The production of megaprojects in Java: colonialism, nationalism, development centralisation vs decentralisation

Eka Permanasari, Sidh Sintusingha

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (Book)Researchpeer-review

Abstract

Chapter 9 investigates the BRI in Indonesia in the context of historic colonialism legacy and modern developmental aspirations. The Dutch and Japanese historic involvement offer insights that enrich the local perspective of the BRI. The chapter discusses Jakarta’s rail mass-transit megaprojects, the BRI Jakarta-Bandung HSR and the planning of the Garuda Seawall – a major flood-mitigation infrastructure and new city project that strongly reflects the aspirations of the Indonesian government and politicians, especially for Jakarta as a modern metropolis that can compete with other South-East Asian urban hubs. These projects provide a sense of the country’s ‘infrastructure deficit’ and the context for the involvement of and investments from various foreign governments and consultants. This includes the Dutch on the Garuda Seawall project and the Japanese – who provided planning and development expertise via JICA, particularly on rail development – and the more recent and increasing influence of China, in their wide-ranging infrastructure projects across the archipelago. Significantly, the competition for the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail (HSR) between the Japanese and the Chinese is consistent with geopolitical contestations elsewhere. The chapter interrogates whether Chinese BRI in Indonesia is comparable/has parallels to past colonial Dutch and present Dutch government involvement in major infrastructure development in Indonesia, sustaining the ‘colonial gaze’ upon the country.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative
Subtitle of host publicationA Bottom-Up Approach
EditorsSidh Sintusingha, Hao Wu, Wenqi Lin, Sun Sheng Han, Bo Qin
Place of PublicationAbingdon UK
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter9
Pages191-206
Number of pages16
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781000381450, 9780367854645
ISBN (Print)9780367761813, 9780367427320
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Urban Design
  • Belt and Road Initiative
  • Politics and public policy
  • Postcolonial
  • Nationalism
  • Colonialism

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