Boven Stad
The upper city or boven stad in Surabaya, especially the Darmo area, is known as an elite European residential area, along with the Sawahan, Gubeng, and Ketabang areas. During the Dutch colonial era, Darmo was called Darmo Boulevard, inspired by the French language for a large road lined with shade trees. The name Darmo is believed to originate from a Dutch servant or from the Old Javanese word Dherma/Dharma, and was first used in 1916. The spread of European settlements south of Surabaya was accelerated by development agencies that built real estate.
Beneden Stad
The city of Surabaya has buildings that support the economy, especially on Heerenstraat (Rajawali Street), which is the center of Dutch plantation companies. The most famous building there is the Internationale Credit en Handelsvereeniging Rotterdam, built between 1927 and 1931, which served as a trading office. Nearby is De Javasche Bank, now the Bank Indonesia Museum, and the PTPN office, which was formerly part of Handelsvereeniging Amsterdam (HVA), a large colonial company operating in the Dutch East Indies.
Additionally, there is a building that is now the Ibis Hotel, which was formerly the office of Geo Wehry & Co, the largest plantation company with 28 plantations. Geo Wehry & Co was part of “The Big Family,” five giant Dutch companies. NV Lindeteves Stokvis, a leading steel construction factory, is now Bank Mandiri, while NV Borneo Sumatera Maatschappij (Borsumij) was a trading company that owned its own shipping line for the distribution of goods. NV Jacobson van den Berg, founded in 1860, was a large trading company with a global network and branches in almost all cities in the Dutch East Indies, engaged in export-import and insurance.