In 1678, Sunan Amangkurat II promised to give control of Semarang to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a part of a debt payment.

The VOC, and later, the Dutch East Indies government, established tobacco plantations in the region and built roads and railroads, making Semarang an important colonial trading centre.

[citation needed] The historic presence of a large Indo (Eurasian) community in the area of Semarang is also reflected by the fact a creole mix language called Javindo existed there.

[11] The city was pictured as a small settlement with a pious Muslim area called Kauman, a Chinese quarter, and a Dutch fortress.

The city, known as de Europeesche Buurt, was built in classical European style with church located in the centre, wide boulevards, streets and villas.

[15] According to Purwanto (2005),[16] the urban and architectural form of this settlement is very similar to the design principles applied in many Dutch cities.

Due to the long and costly Java War, there was not much funding from the Dutch East Indies government, and this affected Semarang's development.

Although less developed, Semarang is a fairly well organized city, in which urban activities were concentrated along the river and the settlement is linked to a market where different ethnic groups met to trade.

An important influence on urban growth was the Great Mail Road project in the 1847, which connected all the cities in the northern coast of Central and East Java and positioned Semarang as the trade centre of agricultural production.

The Dutch East Indies' mail and railway projects improved communication and transportation, bringing an economic boom to the city in the 1870s.

[15] The Javanese quarters of town known as kampongs grew increasingly densely populated, reaching as many as 1000 inhabitants per hectare and degrading living conditions.

[19] Mortality remained high into the early 20th century, with newcomers, overcrowding, and poor hygiene triggering cholera and tuberculous outbreaks.

[21] The city doctor Willem T. de Vogel advocated strenuously for reducing overcrowding and improving living conditions by extending Semarang into the less malarial hill country to its south;[22] his fellow councilman Hendrik Tillema had campaigned on a platform of combatting malaria and joined De Vogel's scheme, broadening it into a "village improvement" (Dutch: kampongverbetering) movement.

[19] Purchasing land in the heights with their own money, the two men and some friends passed it on to the city with an initial zoning plan by KPC de Bazel in 1907 but could never convince a majority of the council to support its development.

[19] A decade later, the town approved Thomas Karsten's revised plan for the area, using it to build larger villas for the Dutch and wealthy Chinese and Javanese rather than allowing its use by the poor.

Karsten's approach to town planning emphasized its aesthetic, practical, and social requirements articulated in economic terms rather than purely racial ones.

The villages in the suburbs such as Jomblang and Jatingaleh steadily became the satellite towns of Semarang, more populated with a bigger market area.

Before the invasion of Japan in 1942, Semarang had already become the capital of Central Java province, as the result of trade and industrial success and spatial planning.

[citation needed] After Indonesian independence in 1945, Semarang became the capital of Central Java on 18 August 1945,[25] headed by Mr.

[27] Shortly after that, what had been the Indonesia-conducted Ambarawa, Magelang, and Ungaran offensives reached Semarang city on 15 December 1945, causing an 87-day battle that swept away the British and Dutch military completely.

[28][29] Juridically, Semarang City is a municipality (second level area) consisting of 16 districts (kecamatan), which are again divided into 177 urban villages (kelurahan).

[33] In August 2011, a 421 m (1,380 ft) tunnel dodger at Kreo river has been finished and Jatibarang Dam construction can begin, with completion targeted for July 2013.

The Chinatown is called "Kampong Pecinan Semawis" and expresses many aspects of traditional Chinese culture including foods, rituals, and houses of worship.

In a period of less than 10 years, Semarang Metropolitan continues to build a vital financial contribution to Indonesia due to the growing trade and industry and services.

As a consequence, people's purchasing power increased, capital inflows, consumer confidence, and doing business indexes were relatively conducive to the development of several CBDs such as Simpang Lima City Center (SLCC), Pemuda Central Business District (PCBD), and Gajahmada Golden Triangle (GGT).

Like other metropolitan cities within Indonesia, due to a developing economy and increasing income, Semarang has many shopping malls.

Ojek (motorcycle taxis), Angkot (share-taxi) micro-buses, taxi-cabs plays vital role in public transportation of the city.

The centre comprises a soccer field, in line skate track, tennis filed, climbing wall, swimming pool, and many others.

[54] Semarang is widely known for its bandeng presto (pressure-cooked milkfish), Lumpia, Wingko, Tahu Gimbal, and Ganjel Rel.