Central Bali
Central Bali is Ubud: inland, away from the beach, and the cultural centre of the island. Here I describe where the area stands, what positive and negative social impact your choice has when you buy or build there. The choice stays with you. I want you to know what comes with it.
- Tourist intensity
- Very high
- Visitors
- 3 million a year
- Open landscape
- Rice fields disappearing
- Watch
- Zoning, green zone
Central Bali is Ubud. Choose the area to read more.
Click a pin to open that location.
Established
Ubud. Established as the cultural centre of Bali, with painters, local traditions and healing, and roughly three million visitors a year.
The meter
Each meter runs between two neutral end points. No judgement is attached. The dot shows where the area stands now.
Tourism
Cultural, busier every yearUbud is still very culture-oriented: painters, local traditions and healing. A lot of tourists come here, roughly three million a year, and the centre is touristy too. It also draws a certain kind of visitor: many people who respect nature and the living environment. When I was there in 2015, Ubud was a lot less developed than it is now. That goes for the whole of Bali.
Economy
Work through tourismThe tourism also creates employment.
Living environment
Rice fields disappearingThere are still a lot of rice fields around Ubud, but Ubud keeps getting bigger. Building takes place on rice fields, at the expense of the open landscape. According to Walhi Bali, 3 to 6 percent of farmland in the regencies around Ubud is converted to commercial use every year. The visitors who come here often respect nature, which is somewhat at odds with the villas being built. But in Ubud villas are also often built around nature.
Infrastructure
Busy centre, good roads outsideThe infrastructure in the centre of Ubud cannot cope with the pressure: the roads are narrow and it can get very busy. That is because the roads were already there and could never be widened, which also makes them hard to change. Outside Ubud the roads cope fine. The access roads from Canggu and to the rest of the island are perfectly fine, and there is almost never a traffic jam.
Local interests
Locals live here, good harmonyMany local people live around Ubud, and the harmony between the people is good. There are often no problems there. The area creates work for them, while the rice fields it is known for make way for building.
Social impact
Positive social impact
- For local residentsEmployment through tourism.
- For the areaA place where culture, local traditions and healing are still alive, and a public that often respects nature.
- For the surroundingsVillas that are built around nature. A recent example is a gym built by Dutch people: they bought a plot, left all the trees standing and built the whole gym around them. You see this principle more often in Ubud, and it is beautiful.
Negative social impact
- For the surroundingsBuilding on rice fields, at the expense of the open landscape.
- For traffic and accessTraffic congestion in the centre of Ubud, on mostly small roads.
- For the surroundingsVisitors who often come for nature and respect it, while the villas being built can be at odds with that.
- For you as an ownerPay attention to the zone. Don't build in the wrong zone, and certainly not in the green zone. If you do, you risk having your building demolished and not being able to get the right permits. This has happened before, including on the Bukit.
- For the surroundingsThe subak system and the water management around the rice fields are vulnerable.
My view
Ubud is an established, culture-oriented area with work through tourism, and a public that often respects nature. Many local people live around Ubud, and the harmony between the people is good. At the same time Ubud keeps getting bigger: building takes place on rice fields, the centre is often at a standstill, and the villas being built are somewhat at odds with the nature people come for. And anyone who builds here has to pay close attention to which zone they are in.
This brings me to the Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana: harmony between people, nature and spirituality. Ubud is an area where people and nature can live together in harmony. You see it, for example, in the gym built by Dutch people, who left all the trees standing and built around them.
I don't want to tell you what to do. I want to inform you. Know what your choice means, positive as well as negative, and then make the choice yourself.
This area profile provides information, not investment advice. The meters are qualitative estimates, not measurements.