- Conurbations in Java, Indonesia: the call for multi stakeholder urban management    846 kb by    Simatupang, Wita | witasimatupang@yahoo.com    Short Outline Sprawl in Indonesia is an obvious fact yet statistically hidden. Considerable urban population does not live in cities. Conurbation is underestimated, leaving urban areas poorly serviced. It seems that multi stakeholder urban management is in demand. Abstract Sprawl as the predominant form of urbanization in Indonesia is an obvious fact yet statistically hidden. Indonesian Law 32/2004 on Local Government recognizes our urban areas: • urban areas in administrative area of Kota • urban areas in administrative area of Kabupaten Kota is majorly urban, while Kabupaten comprises of rural and urban. Urban Kabupaten is taken as 2 or 3 kecamatan forming its capital, called “Kota Kabupaten”. Nevertheless, this straight forward definition does not necessarily depict the extent of our cities. More than 92,0 million people or about 42,32% of Indonesia population live in urban areas. Yet, all 91 cities of Indonesia are inhabited by 44,7 million people or 48,6% of total urban population. Considerable urban population in fact does not live in cities. The paper examines this trend in Java. Taking two indicators: population and economy; high percentage of urban population lives in areas surrounding the city, which are inclusive to kabupaten, forming a conurbation area. Malang, a busy hub in East Java is inhabited by 798,104 people. More than 25% of population of Kabupaten Malang (excluding its capital) - estimated 662,251 people - live in 8 urban kecamatans around Kota Malang, which are neither part of Kota yet not considered either as part of Kabupaten urban areas. In some conurbations it involves multiple local governments. This urbanized sprawl is hardly incorporated into planning and budgeting of urban projects. Conurbation has been underestimated and exaggerated by power division among local government; thus leaving vast urban areas lacking attention: infrastructure is poorly provided and facilities hardly exist. Cities need to compete, yet making themselves livable. Decentralization might not only imply distributing authority, but developing clear framework for mutual cooperation among local governments of multi jurisdictions, technical agencies, private, and people. It seems that multi stakeholder urban management is in demand. Keywords Conurbations, Java, Indonesia Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2008: Urban Growth without Sprawl   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper