Ujung Tanah – Old port kecamatan of Makassar around Pelabuhan Paotere on the Spermonde shelf
Ujung Tanah is a kecamatan within the city of Makassar (Kota Makassar), South Sulawesi Province, on the western coast of Sulawesi facing the Makassar Strait. According to the Indonesian Wikipedia entry for the district, Ujung Tanah covers about 5.94 km² (594 hectares) with a population of around 47,695, organised into nine kelurahan under Kemendagri code 73.71.08 and BPS code 7371080. The kecamatan is one of the four original districts of Makassar dating back to the colonial era under the Frijiling administration, alongside Wajo, Mariso and Makassar proper, and was historically governed by a galarang under Dutch rule. Pelabuhan Paotere, the historic phinisi-style port of Makassar, lies inside Ujung Tanah and remains a working centre of inter-island sea trade.
Tourism and attractions
Ujung Tanah is one of the more historically distinctive kecamatan in central Makassar. Pelabuhan Paotere, mentioned by Wikipedia, is one of the iconic visitor experiences of the city: a traditional sailing-boat (phinisi) harbour with strong cultural and economic ties to South Sulawesi''s Bugis-Makassar maritime heritage and to the inter-island trade reaching as far as Maluku, Papua and Kalimantan. The wider city of Makassar, of which Ujung Tanah is part, is best known for Fort Rotterdam (Benteng Ujung Pandang), the Losari beach front, the Trans Studio entertainment complex and the broader Bugis-Makassar cultural landscape; the offshore Spermonde islands of Samalona, Lae-Lae, Kayangan and the more distant Barrang Lompo (administratively now part of the new Kepulauan Sangkarrang kecamatan, formerly under Ujung Tanah) provide reef and beach trips.
Property market
Property market dynamics in Ujung Tanah are shaped by its central position in Makassar and by the working harbour and trading economy. Typical residential stock includes single and two-storey landed houses on individually owned plots, ruko shophouses along the main commercial streets, kost accommodation for workers, students and traders, and a small but growing stock of cluster developments and mid-rise residential towers. Land tenure is dominated by sertifikat hak milik and hak guna bangunan titles, with active land transactions along the main roads and around the port area. Demand drivers include local government and commercial employment, the port and trading economy, the wider Makassar metropolitan growth and the role of the kecamatan as part of the city''s designated central zone.
Rental and investment outlook
Rental activity in Ujung Tanah is among the most diverse covered in this batch, ranging from kost rooms and simple landed houses for traders and workers to higher-spec landed houses, modest apartments and ruko units oriented to managerial staff, port-related professionals and educational and health workers. Yields can be reasonable in well-located properties along the main streets and near the port, with the broader Makassar metropolitan demand supporting stable occupancy. Investment interest is best approached through landed houses and ruko in established neighbourhoods, mixed-use mid-rise projects, port-oriented commercial and warehousing premises, and small-format hospitality. The wider South Sulawesi economy, anchored by Makassar as the regional gateway for eastern Indonesia, supports indirect demand. Foreign investors typically use PT PMA structures or long-term leases.
Practical tips
Ujung Tanah is reached easily by road across Kota Makassar, with Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport at Mandai providing the main air access and Pelabuhan Soekarno-Hatta and Pelabuhan Paotere providing sea connections to other Indonesian ports. The climate is tropical with a wet season typically from November to April and a drier middle of the year, characteristic of the southwestern Sulawesi coast. The dominant local languages are Makassar and Bugis alongside Indonesian, with smaller communities of other South Sulawesi and eastern Indonesian groups, and Islam is the dominant religion with strong Bugis-Makassar cultural traditions. Basic services such as puskesmas primary healthcare clinics, primary, secondary and senior secondary schools, mosques, markets, modern retail and many warung are widely available, with larger hospitals, banks and government offices distributed across the city. Mobile-data coverage is good across the urban area.
