River-Edge Relationships: A Comparison of Riversides in Indonesian Cities

Although the poor condition of rivers in Indonesian cities is significant, there is limited documentation and comparison of river improvement projects specific to socio-spatial factors. Furthermore, there is a need for practical examples of projects to support policy-making, design, and implementation. This chapter describes a comparative analysis of qualitative aspects of river improvement in Indonesia, based upon fieldwork documenting material evidence of the reconfiguration of the edges of four urbanized rivers. This evidence was classified based on aspects of the physical environment influencing the river-edge relationship. The findings illustrated the potential of neighborhood-centered projects to have positive environmental impacts. The chapter concludes with a series of forward-looking recommendations for the design of river-city relationships.