1) Introduction 4
2) Theoretical framework 5
2.1 Path dependency and lock-in 5
2.2 Historical institutionalism 6
2.3 Forms of dualism 6
2.4 Path dependency and lock-in in Jakarta 7
2.5 Colonial dualism and its persistence 7
2.6 Lasting dualism in land system 8
2.7 Informal urban development 8
2.8 Scientific and social relevance 9
3) Research question, conceptualization and methodology 10
3.1 Research question 10
3.2 Conceptualization and operationalization 11
3.2.1 Conceptual framework 11
3.2.2 Operationalization: colonial regime 11
3.2.3 Operationalization: historical spatial patterns 12
3.2.4 Operationalization: lock-in 12
3.2.4.1 Institutions and lock-in 13
3.2.4.2 Positive feedback 13
3.2.4.3 Informal institutions and lock-in 14
3.2.4.4 Infrastructural lock-in 14
3.2.5 Operationalization: external factors 15
3.2.6 Operationalization: current spatial patterns 16
3.3 Methodology 16
3.3.1 Research design and units of analysis 16
3.3.2 Data collection 17 3.3.2.1 Literature research 18 3.3.2.2 Interviews 18 3.3.2.3 GIS data 20 3.3.3 Analysis methods 21 4) Colonial path-creation 22
4.1 Path-creation in colonial Jakarta 22
4.2 Colonial urban development of Batavia 22
4.3.1 Formal institutions: colonial governance and town planning 27
4.3.2 Town planning and private estates 27
4.3.3 Town planning and indigenous land 27
4.4 Dualistic governance 28
4.5 Origins of segregation 30
4.5.1 Formation of non-European neighborhoods 31
4.5.3 Formation of European neighborhoods 32
4.6 Analysis on spatial patterns in colonial Batavia 33
4.6.1 Ethnic division in colonial Batavia 33
4.6.2 Infrastructural duality 35
4.6.3 Koningsplein and Waterlooplein: spaces of power 36
4.7 Analysis on the colonial regime 37
5) Postcolonial lock-in process 38
5.1 Postcolonial lock-in of colonial urban development pathways 38
5.2 Pathway: Formal urban planning 38
5.2.1 Post-independence urban planning 39
5.2.2 Planning practice under Sukarno 39
5.2.3 Urban planning under the New Order 42
5.2.3.1 The 1965-1985 Master Plan and the Jabotabek region 42
5.2.3.2 Institutional changes in planning 42
5.3 Pathway: Housing and housing policies 43
5.3.1 Post-independence housing 44
5.3.2 Informal housing 44
5.3.3 Housing and policies during the New Order: Kampung Improvement Program 45
5.4 Pathway: Dual land system 46
5.4.1 Land system after independence 46
5.4.2 Unregistered Indonesian land 47
5.4.3 Land system reform of 1960 48
5.4.4 Land system reform in practice 48
5.4.5 Current registration 49
5.5 Pathway colonial infrastructure 50
5.5.1 Infrastructural development 50
5.5.2 Persistence of colonial infrastructure 52
5.5.3 Lock-in of urban development through rail infrastructure 53
5.5.4 Highway development and urban development 55
5.5.5 Infrastructural interventions in the inner city: road widening 55 5.5.6 Infrastructural interventions in the inner city: roads and railways 56 5.5.7 Infrastructural interventions in the inner city: transit systems 60
5.5.8 Infrastructural lock-in 60
5.6 Pathway: land use in the inner city 61
5.6.1 Kota 61
5.6.3 Markets 62 5.6.4 Residential areas: former European neighborhoods 63
5.6.5 Residential areas: kampungs 64
5.7 Urban development since the 1980s 65
5.7.1 Urban planning since the 1980s 66
5.7.2 The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and Urban Development 66
5.7.3 Decentralization 67
5.7.4 Spatial implications of the 1997-2010 Spatial Plan 67
5.7.5 The 2010-2030 Spatial Plan 68
5.7.4.1 Problems and critiques of implementing the 2010-2030 Spatial Plan 69 5.7.4.2 The 2010-2030 Spatial Plan and the development lock-in 69
6) Fragmented development analysis 74
6.1 Analysis on fragmented development in contemporary Jakarta 74
6.1.1 Development of built areas and kampungs 74
6.1.2 Fragmented development of density 80
6.1.3 Fragmentation of land rights and land values 85
6.2 Analysis on the lock-in process 90
6.2.1 Weak planning institute 90
6.2.3 Dualism in types of neighborhoods 91
6.2.4 Land use 92
6.2.5 Linear development 92
7) Conclusion 94
7.1 Conclusion 94
7.2 Reflection, limitations and recommendations 94
1) Introduction
Jakarta is the third biggest megacity according to the metropolitan population and this likely increases in the near future as the city keeps on developing. Subsequently, economic growth paired with rapid urbanization have pressured the city and led to gradual fragmentation of development and this will likely continue in the future.
In order to understand this fragmentation, its origin must be acknowledged; fragmentation during colonial times. The city originated as a Dutch colonial city with separation between social classes and inequality between neighborhoods. Dutch colonial urban planning in Indonesia was characterized by its dualistic approach of governance, which separated formal Dutch planning from the informal native Indonesian planning (Colombijn & Barwegen, 2009). The separation of classes and dualistic planning resulted in spatial patterns from the colonial period are still apparent in the contemporary fragmentation. It can be questioned whether spatial patterns such as zoning are ‘locked-in’ since the colonial period, despite the significant institutional changes that occured after decolonization (Argo, 1999).
There is a possibility that contemporary urban development is dependent on a pathway created by its colonial past. For instance, formally Dutch-built streets remain prominent despite the demolition of a lot of the original Dutch buildings. Similarly, the residential areas (often slums) behind those major streets ,originally, informally developed native Indonesian
‘kampungs’, remain economically less developed. This colonial duality is a possible origin for unequal development within neighborhoods through a persisting duality of having both formal and informal land rights in Jakarta (Leaf, 1993). The part that had a sharp contrast between Dutch and Indonesian neighborhoods is the inner city core of Jakarta, which is a quite
underexposed area. Researching its origin offers an understanding of factors that make the city and their influences on the urban society and spatial planning.
