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Urbanization in Indonesia increased tremendously following the country's rapid development in the 1970s. [1] Since then, Indonesia has been facing high urbanization rates driven by rural-urban migration. In 1950, 15% of Indonesia's population lived in urban areas. In 1990, 40 years later, this number doubled to 30%. [2] Indonesia took only another 20 years to increase its urban population to 44% as reported in 2010. [3] The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that the average population density of Jakarta, the capital, had reached more than 14,400 people per square kilometer. The BPS also predicted that the population in Jakarta will reach 11 million people in 2020 unless measures are taken to control the population. [4]
Statistics Indonesia classifies Indonesia's fourth-level administrative divisions into urban or rural settlements according to its population density, economic dependence on agriculture, and access to facilities. Following the definition, the country has 15,785 "urban" subdivisions and 61,340 "rural" subdivisions as of the 2010 census. [5]
Compared to the high intensity of rural-urban migration, most local governments in each province are required to meet the escalating demand for services and infrastructure in terms of housing, transportation, and employment. [2] When these demands are growing at a faster rate than the availability of infrastructure, there is a ‘socio-economic dualism’ observable within urban society in Indonesia. [6]
Socio-economic dualism portrays modernity and ‘kampung (village)’ society co-existing in urban areas. In Central Java, there are 14.1% or 2092500 people whose incomes are below the poverty line. [7] In West Nusa Tenggara, the number of poor people is reported to be 23.7% out of the total urban population. Firman (2000) argues that this socio-economic dualism depicts spatial segregation and socio-economic inequality. [8] According to Theil Index T, inequality in Indonesia's urban cities increased from 0.25 to 0.33 in the period of 1999 to 2002. [9] Without availability of employment catered to the needs of rural-urban migrants, income segregation between rich and poor in urban areas will worsen. This potentially leads to social friction, political tension, as well as discrimination in areas such as education and healthcare. [10] Without proper management and actions taken, the continuous influx or rural-urban migration may pose as a serious threat to the infrastructure in the urban cities. In terms of transportation, for instance, the traffic crisis costs Jakarta $1.4 billion a year due to traffic congestion and public transportation. [11]
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One of the implications of urbanization and development in Indonesia is the changing demographics in the rural areas. According to the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs, the population aged over 60 in Indonesia is expected to rise by 16% by 2050, which indicates the rapidly ageing population in Indonesia. [12]
Secondly, there are more youths moving to cities in search of better employment opportunities now due to urbanization. This leaves behind a large number of the ageing population of Indonesia to live on their own in rural areas.[ dubious ] The main source of income for the people in the rural areas comes from agriculture. Statistics from the Agricultural Ministry show that out of the 140 million farmers in the country, 80% of them are aged 45 and above. [13] With men moving out of rural areas in large quantities, there will be insufficient people taking over agricultural practices from the ageing farmers. Many attribute this movement of the youths to the manual and hard labour that is required of them to work on farms. Also, the youths do not want to face the risks of having a bad harvest. This leads to a major concern for the country regarding the agricultural industry. There is a possibility of a food crisis in the near future if production levels are not increased. Ageing farmers continue with their basic and manual methods of farming due to low skills and low education levels. Productivity levels in the agricultural industry is low as a result of this. Vice President Boediono warned that current levels of food production will not be sufficient to balance the increasing population in the near future. [14]
Another problem with rapid urbanization is the fall in investments in rural infrastructure. There are abundant investments in urbanization projects. Populations of people living in urban areas are predicted to increase by more than 65% by 2030. However, after 1980, investments in rural projects began to fall. Transport systems and roads are very critical forms of infrastructure that help in the development of rural areas. Farmers require better roads and a more efficient transport system to be able to access larger markets outside of their villages. Studies show that half of the kabupaten roads, which make up to 72% of the road network, are in poor condition. [15] Moreover, the absence of adequate investments in rural projects further accentuates the rate of migration of youths from villages to cities. Youths do not have a platform for progress in such areas where there are no efforts made to improve their lifestyles.
