The city of Padang has the characteristics of an urban space overlooking the Indian Ocean and surrounded by a range of Bukit Barisan Mountains. The development of urban areas in Padang moves north and east of the old city area at the Batang Arau estuary. The current urban area arrangement refers to the Regional Regulation (Perda) concerning the Padang City Spatial Planning (RTRW) for 2010-2030.

In line with urban development based on disaster mitigation, the eastern region of Padang was developed as a residential area and education center, while the western region adjacent to the coast is an urban commercial area and business center. The transfer of the Padang City administration center to the eastern region (Air Pacah, Koto Tangah District) in 2010 was an effort to reduce the concentration of the population in the coastal area.

Panorama of the City of Padang from Sitti Nurbaya Park on June 28, 2013. Padang has an urban space that faces the Indian Ocean to the west and is surrounded by the Bukit Barisan Mountains from the east.


City parks and forests

Since 1995, the Padang City Government has begun to develop urban forests including Green Open Space (RTH) which serves to improve the quality of a comfortable and beautiful urban environment, as well as one of the recreational facilities, especially for the citizens of the city. RTH in this city is RTH Taman Melati and RTH Imam Bonjol which also function as city squares. On the Padang Beach area, there is the Lasu Muaro Park which is equipped with the Peace Dove Monument. The monument was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo in the framework of the 2016 Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo.

On a stretch of Batang Kuranji there is the Delta Malvinas City Forest which is a habitat for storks and small white crocodiles. While in Lubuk Kilangan District, there is the Bung Hatta Forest Park, which is a conservation area for the conservation of 240 ha of forest flora. This Forest Park is adjacent to Solok Regency, and has been used as a natural tourist attraction, educational and research facilities as well as hydroorological and pollution prevention functions, especially for the City of Padang.

Padang City received the Adipura trophy for the first time in 1986 from President Soeharto for his achievements being one of the cleanest cities in Indonesia. Then in 1991 the city also obtained Adipura Kencana. Until 2009 the City of Padang had received 17 times the Adipura trophy for 4 assessment periods. Eight years after the 2009 Earthquake which destroyed the city's facilities and infrastructure, Padang again received the Adipura trophy for the 18th time in 2017.

Population

The city of Padang is the city with the most population in the province of West Sumatra. Based on the population census carried out by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2010, the population of the city of Padang was 833,584 people. This number shows a significant decrease in population data in 2008 (856,815 people) due to the 2009 earthquake. At the end of 2014, the Population and Civil Registration Office (Disdukcapil) of Padang City reported a population of 1,000,096 people with details of 273,915 household heads. consisting of 507,785 men and 49,306 women. In 2009 the city, together with the cities of Makassar, Denpasar and Yogyakarta, was established by the Ministry of Home Affairs as a four-city pilot project for the implementation of the Population Number (NIK) Parent-Based Identity Card (KTP) in Indonesia.

Ethnicity

The population of Padang is mostly from the Minangkabau ethnic group. Other ethnic groups who also live here are Java, Chinese, Nias, Mentawai, Batak, Aceh, and Tamil. Minang people in Padang City are migrants from other regions in West Sumatra Province. In 1970, the number of migrants was 43% of the total population, with 64% of them coming from other regions in the province of West Sumatra. In 1990, of the total population of the city of Padang, 91% came from the Minangkabau ethnic group.

Nias people had become the largest minority group in the 19th century. The VOC had taken them as slaves since the beginning of the 17th century. The slavery system was terminated in 1854 by the Padang District Court. At first they settled in Nias Village, but later most of them lived on Gunung Padang. Quite a number of Nias people are married to Minangkabau residents. In addition, there are also those who marry European and Chinese people. The large number of mixed marriages decreases the percentage of Nias tribes in Padang.

The Dutch then also brought Javanese as employees and soldiers, and there were also those who became workers on the plantations. Furthermore, in the 20th century Javanese mostly came as transmigrants. In addition, the Madurese, Ambonese and Bugis tribes were also residents of Padang, as Dutch soldiers during the Padri war. The Chinese population came shortly after the establishment of the VOC post. The Chinese in Padang, commonly referred to as China Padang, most of them have blended and usually speak Minang. In 1930 at least 51% were third descendants, with 80% being Hokkien, 2% Hakka, and 15% Kwongfu.

Tamils ​​or Indians may come with British soldiers. The residential area of ​​Tamils ​​in Kampung Keling is a commercial center. Most of those who live in the city of Padang have forgotten their culture. The Europeans and Indo who once inhabited the city of Padang disappeared during the years between independence (1945) and the nationalization of the Dutch company (1958).

Administrative Region

Padang City consists of 11 sub-districts which are divided into 104 sub-districts. Koto Tangah sub-district is the largest sub-district. Whereas West Padang District has the smallest area.

1. Bungus Teluk Kabung Subdistrict, Kabung Bay, 100.78 km²
2. Koto Tangah District, Lubuk Buaya, 232.25 km²
3. Kuranji Subdistrict, Kalumbuk, 57.41 km²
4. Lubuk Begalung District, Lubuk Begalung, 30.91 km²
5. Lubuk Kilangan sub-district, Bandar Buat, 85.99 km²
6. Nanggalo, Nanggalo District, 8.07 km²
7. Padang Barat District, Belakang Tangsi, 7.00 km²
8. Padang Selatan District, Seberang Padang, 10.03 km²
9. Kecamatan Padang Timur, Simpang Haru, 8.15 km²
10. Padang Utara District, Ulak Karang, 8.08 km²
11. Pauh District, Cupak Tangah, 146.29 km²