2) Theoretical framework
The thesis is supported by a framework that elaborates on the scientific theory about path dependency, (colonial) dualism, informal urban development and the morphology of an
Indonesian city. Firstly, because of the fact that the theory about path dependency stems from economics, it is important to explain it in relation to urban development. Secondly, a collection on the theory of colonial dualism, specifically Jakarta and its contemporary legacy, is examined in order to find certain characteristics of urban path dependency. Furthermore, there is an explanation on the dual land rights system in contemporary Jakarta. Additional theory is provided on informal urban formation, a characteristic of urban development in Jakarta. Lastly, the scientific and social relevance of the research is explained
2.1 Path dependency and lock-in
The lasting effect of colonial planning on the development of the contemporary city is
researched through a concept called ‘path dependency’. In scientific literature, path dependency is described as a process where a certain pathway is followed, created by constraints of the past (Sydow et al., 2005). Sorensen (2015:21) defines this as the tendency of institutions “to become increasingly difficult to change over time” once they are established, in which “small choices early on can have significant long-term impacts”. The past frames contemporary initiatives, developments, decisions and hinders innovation. Actors are constrained in their choices by this path-dependent context (Tasan-Kok, 2015). Path dependency in this specific case means that urban development in Jakarta follows a certain path because of established institutions from colonial times such as legal structures that have not changed over time and still exist to this day. The pathway created in the colonial period then constraint actors involved in the urban formation of Jakarta.
Sorensen (2015:21) also argues that “the longer such rules are in place, the more entrenched their status in many cases” and this entrenchment may be explained by the feedback
mechanism. Here, dependency on a certain pathway is more severe and stable as different factors strongly maintain the constraints from the past. A pathway maintains the same direction through positive feedback or the subsequent institutional reproduction (Pierson, 2000). An example in urban planning given by Janssen-Janssen (2016), based on the theory of Sorensen, is that zoning a space for greenery could lead to the creation of a park and if this park is
frequently visited, zoning that space for another type of land use will be more difficult. The first zoning policy for greenery will thus be reinforced due to the frequent visits, which functions as the positive feedback.
According to Pierson (2004) positive feedback makes going back to a previous option, process or pathway difficult, because changing back to a previous option can be extremely costly. For example, a commercial street that started to become vacant because of an economic recession will likely become even more vacant, because going back to the status of before the recession, the previous option, stores would need to reinvest in the street which would be costly and not even profitable especially during a recession.
Moreover, diverging from a pathway becomes difficult when multiple actors, which are dependent on each other, are involved, thus the benefit of staying on the established pathway
increases and the dependency on the path increases (Pierson, 1993). Therefore,
interdependence is another factor that increasingly lead to path dependency. In this, processes of path dependency subsequently lead to lock-in situations (Vergne Durand, 2010) when a persistent state of specific properties occurs. In addition , with regard to lock-in situations, it becomes difficult to change because then, for instance, the development of a city is limited to a certain path to which it is ‘locked-in’. Thus, a lock-in is an outcome of a path dependent process causing institutions to be restricted to following a certain path. Furthermore, Brooks & Lutz (2014:1) explain that “even if the economic fundamentals which produce the initial outcomes undergo significant change, the institutions may “lock in” the original outcomes” . Therefore, constraints from the past have a long-lasting effect.
However, there are also instances of paths that are still followed but are less stable in the directions it goes because of certain conditions that disrupt the particular mechanisms
sustaining the stability of a path (Capoccia and Kelemen, 2007). These disruptive moments are called critical junctures (Capoccia, 2016) and lead to institutional changes. Exogenous forces such as political and economic changes often are responsible for these disruptions which weakens the power of existing institutions (North, 1990) and could create new institutions. An example of this is the independence of a colonized country which disrupts the power of the existing colonial institutions and now new institutions can be created in the form of new laws. 2.2 Historical institutionalism
These institutional stability as well as institutional changes can be studied through an analytical framework referred to as ‘historical institutionalism’ (Thelen, 1999). This framework is closely related to path dependency and it explores “how institutions emerge from and are embedded in concrete temporal processes” (Thelen, 1999:371). According to Hall (1986:19) institutions are “the formal rules, compliance procedures, and standard operating practices that structure the relationship between individuals in various units of the polity and economy”. Institutions are broadly defined by North (1990:1) as “humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction”, in which Pierson (1993) distinguishes formal and informal institutions. Formal institutions are formal laws, policies, organisations (Streeck and Thelen, 2005) and the structure of government while informal institutions are norms, values, customs, behavior patterns and unwritten rules. Institutions either enable or constraint development and thus create a path the development is dependent on. According to Salet & Faludi (2000:10) their institutional approach, planning is rooted in “normative patterns of growing social expectation”. Therefore, institutions shape values and norms that are to be followed and this both shapes and bounds the context actors operate in (Trip, 2005).
Moreover, institutions themselves are path dependent (Pierson, 2000) and can be restricted to a certain path which magnifies the path dependency process. A historical institutionalism approach recognizes that the creation of institutions throughout its history is a chain of events that are dependent on and caused by each other.
2.3 Forms of dualism
In this thesis, historical institutionalism is used to analyze the path dependent process of past dualism. In scientific literature, dualism can have different forms as explored by Boeke (1953) and McKee & Leahy (1970a) who describe several different types of dualism. Firstly, there is social dualism characterized by a difference in indigenous culture and an imported social system that leads to “regional differences in material welfare and growth potential” (McKee & Leahy, 1970a:83). Boeke’s theory on social dualism stems from a research on the coexistence of a local Indonesian economy and an implemented European economy during colonial times, their differences and unequal development. For this dualism, according to Boeke, the top-down implementation of foreign institutions on the local population will fail due to differences between local and foreign institutions. If implementation was accomplished, it would only be partially adopted and prevail local institutions. Moreover, informal institutions, such as cultural and social values, prevail this social dualism after independence, locking in social dualism.
Hirschman (1978) argued that dualism, in the form of a formal and an informal economy, persists due to the inaccessibility of resources and subsequent social and economic exclusion. A subsistence economy coexists with a more sophisticated economy. McKee & Leahy (1970b) discussed the urban dualism in developing economies, the inevitable growth of slums in such cities and the necessity to accept the growth of slums. For the latter, the authors ideally expect that “the innermost slums would gradually be assimilated into the city, meaning that the current slum would always be a peripheral problem. The interesting factor in this type of urbanization is that the slum is actually dictating urban growth patterns. Under such circumstances it is difficult to conceive of urban area achieving optimum expansion path” (McKee & Leahy, 1970b:488). Therefore, the growth of slums inherently contributes to urban dualism, but also contributes to urban expansion. As will be clear in the remaining parts of the thesis, this is also the case with the urban formation of Jakarta. For now, it is thus understood that dualism, either social, technological or urban, is fundamental to spatial fragmentation.
2.4 Path dependency and lock-in in Jakarta
The most relevant research involving path dependency and historical institutionalism framework is that of Octavianti and Charles’ research on the lock-in of infrastructural solutions in Jakarta its flood policy, through tracing its history. According to Octavianti and Charles (2018), lock-in exists because contemporary policy makers are still depended on solving flood problems through relying on the colonial canal system. A bias to approaches from the past led to a dependency on those approaches, which constraint policymakers cognitively together with the constraint of costs to change policies. The lock-in was solidified by strong feedback cycles in which similar responses to flooding were reproduced. In this case, critical junctures such as major flood events did not lead to institutional changes and merely led to the persistence of old policies.
2.5 Colonial dualism and its persistence
Numerous research projects exposed the persistence of unequal development in postcolonial countries. A relevant general research on the path dependency process of urban formation of former colonies is that of Accra in Ghana by Frimpong-Boamah & Walker (2017) as well as
Andersson (2017). In these research, the colonial and current urban structures were compared as well as the process between these two periods were analyzed. The research found that, after independence, there was a systematically preference for groups that were already wealthy therefore disadvantaging the poor which further reinforced the unequal urban structures. Inequality was informally institutionalized and through its reinforcement, inequality was locked-in.
The research of Octavianti and Charles in Jakarta is a continuation of earlier research that emphasizes the colonial origins of contemporary access to drinking water (Argo, 1999; Kooy & Bakker 2008), flood policy (Gunawan, 2010) and sanitization (Putri, 2014), that have an element of path dependency without mentioning the process explicitly. For instance, the research of Kooy & Bakker (2008) only describes the colonial difference in access to resources between the Dutch and native Indonesians. The authors recognize that in the past a duality was created which led to contemporary fragmentation of access to water. This hints at a certain path created during colonialism that was followed long after decolonization.
The duality in Jakarta which originated during colonial times is partly due to segregation as researched by Colombijn & Barwegen (2009). During colonial times, there was spatial
segregation by race which, after decolonization, changed into segregation by income as the local Indonesian elite settled in the colonial elite neighborhoods. In the past, colonial
segregation resulted in native Indonesians building their kampung settlements on unwelcome leftover spaces in the colonial Jakarta (Permanadeli & Tadié, 2014; Sweeting, 2017). Politically, the Dutch colonial government ‘indirectly’ ruled over its colony where native citizens were allowed to regulate their space according to local regulations if it did not go against Dutch law (Supriatna, 2018). In colonial times, this caused the indigenous kampungs to act autonomously from the colonial municipality. This created a duality in formality because the indigenous
population was left to handle its own housing situation which was mostly informal (Kusno, 2012). In Jakarta, colonial dualism is expected to be determinable for the current spatial fragmentation.
2.6 Lasting dualism in land system
A more severe form of dualism can be found in numerous studies on Indonesia and also former British colonies (Njoh & Akiwumi, 2012) which show that indirect rule caused a dualism in governance and the land system during colonial times and its persistence after decolonization. In a research on postcolonial Jakarta, Leaf (1993) found that despite the abolition of the colonial dual land system, a new dual system persisted among registered and unregistered land
resembling the colonial system of Dutch formal rights and informal indigenous adat rights. This duality in land rights is further researched by Reerink (2015) in colonial Bandung and Zhu & Simarta (2015) in contemporary Jakarta. They showed the lasting effect of dualism in land rights as it is still apparent in the current fragmentation of land holding. Here too, a certain pathway was followed, rationalized by the authors due to ineffectiveness of the municipal government to regulate informal urban development and the lack of planning control.
2.7 Informal urban development
As previously mentioned, Boeke (1953), McKee & Leahy (1970b) and Hirschman (1978) acknowledged that dualism causes the formally developed city to coexist with the informally developed city due to the inaccessibility of resources. While formal urban development of Jakarta, especially the colonial, is well researched in scientific literature, informal urban development lacks research despite being the majority of the city. Informal development is predominant in Indonesian urban planning, as there is a lack of formal planning, persistence of weak governments (Watson, 2009) and an ineffective regulation on informal urban development (Zhu & Simarta, 2015). Cities in Southeast Asia are rather shaped by “national economic
development policies and rampant market forces” (Watson, 2009:174) than by institutionalized planning systems (Logan, 2001). This disregard of institutionalized planning systems in urban development, gives way to informality.
Informality is not only a characteristic for the urban poor, but also that of the political and economic elite (Herlambang et al. 2019; Roy, 2005) who maintain a hybrid form of
formal-informal power structure. This is to stimulate formal urban development through informal procedures, such as circumventing laws. According to Roy (2009:81) the state uses informality as an instrument and because of its practicalness, informality is thus legitimized by the state (Rakodi, 2006). It is then important to incorporate informality when discussing urban
development in Jakarta.
2.8 Scientific and social relevance
The scientific literature shows that contemporary fragmentation in Jakarta has its origin in the colonial period, but often the path dependency process of dualism itself is understudied. While the newer economic centers, kampungs, suburban areas and regional development of Jakarta are widely studied in international urban planning literature, there still seems to be a lack of research on the inner city region of Jakarta. This is remarkable, as the inner city region of Jakarta is the oldest continuously settled part for the native population. This research attempts to attribute to this shortcoming through the exploration of the historical connection of this area between contemporary planning practises and colonial plannings practises. Moreover, it
contributes to the postcolonial urbanism studies that examines the legacy of colonialism as well as provides a non-western perspective for understanding cities by including aspects such as informality (Storper & Scott 2016:11; Simone, 2010). Analyzing underlying historical origins of current spatial patterns could lead to a better understanding of the process of path dependency of urban development in postcolonial cities.
For societal relevance the research explains the current spatial distribution of wealth, population density and land values in the inner city of Jakarta. It foremost offers an
understanding of factors that make the city and how these factors influence the urban society. Besides, using path dependency to understand contemporary urban development could lead to better planning as current planning practices are dependent on past choices.
3) Research question, conceptualization and methodology
3.1 Research question
The consulted literature clarified that a clear research is needed on the path dependency
process of dualism from the colonial past that led to the current fragmentation of the inner city of Jakarta. In that regard, there seems to be a ‘lock-in’ created by that colonial past, but the
problem in confirming this statement is that there is a lack of relevant literature. In order to confirm or disprove this statement, a research needs to be done based on this problem statement. The main question for this research is arranged as follows:
Has the colonial past of dualistic planning created a lock-in for urban development which led to contemporary fragmentation in the inner city core of Jakarta?
This research questions features three main concepts, that of ‘colonial past of dualistic
planning’, ‘contemporary fragmentation’ and the ‘lock-in‘. In order to answer the main research question, sub-questions are formulated in regards to the main concepts.
