Jakarta

Over the past decades, Jakarta has been described as a city that is not only highly unequal in an economic sense - with pro-elite and neoliberalist policies marginalizing thousands of slum dwellers, but also as a city that is run by state and corporate actors, while average citizens remain to be excluded from decision making processes.

Breaking up the stereotype image of Jakarta as a divided city, where the private investors, political establishment and civil society never meet, this book presents specific cases where the entanglement of political and socio-economic life of Jakarta comes forth as a condition for shaping urban space. In each case the authors explore who are the drivers and what are the processes in shaping the current and future city of Jakarta. The book argues that Jakarta is being transformed in an unknown speed and manner by new types of urban authorities and different drivers of transformation. These actors are moving in a field of opportunity that was created by recent and severe changes in the economic, socio-political and natural environment. Not denying that former elites are still a critical force in shaping Jakarta, the book analyses to what extent former stakeholders are undermined, and what types of new authorities or social institutions are emerging. It examines how drivers of transformation claim their right to- and/or space in the city and how their actions and strategies reflect their vision on the future of Jakarta.

An important addition to the discussion of urban development, this book will be of interest to scholars interested in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, urbanisation and globalisation.