Between the districts of Kota Tua and Penjaringan, north of Jakarta, the old port of Sunda Kelapa, the original settlement of the city and built on the banks of the canals of the Ciliwung River estuary, has been located since the 13th century and flourished under Dutch colonisation from the 16th century onwards thanks to the spice trade. Nowadays, it deals in fruit, timber, copra, cement and other goods transported from other islands in the traditional pinisi, wooden boats from Makassar, which wait moored while porters fill and empty their holds amidst the dust and humidity.

Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, dilapidated houses and shacks made of wood and sheet metal pile up on the sides of its surrounding streets and narrow sewage canals covered with garbage, while the dense and humid environment is filled with smells of smoke, dirty water. , dried fish and rotten fruit.