For instance, the concept of ‘colonial past of dualism’ can only be explored if the concept is defined well. Sub-questions that formalize the ‘colonial past of dualism’ are as follows: What is the past dualistic planning of the colonial regime?
Which laws shaped the colonial regime?
How have planning institutions developed during colonization?
What effects did the rules and regulations of the colonial past have on the spatial patterns? How did the colonial dualistic planning set a pathway for urban development?
The second set of sub-questions are to define the ‘lock-in’ concept and process. How have planning institutions developed after decolonization?
How are dualistic laws enforced after decolonization? How are lock-ins maintained through positive feedback?
How is informal urban development legitimized?
How does infrastructure lead to either a lock-in or disruption of past dualism? How restricted is the development of infrastructure in the inner city core of Jakarta? How do cognitive constraints lead to the lock-in of past dualism?
The last set of sub-questions explores the current spatial patterns either caused by the lock-in of past dualistic planning or other external factors.
What are the characteristics of contemporary fragmentation? How is contemporary fragmentation pattern caused by a lock-in?
Are there other factors that could have influenced contemporary fragmentation? 3.2 Conceptualization and operationalization
3.2.1 Conceptual framework
The main concepts of the problem statement, sub-questions, and the presumed relationships are illustrated through a conceptual framework This framework essentially constructs the main concepts and the presumed relationship between those concepts. The framework is then schematically displayed unto the following conceptual model:
Figure 1: Conceptual model (source: author).
3.2.2 Operationalization: colonial regime
In the conceptual model, the independent variable is the colonial regime and this concept of colonial regime is defined by the structures and institutions that formed it. As researched by King (1976) colonial cities are shaped by the imposition of western institutions on a colonized population and through ‘culture, technology and power’ colonialism forms the built environment. At its best, a colonial regime is a form of government wherein a foreign entity imposes power over both a native and the non-native colonialist population. It leads to an unequal outcome wherein the non-native colonialist population is more advantages than the native population.
In this research, it is important to examine how the colonial regime influenced the built environment. This can be examined by regarding the rules, regulations, legislation, planning institutions, planning practises and the hierarchy present in the colonial period or having their origins in the colonial period. For instance, in a colonial regime, a foreign legal framework is implemented through the enforcement of colonial rules, regulations and legislations on the colonized environment. The consideration of their origin and their implementation on the colonized environment, leads to an understanding of how the colonial legal framework shaped the built environment. Therefore, in this research, the origins and implementation of rules, regulations and legislation are explored through historical records that describe them.
Similarly, the establishment and the practises of the formal colonial planning institute needed to be investigated as this institute influenced and shaped the urban environment in advantage of the non-native colonialist population.
Furthermore, the colonial regime is also defined by its political framework wherein a hierarchy exists that favors policies advantages for the non-native colonialist population over the native colonized population. Therefore, the colonial regime leads to unequal outcomes. As mentioned in the literature review, the colonial regime in Indonesian was characterized by an indirect rule leading to a dualism in governance, legal system and land system which indicate that there was an unequal power relation between the foreign colonial Dutch government and the local
Indonesian government. As described by Leaf (1993), dualism in land rights was enacted through the implementation of the formal colonial Dutch system while maintaining the native Indonesian adat system. This research explores the dual political and legal system through examining historical records that describe how the implemented foreign system coexisted with the native system. Eventually, as described by Boeke (1953) McKee & Leahy (1970a) such dualism leads to spatial inequality. Therefore, it is expected that the dualistic colonial regime led to spatial patterns that set a pathway for future urban development.
3.2.3 Operationalization: historical spatial patterns
The colonial regime affected historical spatial patterns that set pathways for urban development for future actors to follow. The most apparent spatial pattern of the colonial regime is the spatial segregation of different ethnic groups into different neighborhoods as described by Colombijn & Barwegen (2009). Besides, the creation of infrastructure, for purposes profitable to the colonial regime, shaped the form of the city, its development, how social groups were divided, how the inhabitants used the city and accessibility to certain neighborhoods. Importantly, the morphology of the inner core of Jakarta is a result of the colonial regime its southern linear expansion from the Dutch trade post as described by Ford (1993:277). This southern expansion formed the core of Jakarta into a dumbbell shape. Therefore, historical spatial patterns created pathways for future urban development to follow that were locked-in. This research will explore the spatial outcomes of the colonial regime through observing older maps.
3.2.4 Operationalization: lock-in
As described by Sorensen (2015), a lock-in is the result of following a certain pathway and its specific properties that are in a persistent state (Vergne Durand, 2010). In this case, the urban
development of the inner city was locked-in. The most relevant research that examined the persistence of an urban structure and its effect on society, long after institutional changes have occured is that of Brooks & Lutz (2014). Their research found that a former streetcar network influenced contemporary development through the locational advantage. The advantage of locations prevails because of the increasing returns of using those locations. These increasing returns drive land values, thus persisting the high values of these locations. Furthermore, the capital on those location are durable, that is, a slow depreciation of the value of the location. Lastly, land use regulations such as zoning shape future functions thus urban structures can persist. Moreover, land use regulations themselves are shaped by past activities and choices in which current and future urban structures are prolongation of past structures. As zoning is based on activities and choices from the past, zoning can be regarded as path dependent itself. In accordance, the study in Jakarta by Octavianti and Charles (2018) gives factors such as the repetition of laws, practises, mindsets and cultures which led to lock-ins that constrained development. In order to further investigate lock-ins, it must be known how positive feedback happened for such repetitions, that eventually lead to current spatial patterns.
3.2.4.1 Institutions and lock-in
Institutions shape values and norms that are to be followed and this both shapes and bounds the context actors operate in (Trip, 2005). Institutions either enable or constraint development and thus create a pathway on which the development is dependent on. Moreover, institutions themselves are path dependent (Pierson, 2000) and can be restricted to a certain path which magnifies the path dependency process. In urban development, formal institutions such as the structure of government, legal framework in land and property affairs, planning institutions, planning practises and the hierarchy present in the colonial period all shape a path. Past
dualism would have persisted through these formal institutions. By focusing on the enforcement of certain laws or rather the failure and avoidance of implementing certain laws, the persistency of a pathway, which formal institutions follow can be determined. Therefore, these institutions can lead to the lock-in of a pathway. This thesis focuses on how the aforementioned formal institutions locked-in the urban development pathways after the colonial period.
