail trade (contributing Rp 1.42 trillion or 18.09 percent), the manufacturing industry (at Rp 1.22 trillion or 15.53 percent) and the transportation and storage industry (at Rp 776 billion or 9.87 percent).