- Urban Development as the Interface of Regional Development from below in Central Java-Indonesia: The case of Semarang Metropolitan    click here to open paper content1511 kb
by    Soetomo, Sugiono | mtpk@plasa.com   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
The regional development from below can be pushed by the enforcement of the agropolitan development of rurbanisation bending to metropolitan sub- urbanisation.
Abstract
The Interest of my presentation for other participants:
- The opportunities of the regional development from below can be realize through the political local otonomy.
- The Agropolitan development is the priority program in the reformation era of the Indonesian national development program.
- The rurbanisation in the potential factor to create the agropolitan district.


Abstract paper submitted to the Geneva 40 th world Congress:
Management of Urban Regions
18-22 september , Geneva Switzerland

SUGIONO SOETOMO, Professor of architecture and planning in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University.
Semarang - Indonesia.

Urban Development as the interface of Regional Development from Below
In central Java - Indonesia

Developing the bending of continuum rural-urban :
From agropolitan of rurbanisation to the metropolitan area of sub urbanisation



Central Java is the province in the island of Java in Indonesia, is known as “the Heart of Javanese“, is the region that has an abundant of historical and cultural heritage, which is originated in a long history of national rice production area. This culture develops various handicrafts, arts and cultural life as people call “The genius loci” in the urban life of small town and rural centers.
The long history of Central Java development and prosperity is based on the fertility of its land resource. As a most fertile island among the five big islands of Indonesia, the Island of Java that size less than 10% of the total Indonesian land area is a home for about 60% of Indonesian population (more than 2 hundred millions). Because of this feature, Central Java becomes the densest region in Indonesia with a rapid urbanisation process in its big and small cities. With the faster urban population growth between 1990 to 2000 it has been taken place in the small towns that are known as ‘kota kabupaten’ or the cities in the regional districts instead of in the bigger cities that knows as ‘kota’ or the municipalities. Central Java has a dispersed urbanisation, with the various tiles of urban space from the dispersed rural centers and towns as agropolises in rural area, medium size or secondary cities in the coastal and inland region, a big city developed from the old palace of Surakarta, to the coastal metropolitan of Semarang as the capital of Java province.

Since the fell down of the New Order of Suharto’s administration in 1998, the paradigm of the Indonesian national development has been shifted: from the centralisation to decentralisation, and from the top-down approach decision-making process to bottom-up approach. These paradigms are arising as the influence of the mega-trend of globalisation, the trend of post modern era that is characterised by the willing of democracy, participation and transparency, as the consequences of information and communication technology revolution.

The top-down approach of regional development that is represented by the development of growth centers has been revised by the development from below by the strengthening of local development with the local autonomy.
However, the promoting of local autonomy only is not enough. This phenomenon, which has been experienced more than 3 years in Indonesia, creates a tendency of disintegration of economic development as well as in political aspect in some cases. This situation endangers the national integrity. In order to overcome the regional disparity and reinforced the total regional development based on local and external resource, the strengthening regional linkage as well as promoting local development strategies are needed. To response this paradigm above, the regional development should be pushed from below with some characteristics below:
· strengthening the network from rural area up to the urban area, and from the small towns up to the metropolitan cities
· promoting local-resources-based development that is combined with the outside resources
· promoting rural area development that is supported by proper infrastructure and urban centers
· promoting agriculture development that is supported by non-agriculture activities in rural area: such as tourism, small scale industries, commerce, and transportation
· promoting urban development as an interface of the whole regional development from agropolitan to metropolitan.

1. Development of Agropolitan Districts in the process of rurbanisation
The concept of agropolitan has launched firstly in 1978 by John Friedman and Mc Douglas in their paper : ”Agropolitan development : Toward a new strategy for regional planning Asia“. It was a respon for the failure of the growth pole concept. It was an utopian concept of purely development from below with selective closure development as a self reliant district which can make the development impuls pass upward from the local through regional and national level.(Stohr, Todtling , 1978). Eventhough this concept never come a reality, it has make the influence to “the courage of development from below“ in the reformation era of Indonesian national development. So the idea of “agropolitan“ has been applied in the project level of national development program. The Indonesian national development has a priority program for urban development base on rural development called “the agropolitan development program”.
Central Java Province has chosen the agropolitan development program in two regencies: The Regency of Semarang and the Regency of Pemalang.
The scheme of planning and development of this program is to develop selective agropolitan district, with the aims are: strengthening the channel of collection and distribution between various rural production centers (agriculture and non-agriculture); and pushing multiplier effect of urban activities like commerce, urban services, and transportation activities to rural area. The comprehensive and sectoral studies, the development of infrastructures, the training program for the farmer and small-and-micro industries, will be offered and financed by government. In addition, the private sector will be invited to response the development of this district in production or services sectors.

The participation of investors is welcome to develop various business activities in the development of agropolitan districts like: agribusinesses, agro industries, services facilities with high agriculture technologies, the development of commercial urban services in the town centers and the property and housing development.
With the idea of local resources base development for developing urban activities in the rural area, “the agropolitan development” can be supported by the concept of rurbanisation. Rurbanisation as Alan Garnier introduce, is the development of urban life in the rural area created by the non agriculture local resource like the small rural industries artisanant.(Alan Garnier.1978 “Les nouvelles cités dortoires”). Rurbanisastion is opposite with the sub urbanisastion that is a development of urban life in the rural life created by extending metropolitan.

2. Developing the bending of continuum rural-urban :
From agropolitan of rurbanisation to the metropolitan area of sub urbanisation

Semarang is the capital of central Java province, with the 1.3 milion population in the administrative boundary has developed the scattered sub urbanization extending to the regency of Semarang (the hinterland of the capital) and forming as what we called urban region or ”mega urban” (as Terry Mc Gee mention). The agropolitan project in the rural area commence in this region (Semarang Regency) last year, is national multy years project priority. This on going project has begin in the field the several infrastructure and social economic activites to develope the local resources in certain rural area to be come an agropolitan district. The urban activities that exist in the center of village as a rurbanisation, are part within the agropolitan district project that will push the rurbanisation in the process of rural modernization, and will be contacted to the scattered sub urbanization in the extending urban region.

My paper will present the comprehensive analysis of the condition of rurbanisation, sub urbanisation and the concept project of “Agropolitan district“, and the field observation in the on going project by the discussion with stakeholders. So I will contribute in the discussion in the seminar, the model of urban region linkage from Agropolis of rurbanisation to Metropolis of sub urbanisation.


Keywords
Regional development, Rurbanisation, Agropolitan, Urban development
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2004: Management of Urban Regions
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