Woodlief (1998) distinguishes political lock-in, where reversibility of a development is difficult because of bureaucracy and the complexity of policies, and structural lock-in, which can not be undone even when policy is changed. The most apparent of such a structural lock-in is the infrastructure that stems from colonial period that is difficult to change as will be explained. Therefore, this thesis investigates how policies, laws, and government structure were maintaining pathways established in the colonial period and these factors contribute to the process of lock-in.
On the other hand, the role of informal institutions must be recognized such as internalized behaviour which shapes the path formal institutions follow due to its constraining effect. By focusing on the constraining effect of informal institutions it will be clear how a lock-in has persisted.
3.2.4.2 Positive feedback
A positive feedback increasingly leads a path into the same direction creating institutional reproduction (Pierson, 2000). It is then difficult to go back (Pierson, 2004) because for some path dependent cases, changing back to a previous option can be extremely costly, even more so if the interdependence is high. Positive feedback leads to a beneficial increasing returns and maintenance of the decision/path through self-reinforcement (Page, 2006). In the case of urban development, positive feedback is the persistent repetition of certain pattern or behavior, the reproduction of similar response to certain processes or the increasing reliance on past decisions. All these factors lead to or constraint the self-reinforcement of the lock-in of urban development. Likewise, both formal and informal institutions can also lead to a disruption of a pathway as these happen at critical juncture that lead to institutional changes (Capoccia, 2016). 3.2.4.3 Informal institutions and lock-in
An informal institution that leads to a lock-in are cultural constraints, as described by Octavianti and Charles (2018), which hinder the decisions of policy makers. According to Stinchcombe (1997) institutions “have to follow the ‘script’ or ‘shared cognitions’ that have been established in the society over a long period of time to gain legitimacy” (Octavianti and Charles, 2018:14). Critically, new problems are “solved using the same cultural template” (Thelen, 1999:387). For instance, cognitive constraints are characterized by preferring past policies, either caused by cost constraints, poor accountability or because it is more reliable. The unconscious bias for past policies echoes the colonial approach of prioritising European communities and “such an inheritance is so embedded that the post-colonial governments have not successfully broken it. What seems to be a colonial matter, persist today” (Argo, 1999:73). Because actors are
constrained to a defined area, their cognitive constraints lead to the neglection of areas that are outside the actors defined areas as is clear in past research.
In Accra for instance, groups that were already wealthy were systematically favored which disadvantaged the poor and reinforced unequal structures (Andersson, 2017). As King (2009:2) describes that in “many postcolonial cities, decades after independence, while the native area of the city crumbled under pressure from rapid migration, indigenous elites occupied the spaces vacated by their foreign predecessors”. Then, even with the changes that came with
independence and the following decades, the legacy of colonial inequality was morphed and adapted into the current structures. This cognitive constraint to an unequal system is maintained because it is beneficial for the people with the political and economic power to change it. This makes change extremely difficult to bring about.
Forms of cognitive constraints such as unconscious preferences for past policies, institutionalized behaviour, legitimization of certain behaviour and their persistency due to embeddedness are characteristics of lock-in. Therefore, this thesis investigates how the
behaviour of planning actors in the independent period of Indonesia preferred planning policies established in the colonial period or followed similar behaviour as their colonial counterparts. These factors contribute to the process of lock-in.
3.2.4.4 Infrastructural lock-in
The development of infrastructure in a city can be locked-in as was clear from Octavianti and Charles’ (2018) research on the legacy of the colonial water system. Other infrastructural works such as roads, railways and street patterns can be locked-in as well lock-in urban development. Ford (1993:377) mentions that the “dumbbell-infill pattern came to dominate Indonesian urban morphology for more than a century” mostly due to the elongated roads such as the Molenvliet-corridor that connected the 17th century fortified center with the 19th century expansion. It still functions as a major road between two major centers and this locked-in the structure of the area as the buildings along the road experienced more development than the kampungs behind them (Zhu & Simarta, 2015).
As mentioned, Brooks & Lutz (2014) researched the effects of a former streetcar network in Los Angeles, in which the former location of a streetcar stop influenced the current density and economic clustering in that city. Similar patterns could be found along the railways of Jakarta, which were built in the colonial period and were the locations for the poorer native Indonesians to live next to as these were the least desirable yet available places. In a way, infrastructure thus leads to a lock-in of slum development. In this thesis, investigation of historical records and observation of the infrastructure determines how much the colonial infrastructure shaped and constrained urban development.
Lastly, the type of colonial infrastructure and urban development may also influence the outcomes of postcolonial cities. In a research on the difference of former British and French colonies in Africa, Baruah et al. (2017) proved that in former British colonies, provision of facilities was worse than in former French colonies because of the leapfrog development
prevalent in British colonies. Leapfrog development is characterized by scattered settlements of long distances which in effect means facilities are more difficult to provide. On the contrary, more compact cities require less infrastructure and, in relation to this, mass transit systems are able to operate more effectively. Lastly, they claim that even newer urban development outside the colonial areas are prone to following or extending the layouts of the colonial area. In the thesis, similar characteristics of infrastructure established in colonial Jakarta are observed and examined on how it influenced urban development and current spatial patterns.
Apart from being locked in, the path dependency on colonial infrastructure can also be disrupted through demolition of the physical infrastructure and discontinuation of transport services. For instance, the abolition of the tram network in Jakarta in 1962 (Silver, 2008:95), erased physical colonial infrastructure from the urban fabric. Such infrastructural changes are taken into considered as they indicate the extent of dependency on the pathway from the past. 3.2.5 Operationalization: external factors
There is a possibility that both the colonial regime and the past spatial patterns are not able to completely explain current spatial patterns and that other factors that are not related to the colonial past have influenced contemporary fragmentation more. According to North (1990) exogenous forces such as political and economical changes lead to the disruption of past pathways and the creation of new institutions. Therefore, external factors are economical,
political, social and environmental changes that possibly influence the spatial fragmentation. For instance, important economic changes are neoliberalization and the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and political changes such as Indonesian independence, the Suharto dictatorship, and decentralization. In researching the current spatial patterns, these factors, that have no
connection to the colonial regime or its subsequent historical patterns, are taken into account. 3.2.6 Operationalization: current spatial patterns
Lastly, the lock-in of historical pathway together with possible external factors lead to current spatial patterns. In this concept it is important to focus on the manifestation of contemporary fragmentation such as unequal development within and between neighborhoods through using spatial data that can be compared with older maps.
