Abstract
Community engagement and urban activism have become significant in Indonesia over the last two decades. This has changed how citizens express their demands. This is encouraged by the government since Reformasi but it is also the result of growing frustrations with inequalities in the city. This article analyses the activism of two urban groups in Yogyakarta (Indonesia) and examines the similarities and differences between them. One group comprises ‘deprived’ citizens who live in informal settlements, whereas the other is made up of a diverse group of ‘discontented’ citizens who feel their right to the city is undermined. These groups aspire to a more just city through collective action, though their origins and strategies differ.
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Notes
- 1.
Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) is the 7th President of Indonesia, in office since October 2014. He was previously Governor of Jakarta (2012–2014) and Mayor of Surakarta (also known as Solo) (2005–2012).
- 2.
For more information on ArkomJogja visit www.arkomjogja.or.id.
- 3.
The PNPM ran from 2007 to 2015. For more information on PNPM, especially in Yogyakarta, see Roitman (2016).
- 4.
Yogyakarta Special Region (DYI) is a province of Indonesia located in Central Java (four million residents). It is a region and not a province because the head is the sultan (local king). Yogyakarta city is the capital of DYI (400,000 residents). The Metropolitan Area of Yogyakarta is the urban area, formed by Yogyakarta city and the urban areas of Sleman Regency and Bantul Regency (nearly two million residents). Jogja or Yogya is the short form for Yogyakarta.
- 5.
The formal name is Paguyuban Kalijawi. Paguyuban means group in Javanese, kali means river, Ja refers to Gajah Wong River and Wi refers to Winongo River. These are the two rivers where Kalijawi members live. Kalijawi is then ‘the group of the riverside people’.
- 6.
There are several meanings of kampung . In this case, they are considered informal settlements due to precarious land tenure and housing conditions. However, there is a variety of income and housing conditions and not all kampung residents are poor.
- 7.
Hereafter, city and Yogyakarta refer to Yogyakarta Metropolitan Area.
- 8.
For more information on profiles, enumerations and community mapping, see Patel and Baptist (2012).
- 9.
ArkomJogja is a local NGO that supports Kalijawi. For more information visit www.arkomjogja.or.id.
- 10.
This represents around USD$1300 per year, which is 10% of the average income for the country, as explained in the section ‘sociopolitical context after 1998’.
- 11.
ACHR is an umbrella organisation that brings together informal settlement residents from Asian countries. For more information visit http://www.achr.net.
- 12.
For information on poverty assessments conducted by ACHR, see ACHR (2014).
- 13.
The assessment was done through a series of workshops and focus group discussions with five communities living in informal settlements in Yogyakarta Metropolitan Area. A structured questionnaire was also used to collect data from the participants. For more information, see Kusworo et al. (2016a).
- 14.
Data for December 2016.
- 15.
The number of hotels in Yogyakarta Metropolitan Area grew from 37 in 2005 to 85 in 2015. This does not include homestays or B&B.
- 16.
The cyclists were involved because the previous mayor (Herry Zudianto, in office 2001–2011) allowed cyclists to use the streets on Friday afternoons and evenings, closing the main street (Malioboro) to vehicles. People then used it for cycling, skating and walking. Haryadi Suyuti, the current mayor (in office since 2011), did not continue with this project and cyclists complained and demonstrated against this.
- 17.
In 2014, one student was put in jail for painting a mural related to ‘Jogja is not for sale’. He had to pay a fine to get out from jail.
- 18.
Haryadi was re-elected and is currently in his second term in office (2011–2016 and 2016–2021).
- 19.
There are two ‘moratoriums’. One in Yogyakarta city (Regulation 77/2013) halting the construction of new hotels from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2016, later extended to 31 December 2017 (Regulation 55/2016) and another one in Sleman to stop development of new hotels, apartments and condominiums from 23 November 2015 to 31 December 2021 (Regulation 63/2015).
- 20.
Source http://jogja.antaranews.com/berita/336703/moratorium-pembangunan-hotel-diharapkan-berlanjut-di-diy, date accessed 5 July 2016.
- 21.
Source http://ivaa-online.org/2015/04/28/video-warga-berdaya-jogja-asat/, date accessed 5 July 2016.
- 22.
The documentary is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8MhD3iy4rs&t=1296s (trailer and full movie, with English subtitles, date accessed 22 December 2017).
- 23.
The average room occupancy rate in 2016 was 43%, and just a bit higher in 2012 (46%) (DIY 2016).
- 24.
The blog is available at https://jogjaoradidol.wordpress.com/; it has not been very active since 2016.
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Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to the interviewees who shared their views and experiences with me. Without their generous time and willingness to talk about their activities, this article would not be possible. Although this article expresses different views and perceptions, it remains my total responsibility as the author. My thanks also to Jason MacLeod, Shehana Gomez and the book editors who provided helpful comments on the drafts of this article.
This chapter is based on data collected for two research projects funded by The University of Queensland: ‘Urban governance and housing policies in Indonesia’, Sonia Roitman (Chief Investigator), UQ New Staff Grant (2013–2015) and ‘How can gated communities contribute to the public good and improve the living conditions of poor residents? Gated communities and inequality in Indonesia’, Sonia Roitman (Chief Investigator), UQECR Scheme Grant (2016–2018).
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Roitman, S. (2019). Urban Activism in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Deprived and Discontented Citizens Demanding a More Just City. In: Yip, N., Martínez López, M., Sun, X. (eds) Contested Cities and Urban Activism. The Contemporary City. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1730-9_7
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