Tommy Firman

New town development in Jakarta Metropolitan Region: a perspective of spatial segregation

Abstract The extent to which land and new town development has reinforced spatial segregation in Jakarta Metropolitan Region (JMR) is discussed. The demand for new towns has been essentially generated by the need for security and fulfilling an exclusive life style, which because it is innovative, has been able to sell an image of the ‘new town’ as a symbol of ‘modernism.’ New town development has reinforced spatial segregation in three ways: First, it has polarized the middle and upper income groups, resulting in scattered pockets of exclusive residential areas. Second, within the new towns themselves, the upper middle and high class occupied exclusively designed areas with the highest security possible. Third, in several new towns, urban development management is carried out by the developers instead of by the city hall. The spatial segregation in JMR can be classified as ‘self segregation’ or ‘voluntary segregation.’ It will continue and is inevitable, a result of socio-economic and political conditions within the urban society as a whole.

Rural to urban land conversion in Indonesia during boom and bust periods.

Abstract This study discusses land conversion in the urban fringes of large cities in Indonesia during the period of economic boom and time of economic crisis. The land conversion in the 1990s had been rooted in excessive land development permits granted by the National Land Development Agency, which has in turn induced speculative land-business undertaking. Nevertheless, the current economic part crisis has caused land conversion to slow down, and created unutilized land in which a great part of the investment becomes idle.

Residential land development in Jabotabek, Indonesia: triggering economic crisis?

Abstract Before the economic crisis hit Indonesia in 1997, land development had been one of the prime sectors for investment. Land development companies were mushrooming. They were basically working together in share holdership or were interconnected through family relationships. They were also related to the ex-First Family of Indonesia. This had given them the possibilities to influence any policy and regulation concerning land development and thus distorting the housing market in the area. The buyers of the houses produced by the developers were mostly young professionals who worked in the private sector, classified as middle and high-income segments. The excessive land development, done by a few developers only targeted a small minority of the riches had been part of the trigger of the monetary crisis and caused calamity of the country as a whole.

From `global city’ to `city of crisis': Jakarta metropolitan region under economic turmoil

Abstract By mid-1990s the development of Jakarta Metropolitan Region (JMR) appeared to be heading towards global city status. However, the current economic crisis has largely squeezed the JMR economy which in turn rapidly increased unemployment and poverty incidence in the region. Meanwhile, the capacity of local government to provide urban public service and infrastructure largely declined as the city revenues decreased substantially. The near future of JMR will depend on how soon the economic crisis ends and whether political situation can stabilize, but for now urban poverty becomes the most pronounced issue in JMR development and planning.

The challenges to sustainable development in Jakarta metropolitan region

Abstract The physical development of Jakarta Metropolitan Region, which is also known as Jabotabek, has recently been engineered by the growth of domestic and direct foreign investment, especially in the manufacturing sectors. This in turn has caused high population growth and induced the development of industrial areas, residential areas, commercial activities and infrastructure. However, this admirable development has created many negative externalities, notably environmental problems, such as conversion of prime agricultural land to industrial and residential uses and a worsening of the quality of water resources in the area. There have been many regulations, plans and programs at different levels, i.e. national, metropolitan, and local levels, launched to deal with the negative impacts of development in Jabotabek but as yet without great success. With this context in mind, Jabotabek Region should be developed within the framework of environmental management at metropolitan scale otherwise this region might soon collapse environmentally. There should also be a metropolitan authority working above the provinces or a central agency whose function is to coordinate the sectoral planning in Jakarta and the province of West Java, in which the Jabotabek Metropolitan Region is located.

Industrial Land Development and Manufacturing Deconcentration in Greater Jakarta

Abstract Industrial land development has become a key feature of urbanization in Greater Jakarta, one of the largest metropolitan areas in Southeast Asia. Following Suhartos market-oriented policy measures in the late 1980s, private developers have dominated the land development projects in Greater Jakarta. The article investigates the extent to which these private industrial centers have effectively reduced the domination of Jakarta in shaping the entire metropolitan structure. The analysis indicates that major suburban industrial centers have captured most of the manufacturing employment that has dispersed from Jakarta. The industrial centers have now increasingly specialized and diversified. It is likely that a polycentric metropolitan structure will emerge in the future.

Urban development in Indonesia, 1990–2001: from the boom to the early reform era through the crisis

Abstract This article discusses the recent urban development in Indonesia and the extent to which the current economic crisis and uncertain sociopolitical situation have affected urban development. Until the mid-1990s, urban development fuelled by high economic growth has been characterized by restructuring of physical and economic activities. However, the recent economic crisis has caused economic activities in cities to shrink greatly. Meanwhile, the new legislation of regional autonomy and fiscal decentralization and current socioeconomic and political situation could have significant impacts on urban development in Indonesia in the near future.

Potential impacts of Indonesia's fiscal decentralisation reform on urban and regional development: Towards a new pattern of spatial disparity

Indonesia has now entered a new phase of decentralisation. Two basic elements in the new policy are wider regional autonomy and fiscal decentralisation. The latter is essentially expenditure-based in character, rather than revenue-based, within which a different approach to intergovernmental transfers between local and central government is emerging. The new general allocation fund and revenue-sharing system may have reduced vertical fiscal disparities, but it has tended to increase intercity and interregional disparities.

The Dynamics of Indonesia's Urbanisation, 1980–2006

This study examines continuity and change in patterns of Indonesias urbanisation during the boom economy until the decentralisation era, using data mainly from the National Population Census 1980–2000 and from the Village Potential (PODES) 2006. Urbanisation in Indonesia is still characterised by a heavy concentration of the urban population in a few large cities, notably the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA), which might reflect an integration of Jakarta into the global economy. It might also reflect an interurban disparity, between large and smaller cities. The population on the fringes of large cities is growing rapidly, while in the inner cities it is increasing at a very low rate of growth. Urban spatial development in Java is shaping belts, which connect many of the large cities. The intermediate cities and small towns on the outer islands have a relatively higher population growth rate compared with those in Java, which might suggest that those towns and cities are playing a more significant role in regional development.

Indonesian cities under the “Krismon”: A great “urban crisis” in Southeast Asia

Abstract This study examines the extent to which the recent economic turmoil (“Krismon”) in Indonesia has affected urban development and in turn caused an urban crisis. It focuses on urban economy, employment, poverty, rural-to-urban migration, local government revenues, and spatial development. The study reveals a disastrous urban crisis which should seriously be taken into consideration for urban rehabilitation and development programs in the near future, including the creation of urban job opportunities and the provision of basic necessities for the poor.