Governing Urban Development in Dualistic Societies: A Case Study of the Urban Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

The development of cities in the developing countries often takes on a character of a certain mixture between modernity and tradition. This mixture can be seen in the mixture between structured urban forms of the modern sector and organic landscape of the traditional compounds. Socially, the mixed or dualistic nature is also evident in the public behavior of urban dwellers, which is only partially based on formal rules of behavior while traditional customs for social relations often still dominate. The nature of duality may well explain some behaviors in formal institutions, where written laws and rules more often than sometimes are not properly observed and enforced. The incidence of official corruption, for example, may have been partially influenced by the generally slack observance of rules and regulations that characterizes dualistic societies.