Wednesday, April 8th, 2015 Infrastructure Development and Flooding Mitigation: a Case of the Megacity of Jakarta

Description

Not only is Jakarta the largest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia, it is the also one of the most dynamic, though beset with most of the urban problems experienced in twenty-first century Southeast Asia. Batavia, colonial capital of the Netherland Indies in the first half of the 20th century was a small urban area of approximately 150,000 residents. In the second half, Batavia became Jakarta, the 28 million megacity capital of independent Indonesia. Among many urban problems, one major problem plagued Jakarta in the last two decades is floods. Despite several infrastructure development projects to alleviate flooding, the severity of flooding in many parts of Jakarta has not decreased. Floods have become a threat and brought woes for Jakarta residents every year. This presentation will describe the transformation of Jakarta and discuss infrastructure development projects and annual flooding in Jakarta. All efforts of mitigating the annual flooding will also critically analyzed.

Dr. Deden Rukmana is an associate professor and coordinator of Urban Studies and Planning Program at Savannah State University, USA. He is currently a member of the Governing Board of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. He received a PhD degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University and completed master’s degrees from the University of Southern California as well as Bandung Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Savannah State University, he worked as a planning analyst with the Florida Department of Community Affairs. He also has eight years of experience as urban planner in Indonesia. He has authored a book (Residential Origins of the Homeless), a number of journal articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, book reviews, and dozens of Op-ed pieces in various publications, newspapers and magazines in the US, Indonesia, Singapore and the UK. His works appeared in many academic journals including International Planning Studies, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Area and Planning Theory and Practice. His current research centers on health disparities, homelessness and poverty in the US, and spatial planning, housing and development challenges in Indonesia. His works had been cited by many media including AFP, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Jakarta Globes, and Public Radio International. His blog Indonesia’s Urban Studies is one of the world’s best city blogs by the Guardian Cities.