3.3 Methodology
3.3.1 Research design and units of analysis
In order to investigate the sub-questions and the problem statement a research is conducted through a case study on the colonial core of Jakarta. In a case study, a detailed and intensive observation of a single case is analyzed (Bryman, 2012:66). It explains a causal link between variables of a certain single case. A case study is appropriate for the problem statement of the research because it deals with “operational links needing to be traced over time, rather than mere frequencies or incidence” (Yin 2009:9). In this specific case, elements of a longitudinal study are present, because it tries to identify trends over time. In a case study, generalization of the results is not possible, because the results are only valid to the specific case.
In this research, the specific case is a spatial phenomena namely that of path dependency in the core districts in Jakarta. The unit of analysis in this research is the path dependency process of urban development and subsequent lock-in of the dual city structure. The spatial unit in this research is the inner city developed until the end of the colonial period, an area, as depicted in figure 2, roughly located east and north of the western flood canal, west of the eastern rail and and south of the old fortified town (Kota).
Figure 2: Location of colonial inner city in the current city (source: Wong & Sevin, 2013:30, modified by author). The temporal unit of analysis is set between 1619 and 2019 and is divided into two main periods: colonial and postcolonial.
The colonial period stems from 1619 with the creation of colonial Jakarta and ends in 1949 with the official change of sovereignty into the Republic of Indonesia. A large focus of the colonial period is during the first half of the 20th century when the colonial municipal
government was established and abolished, which set the pathways for urban development. The postcolonial period starts in 1949 and ends in 2019. This period focuses on the latter half of the 20th century to determine the lock-in of the pathways that were created during the
colonial period. By researching such an extensive time period, it is important to acknowledge that there are limitations to gathering information as most information is through secondary or tertiary sources that describe those periods. The limitation of this can be that it is biased or that it lacks specific information.
3.3.2 Data collection
A mixed methods approach is used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Primary data for investigating the historical and current spatial pattern are, on the one hand historical
literature supported by interviews with experts on colonial history and on the other hand GIS data on past and contemporary spatial patterns. The problems with the data collection that could appear are the difficulties of finding English sources meaning that there is a possibility of translating the sources. Another problem is that the data is not accurate enough because of aggregation or either the informality of the information.
3.3.2.1 Literature research
As mentioned in the theoretical framework, path dependency can be observed by using a historical institutionalist framework which looks at historical creation of institutions (Thelen, 1999). Therefore, the history of colonial planning institutions is investigated in this thesis through a literature research on Dutch colonial planning in Jakarta. A literature research on past events is the best method to retrieve the colonial structures, because by now those involved in the colonial regime have passed away.
Through this literature research, an analysis was conducted that exhibit the colonial regime, development of colonial planning institutions, premises to dualistic planning and how certain pathways were set for future urban formation and planning. It is important to focus on the direct effect of the colonial regime on the historical spatial pattern of Jakarta. Interpretation of
information that is provided or missing in the literature is provided through interviews with key informants.
Additionally, literature on Jakarta as an independent city between 1949 and today and its urban planning were used to examine the lock-in process of the development pathways created during the colonial period and potential external factors that caused contemporary spatial patterns. These include the actual spatial plans 1965-1985,1985-2005 and 2014-2030 from the Jakartan government. As mentioned, secondary sources can have its limitations, because specific information will be lost over time.
3.3.2.2 Interviews
Semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to obtain more in-depth information of the colonial regime and a more defined interpretation of the past, (Bryman, 2012:212) with key informants in the Netherlands who have written about the historical phenomena of dual colonial society and colonial planning. These key informants functioned as a secondary sources who provided more nuanced information on the development of planning institutions during colonization and the direct effect of the colonial regime on the historical spatial pattern of Jakarta. The key informants also enlightened on process of lock-in caused by the colonial regime and its continuation after independence. The key informants were selected through purposive sampling (Bryman, 2012:418), that is, sampling that is not random like in a quantitative research but are in accord with the research question and based on preferred characteristics of the key person, that is having an expertise on the topics. These interviews were structured around a list of themes such as the colonial regime, dualistic planning, historical spatial patterns as presented in table 1 and each interview was operated through a specific item list which is based on themes on which each informant is an expert.
Similar semi-structured interviews were held in Jakarta with key informants who have insight into the land rights system and current planning system of Jakarta. The interviews gave insight into the process of lock-in such as the constraining/restraining effects of preferring past policies, legitimization of informal urban development, enforcement of laws and how the current city deals with the physical and structural remnants of colonial planning.
In this case, key informants were primary sources who provided more nuanced information on the current development of planning institutions and challenges caused by the colonial regime. These key informants are important into discovering the process of lock-in caused by the colonial regime and its continuation after independence.
These semi-structured interviews leads to a more in-depth insight into the subjects. Semi-structured interviews, provide room for improvisation, specifying questions and
possibilities of deviating from questions by probing, when relevant to the theme (Weiss, 1994). Practically, the interviews lasted until there was a theoretical saturation (Bryman, 2012:421), when no new information appeared in the interviews. Eventually, the interviewees were explicitly informed on their consent in respect to the fieldwork ethics (Johnson, 2014).
3.3.2.3 GIS data
Through GIS, data is collected by using georeferenced historical maps of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) which are recreated into a dataset that distinguishes the formally and informally developed areas in the inner city during the colonial period. The dataset was corrected through overlaying the georeferenced maps over current satellite images of Jakarta. These maps are needed to observe the historical spatial patterns that developed in the colonial period.
Only a few maps of the inner city during the first decades after 1945 were available to be used as references for the dataset. The maps that were available, either did not focus on the inner city or did not depict any changes in the urban development. For instance, the dataset of
the current major infrastructure was created through observation of current satellite images of Jakarta.
Moreover, only several dataset created by the current Jakarta government were available for usage of analysis. These are dataset that include the population density of the subdistricts, location of registered slums and waterways. The dataset of the land rights, land values and the current zoning plans of Jakarta could not be obtained for GIS analysis due to the protected data. Lastly, a dataset was created by abstracting buildings in the researched area from
Openstreetmaps. This dataset was used to create maps of the sizes of the buildings and a heat map that depicted the density of these buildings.
3.3.3 Analysis methods
The historical institutionalist analysis is conducted through a mixed analysis methods, using quantitative and qualitative analyses. Quantitative analysis through a GIS analysis, analyses whether current urban development is path dependent on the urban development that was established in the colonial period.
The qualitative analysis of the literature and interviews is similar to past historical institutional researchers such as that of Accra (Andersson, 2017) where the colonial and current urban structures were compared as well as the process between these two points in time was
analyzed. In this research on Jakarta, the analysis starts with presenting the pathways created in the colonial period and then examining how these pathways were locked-in in the post colonial period.
