Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemDecentralization and spatial planning in Indonesia( 2003)Because of Indonesia's geography and history, centralisation and decentralisation policies have always played a dominant role in government policies. During President Soeharto's New Order regime, there was a blind faith that only the central government was capable of controlling the distribution of resources among the regions. However, this created an authoritarian attitude that led to the abuse of power and to acute corruption, collusion and nepotism (KEN), and to erratic and unsustainable land development. These problems eventually led to economic and political collapse and the resignation of President Soeharto. The new Habibie government could not resist a strong demand from the regions to have wider autonomy, which led to the issuance of new decentralisation laws in 1999 under the euphoria of demokmsi and reformasi. These laws aimed to devolve certain powers to the regions, including powers over land-use planning and development, and to boost their economic performance by making more fiscal resources available. The laws, which effectively came into force in January 2001 during the Abdurrahman Wahid government, resulted in controversies that have led to proposals for their amendment by the current Megawati government. This thesis investigates the implications of these various changes in decentralisation policy on spatial/land-use planning in Indonesia during the New Order era, the period of reform that immediately followed the fall of Soeharto, and the current era. While many aspects of spatial/land-use planning have been differently affected over this period of great change, nevertheless the present focus is on the phenomenon of chaotic and allegedly unsustainable land development to which the term desakota is commonly attached. The focus will further be on this process in the case of the Soreang corridor, Tatar Bandung, West Java. The rapid changes to the laws have had some unfavourable consequences. First, with their newly established powers, the rich regions have tended to embark on grandiose projects without considering the real needs and feasibilities of their regions, while the poor regions have attempted to boost their local tax base through the imposition of novel and destabilising local taxes and charges. Second, decentralisation of power has contributed to the emergence of 'decentralised' corruption. Third, the debate on whether the new decentralisation laws should be amended has focused more on the transfer of power rather than improved delivery of public services and empowerment of civil society. All these issues have been manifested on the ground in a more uncontrolled spatial and land-use structure - of which desakota is one manifestation-than in the previous era. The most important finding of this study is that spatial/land-use planning in Indonesia is the outcome of political decisions made by a combination of elite politicians and businessmen, strongly undermined by an acute KEN attitude, which has been embedded in the whole system of governance, as well as in society at large. This phenomenon developed, during the New Order centralisation era and still holds in the current decentralisation era. After a long history of centralistic and authoritarian government, it would be naive to think that a transformation towards democracy and reform could be achieved by simply issuing new laws. However, if all elements of Indonesian society, particularly the government, can learn from what has happened, the current proposal to amend the new laws could be a start towards a better system of governance for Indonesia in the future, with more systematic and sustainable development of Indonesia's resources, including its land resources. It is concluded that there is a need to amend these laws to give a clear delineation of authority not only between provinces and districts, but also between districts and villages. This process should not be separated from the empowerment of local communities in the villages to improve their political participation in the decision-making process, because they are the ones who will be affected by all decisions made on the ground. It should be recognised that KEN will not be overcome quickly, since it is now intricately interwoven with political and economic conditions in Indonesia. Increased transparency and the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes will provide a good start towards the effort to eradicate this attitude as well as in exercising demokrnsi and reformasi in Indonesia.