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.
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ItemThe implications of urban land policy towards housing development in Indonesia : Surabaya as a case study( 2002)There have been predictions that urban populations will increase dramatically around the globe, especially in developing countries. Cities become sources of progress, and urban productivity is crucial to national development. In developing countries, especially in Asia, cities often double in size and population within a decade. Despite being engines of socio-economic development, most Asian cities are, unfortunately, also sources of poverty and centres of environmental deterioration. As a consequence of the above facts, land inevitably becomes an important factor, and usually the most critical problem, in urban development. In Indonesian cities the development of land is managed through a system of permits, the first of which is the so-called location permit. The objective of this permit is to ensure that the intended investment is in line with the socio-economic policy of the government. It also gives the holder the right to invest in the property and leads to the right to buy land, wholly or partially, from whoever owns it. In practice, the permit confers a 'monopoly to purchase', and accordingly the permit holder can put pressure on the landowners by offering a very low price for the land that might be impossible for them to accept. In most cases, the permit holders can control the best part of the urban land, while low-income people are pushed to fringe areas. Access to urban land for housing activities by low-income people can thereby be restricted. At the same time the system appears to lead to fragmented, inefficient development and environmental degradation. The objective of this research is to explore alternatives for a land permit system that will be better suited for urban housing development in Indonesia. A case study approach was chosen, and Surabaya was selected as a case study city. There were four types of respondents for this research, namely government officials, staff of Real Estate Indonesia, housing developers and landowners. The research was done through the following steps. First, a desk study was carried out to gain sufficient information about the location permit process. This was used to prepare questionnaires for interview purposes and to identify potential respondents. Second, interviews were done with government officials connected with the location permit system, and with members of the Real Estate Indonesia association. By comparing these interviews, respondents from among the housing developers were selected and interviewed. In selecting the developers, the exact case study areas could be specified and the previous landowners could also be identified. The next interviews were carried out with the previous landowners as respondents. The interview results were then tabulated and analysed, and conclusions were extracted from this analysis. From the analysis it was found that the location permit system itself is not the whole problem. It is closely related to other problems, such as inconsistency in law enforcement, poor management, incompleteness or lack of regulations, ill-paid civil servants, and/or collusion and nepotism. If accountability and transparency were maintained while relevant laws were properly enforced, many of the above problems could be overcome. However, it is clear that the location permit system is so open to abuse that it would be sensible to explore alternatives that would achieve the desired ends without suffering the problems.