This research thus exists out of analysing literature, interviews and spatial patterns through GIS, whereby triangulation is applied as more than one method is used to gather data (Bryman, 2012:392). Triangulation increases the reliability of the research by having different sources that give more perspective to the research subject.
The results of the observations are divided into two chapters, during and after colonization. Each of these chapters is followed by an analysis on the spatial patterns and how these set up an urban development pathway in the colonial period or how the lock-in occured in the
independent period.
4) Colonial path-creation
4.1 Path-creation in colonial Jakarta
In this chapter, the colonial system in Jakarta, concerning governance and spatial planning, is discussed through an extensive literature review and complementary interviews with experts on this period. In this, the colonial regime is a major event that set up the future paths. Thus in this chapter, there is an analysis on when and how the paths were created during colonial times. These paths are then further analyzed on how they were locked-in in the next chapter.
Firstly, the urban development of colonial Jakarta is explored briefly to give an understanding of the physical structure of the colonial city. Then, formal institutions such as the colonial
government and town planning are discussed. This is followed by an analysis on the dualistic governance and dual land system which both have created path. In relation to that, the origins of segregation are discussed and how both non-European and European neighborhoods were formed. All these characteristics of colonial Jakarta form the basis of the subsequent historical spatial patterns in Jakarta which is analyzed in the last section of the chapter. In this chapter, colonial Jakarta is referred to by its old name: Batavia.
4.2 Colonial urban development of Batavia
Before the colonial system in Jakarta is discussed, the urban development of colonial Jakarta is explored briefly. This section regards only the development of the European parts of colonial Jakarta.
The urban formation of colonial Jakarta starts in 1619 with the creation of a fortified town called Batavia (Raben, 1996) by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) at the Ciliwung river, as a replacement of the originally Bantanese town of Jayakarta which was destroyed by the VOC. The new town, Batavia, functioned as the headquarters of the VOC in the East Indies and it was based on a Dutch town with its canals system. The canal system extended outside of this fortified town and additional forts were established on the surrounding lands to defend the town, as depicted in figure 3. The VOC divided the rest of that surrounding land into private estates owned by Europeans or Chinese (Kanumoyoso, 2011). However, as the local Javanese were expelled from living inside the town, kampung settlements started to develop on these estates (Raben, 1996). The physical makeup of Batavia remained similar until the VOC went bankrupt in 1799 and the Dutch government officially incorporated Batavia as the capital of the Dutch East Indies colony.
Figure 3: Batavia and its surrounding in the 17th century (source: author).
Further development of Batavia occured, when the Dutch started to canalize a part of the Ciliwung river outside of the town into the elongated Molenvliet. The Molenvliet, a canal paralleled with roads on each, extended 3.5 kilometers south. This corridor is important as it established a pathway of lineair urban development towards the south, that was to be followed. From 1808 onwards, a new spacious town started to develop on the southern end of the Molenvliet named Weltevreden. The old fortified town at the northern end was soon regarded as unhealthy (Blussé, 1986:17) and the colonial government, the military and shops started to move to the spacious clean Weltevreden and around a large field called Koningsplein. In addition, the southern town was supported by several markets, such as Pasar Baru and Pasar Senen around Weltevreden and Tanah Abang near the Koningsplein (Kurnia, 2011:554). These locations are depicted in figure 4, which is based on the urban development until 1905.
Although the Europeans did not reside anymore in the old town, offices and warehouses remained in that area. The southwards migration was also visible on the Molenvliet itself as grand mansions were built here (Grijns & Nas, 2000) which amplified the significance of the Molenvliet of not only a corridor between the old town and Weltevreden, but also as a prestigious place. Weltevreden and the settlements around the Molenvliet developed
sporadically often referred to as leapfrog development, similarly to the development of British settlements in their colonies (Baruah et al., 2017).
Batavia began to expand increasingly after legal changes in 1870 that liberalized the colonial economy when private European companies were able to settle in the Dutch colony (Silver, 2008:39). This gave an economic impulse to Batavia and the abandoned old town became the financial heart again. With a growing economy and population in Batavia, the first railway opened, operating from the old town towards Buitenzorg (current Bogor) southwards.
Buitenzorg was the upland administrative center of the colony and the residence of the governor general, the highest ruler of the colony. Similarly, the tramway opened, that operated between Weltevreden, Koningsplein and later towards the municipality of Meester Cornelis, located on the southeast (Silver, 2008:34). Batavia started to developed along the eastern railroad, road and river southwards along Meester Cornelis towards the Buitenzorg. With this southeast expansion, Meester Cornelis was annexed and incorporated into Batavia proper by 1935. The last urban residential development was Menteng, prominently located south of the Koningsplein and west of the railway towards Buitenzorg. Menteng was the first officially planned
neighborhood modelled after the garden cities (Roosmalen 2008a:75).
The last significant development in Batavia was the opening of the Kemayoran Airport, northeast of the city, in 1940 during the Second World War on the brink of Japanese occupation. The Japanese occupation (1942-1945) and the subsequent Indonesian independence war (1945-1949) put the colonial urban formation on hold. The final form of colonial Batavia in 1945 is depicted in figure 5. The colonial urban formation, that went from the coast to the southern hinterland, caused a path of linear urban formation that was followed by future developments (Ford 1993:377).
4.3.1 Formal institutions: colonial governance and town planning
At the start of the twentieth century, the governance of cities in the colony started to become organized through the creation of municipalities. The Decentralization Act of 1903 and the Local Councils Ordinance in 1905 resulted in Batavia becoming a municipality, in a similar way to those in the Netherlands (Van Roosmalen, 2014:91). Before the enactment of this act, the colonial authorities in Batavia centrally administered cities and towns in the Dutch East Indies and maintenance of public works was neglected (Woesthoff 1915:24). Now, as a municipality, “regional and local councils were established that were able to administer a clearly demarcated territory, using their own financial resources” (Van Roosmalen, 2014:90). This was essential for developing town planning practices in the Dutch East Indies.
The responsibilities of the municipality were essentially the construction and maintenance of public works, although these were limited in the first few years because the central government still had the power. Eventually, the responsibilities of the municipality came to be: “the
construction and maintenance of roads, including the plants and trees lining them, sewers, water supplies, public slaughterhouses, and covered markets” (Woesthoff, 1915:128). Still, actual town planning by the municipality was less effective because responsibilities were limited and there was a constant lack of a budget. Aside from the municipality, national ministries such as that of public works and housing were involved in the control of construction and provisioning of housing, but this would mostly be limited to the European areas.
