Emerging Cities
From The Report: Indonesia 2019
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Stretching 5120 km from the shores of Aceh to the mountains of Papua, Indonesia encompasses 17,000 islands – around 6000 of which are permanently inhabited – and comprises 34 different provinces, each with its own capital city. Within these islands, 300 distinct ethnic groups exist, speaking more than 700 languages between them. Until the turn of the new millennium, centralisation was seen as the best way forward, and economic development policies were strongly skewed towards Indonesia’s main island of Java, where the country’s capital Jakarta is located. After the resignation of former President Suharto in 1998, however, successive administrations have implemented decentralisation policies, aiming to more evenly distribute authority and investment throughout the country’s many diverse regions. This chapter also contains an interview with Tri Rismaharini, Mayor of Surabaya.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Branching out: Key regional cities are transitioning into centres of diversified economic and cultural activity
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Stretching 5120 km from the shores of Aceh to the mountains of Papua, Indonesia encompasses 17,000 islands – around 6000 of which are permanently inhabited – and comprises 34 different provinces, each with its own capital city. Within these islands, 300 distinct ethnic groups exist, speaking more than 742 languages between them. Until the turn of the new millennium, centralisation was seen as the best way forward, and economic development policies were strongly skewed towards Indonesia’s…

Interview

Expansive reach: Tri Rismaharini, Mayor of Surabaya, on infrastructure, human resources and tourism in East Java
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Interview: Tri Rismaharini Which infrastructure investments are necessary to improve East Java’s connectivity? TRI RISMAHARINI: Urban infrastructure development is extremely important. Citizens not only need jobs and food, but also an even distribution of energy supply, sanitation, housing, waste management and clean water. If these facilities are not prepared, specific cities will have extremely dense populations. Future policy tools must focus on these areas in order to effectively reduce regional…

Analysis

Strategy, speed and strength: Hosting global sports events puts Palembang in the spotlight
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In August 2018 Indonesia hosted the 18th Asian Games, welcoming athletes from 45 countries to compete in 47 events. Spread across multiple cities, the games provided a springboard for regional infrastructure development as well as a spotlight for the country’s tourism industry. Events were hosted across 28 venues in Indonesia, with Jakarta providing 14 and the South Sumatran city of Palembang seven. The remaining seven venues were spread across cities in the West Java province, namely Bogor,…