New town development in Indonesia: Renegotiating, shaping and replacing institutions

This article explores how private sector players in new town development in Indonesia have worked around, shaped and replaced urban governance and planning institutions, effectively re-negotiating the boundaries between public and private sector. While most literature views urban development from the perspective of the state, this article complements this with a study of a prominent private sector player, the Ciputra Group. The results of the study suggest that private sector players have appropriated a much larger role in areas such as urban planning, constructing public infrastructure and urban governance than previously acknowledged. This could happen because public institutions were weak and unable to provide basic infrastructure and services to an increasing middle class. While most literature points at the lack of alignment of private developers with national priorities, this article suggests that a more nuanced view of the respective roles of public and private players in urban development in Indonesia is necessary.