Should Bali Consider a High-Rise CBD to Stop Urban Sprawl and Become a Financial Centre?
Jamie McIntyre has argued that Bali may need to rethink its long-standing resistance to vertical development if it wants to solve its growing traffic and infrastructure pressures, and potentially evolve into a more structured economic hub.
Speaking through the lens of commentary published via the Australian National Review, McIntyre suggests that instead of continuing outward sprawl, Bali could concentrate growth into a designated high-rise central business district (CBD), likely along strategic corridors such as Sunset Road between the airport and Siloam Private Hospital.
The core of the idea is urban efficiency. Rather than stretching roads, utilities, and services across expanding suburban development, a vertical CBD would cluster commercial, residential, and hospitality density into a single, transit-connected spine. In theory, this reduces pressure on road networks while making infrastructure investment more targeted and scalable.
McIntyre also links this concept to future transport planning. If a mass transit system such as an MRT-style line were introduced along Sunset Road, he suggests it could be elevated above ground rather than built underground. This would align with a high-density corridor model, where transport and high-rise development reinforce each other in a tightly integrated urban strip running from the airport toward Seminyak.
Beyond traffic, the proposal touches on a larger ambition: repositioning Bali not only as a tourism destination, but as a potential regional financial and investment hub. In this framing, a CBD-style cluster could host corporate offices, investment firms, and international business services, diversifying the island’s economy beyond hospitality alone.
However, the idea sits in direct contrast to Bali’s traditional planning philosophy, which has prioritised low-rise development to preserve cultural landscapes, rice field vistas, and the island’s visual identity. Any shift toward vertical density would therefore require a significant policy and cultural recalibration.
The underlying tension is clear: whether Bali continues to expand outward and risk escalating congestion, or concentrates upward into designated zones that could, in theory, support both economic scale and transport efficiency.