4.3.2 Town planning and private estates
Additionally, town planning was difficult because of land ownership issues of both privately-owned European estates and the complex indigenous land ownership system
(Cobban, 1993:145). In order to get the legal title of a land, the municipality had to “establish the owner of the title to the plot in question and subsequently negotiate transfer of ownership – a costly and time-consuming procedure that seriously compromised the progress of projects” (Van Roosmalen 2014:92). Moreover, since the decentralization, the municipality had less financial resources and purchasing large private estates was expensive. The central colonial government only confiscated private estates if the municipality had substantiated arguments for purchasing those estates for housing in a structure plan (geraamteplan) (Van Roosmalen, personal
communication, April 15, 2019; Silver, 2008:53). After the central colonial government
purchased the estate, it was transferred to the municipality who build European neighborhoods on those lands. However, often kampungs remained on those purchased lands (Versnel, personal communication, April 17, 2019). According to Versnel (2019) this tedious process “hindered ‘healthy’ urban development” as healthy only applied to the experience of the Europeans.
4.3.3 Town planning and indigenous land
In addition to the issue of private estates, there was a lack of jurisdiction over the autonomous indigenous land, making execution of public projects difficult (Van Roosmalen, 2008b:40) as indigenous lands fell under the jurisdiction of indigenous authorities since the Municipal
Ordinance of 1906 (Van Roosmalen, 2014:92). It was in 1918 that the central government revised the constitution of the colony, through which municipalities could finally implement public work in their territory including the autonomous indigenous land. Afterwards, the municipality executed several kampung improvements which was necessary as the kampungs increased. Another reason for these improvements was the unhygienic state of these kampungs that threatened public health, especially for Europeans, and it could lead to social unrest amongst the native Indonesians (Van Roosmalen, 2008a:98-99). However, because of limitations caused by the autonomy of kampungs and the lack of finances, improvement was only restricted to the improvement of public works, infrastructure and drainage. The improvement of houses was neglected as the municipality believed that improvement of infrastructure would lead to the residents themselves improving their living situation (Versnel, 2019).
Major planning developments for indigenous lands and the city as a whole were never fully realized. Although in 1938, the Town Planning Ordinance for Municipalities on Java
(Stadsvormingsordonnantie Stadsgemeenten Java) was written, it was still a draft and never enacted because of the Japanese occupation and the Indonesian independence. Despite it never being enacted, it set out the “methodological, procedural, and legal principles for town planning” (Van Roosmalen, 2014:98) and was essential for drafting the Town Planning Ordinance of 1948 (Van Roosmalen, 2019). In the first half of the twentieth century, formal planning in Jakarta was largely limited due to limited responsibilities, limited financial resources and a complex land system that hindered effective planning. These limitations created an ineffective planning institute that was inherited together with the ordinance in the later half of the century by the Indonesian planning institutes, thus the pathway of an ineffective planning
institute would remain. 4.4 Dualistic governance
As mentioned, the Dutch colonial government indirectly ruled over its native Indonesian citizens. The native kampungs and desas (rural villages) acted autonomously (desa-autonomy) from the colonial European municipality through their own indigenous municipality, which had jurisdiction over its daily affairs. Native Indonesian citizens regulated their space according to local
regulations as long as it was not against Dutch law (Supriatna, 2018). The recognition of desa-autonomy was highly respected that it even was determined by the House of
Representatives in the Netherlands (Versnel, 2019). The reason behind protecting kampungs was because in the past centuries, extension of European settlements had decreased
indigenous settlements. Besides, Europeans were in the minority and taking land of the natives, who were in the majority, could create a landless class through the city (Colombijn, 2012:217) which was a possible threat to the safety of the Europeans.
Versnel described that governmental dualism mirrored social life and led to separate worlds in both social life and governance. In the city council, the passing of laws and policies only happened if it was in the interest of the majority of its European members as the European interest had to be secured. There was an indigenous elite, that were positioned between the Europeans and native Indonesian, who functioned as spokesman for the kampung dwellers. However, the elite slowly lost support from the kampung dwellers as they often choose the side of the European fraction, unless it concerned the kampung.
The kampung question, the impenetrability of kampungs and their autonomy, was a heavily debated issue for the colonial government, especially those concerning spatial planning.
(Cobban, 1993:145). On the other hand, as mentioned, it was difficult for the Dutch municipality to improve living situations in the indigenous areas, as there was an uncertainty as to what extent city council ordinances could legally could interfere in the indigenous areas (Cobban, 1993:145).
These municipalities had their own administration, police service and desa services.
Desa services were services desa residents did voluntary such as cleaning the streets, bridges of the desa, the maintenance of the drainage and water pipes (Colombijn, personal
communication, April 16, 2019). Also, indigenous municipalities were involved in matters that the European municipalities were not concerned with such as the maintenance of mosques or community work. Indigenous municipalities did not have much money, proper means, interest or time because some native Indonesian had paid labour in the European neighborhoods outside the kampungs.
In zoning, the duality appeared in the registration as two different types of area: the built areas (bebouwde kom) with private or ‘European’ land ownership and the unbuilt areas (niet bebouwde-kom) with a variety of indigenous rights (Kusno, 2015). Despite being labelled by the colonial government as ‘unbuilt’ the areas existed of informally built houses (Kusno, 2012). The kampung question, the impenetrability of kampungs and their autonomy, remained until the Second World War and well after the independence of Indonesia. This can be considered a path that persisted the autonomous role of kampungs.
4.4.1 Dual land system
The dual land system is characterized by a complex system of European land ownership and indigenous land use rights.
Lands that had a European title were based on the Civil Code (Colombijn, 2012:218) and were officially registered in the cadastre. Moreover, banks only approved mortgage on land with European title. Urban land with a European title was expensive due to costly administration and annual land tax. Therefore, land with European title had the highest degree of security. The dissolution of the cultivation system in 1870 and the introduction of the Agrarian Law greatly affected the land system. The Agrarian Law caused landlords to own their property (private estate) for a 99 year period, referred to as eigendom particuliere landerijen (limited freehold ownership) (Leaf, 1993:480). All other land not under eigendom rights were domein van de Staat (state land) which increased after the government repurchased private land in 1911. Indigenous lands were original rural settlements and when incorporated in the city they remained their autonomy. Indigenous land was not registered in the cadastre but according to the collection of land rent by the indigenous neighborhood administration. This tax form was the only written evidence of ownership. The land rights of native Indonesians in and around Batavia was dependent on the type of European land their kampung was located on; either on private estates or state land. The residents that lived on state land paid rent to the local indigenous neighborhood administration and these lands are referred to as girik lands. Similarly, residents on private estates, paid rent to the land official and these lands are referred to as garapan