Healthcare services in rural parts of Indonesia have also worsened with the fall in investments in rural infrastructure. The aged do not have proper and affordable healthcare services which is very essential for them given their age and job as farmers. Statistics show that in East Kalimantan, the number of villages which have a hospital has decreased from 37 in 2005 to 33 in 2008. [16] Also, the number of Puskemas (Public Health Centre) – the health centre which is specifically targeted to the lower income families - in West Java, Central Java, and East Java as well as South and East Kalimantan have decreased from 222 in 2005 to 209 in 2008. [17] Indonesia also suffers from a lack of healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses. The bulk of them remain in urban areas which has caused a shortage of doctors and nurses in the rural areas. The poor people in rural areas do not have a strong and efficient healthcare system to turn to in times of need.
The economy of Indonesia is the largest in Southeast Asia and is one of the emerging market economies. As a middle-income country and member of the G20, Indonesia is classified as a newly industrialized country. It is the 17th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the 7th largest in terms of GDP (PPP). Estimated at US$40 billion in 2019, Indonesia's Internet economy is expected to cross the US$130 billion mark by 2025. Indonesia depends on the domestic market and government budget spending and its ownership of state-owned enterprises. The administration of prices of a range of basic goods also plays a significant role in Indonesia's market economy. However, since the 1990s, the majority of the economy has been controlled by individual Indonesians and foreign companies.
Rural flight is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective.
Urbanization refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas.
A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people. Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated.
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are described as rural. Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and administrative purposes.
Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars, activists, and the public have participated in, studied, and critiqued flows of economic and natural resources, human and non-human bodies, patterns of development and infrastructure, political and institutional activities, governance, decay and renewal, and notions of socio-spatial inclusions, exclusions, and everyday life. Urban geography includes different other fields in geography such as the physical, social, and economic aspects of urban geography. The physical geography of urban environments is essential to understand why a town is placed in a specific area, and how the conditions in the environment play an important role with regards to whether or not the city successfully develops. Social geography examines societal and cultural values, diversity, and other conditions that relate to people in the cities. Economic geography is important to examine the economic and job flow within the urban population. These various aspects involved in studying urban geography are necessary to better understand the layout and planning involved in the development of urban environments worldwide.
Hammanskraal is a functional, trans-provincial region anchored in northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The region consists of multiple, residential, industrial and commercial areas in a decentralized settlement pattern.
Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas.
Spatial inequality refers to the unequal distribution of income and resources across geographical regions. Attributable to local differences in infrastructure, geographical features and economies of agglomeration, such inequality remains central to public policy discussions regarding economic inequality more broadly.
Water supply and sanitation in Indonesia is characterized by poor levels of access and service quality. Almost 30 million people lack access to an improved water source and more than 70 million of the country's 264 million population has no access to improved sanitation. Only about 2% of people have access to sewerage in urban areas; this is one of the lowest in the world among middle-income countries. Water pollution is widespread on Bali and Java. Women in Jakarta report spending US$11 per month on boiling water, implying a significant burden for the poor.
Jakarta is Indonesia's capital and largest city. Located on an estuary of the Ciliwung River, on the northwestern part of Java, the area has long sustained human settlement. Historical evidence from Jakarta dates back to the 4th century CE, when it was a Hindu settlement and port. The city has been sequentially claimed by the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanegara, the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, the Muslim Sultanate of Banten, and by Dutch, Japanese and Indonesian administrations. The Dutch East Indies built up the area before it was taken during World War II by the Empire of Japan and finally became independent as part of Indonesia.
Urbanization in China increased in speed following the initiation of the reform and opening policy. As of 2022, China had an urbanization rate of 64.7% and was expected to reach 75-80% by 2035.
In China today, poverty refers mainly to the rural poor, decades of economic development has reduced urban extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, more than 850 million Chinese people have been lifted out of extreme poverty; China's poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 0.7 percent in 2015, as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms, which still stands in 2022. Chinese definition of extreme poverty is more stringent than that of World Bank, and is defined as earning less than $2.30 a day at purchasing power parity (PPP), Since the start of far-reaching economic reforms in the late 1970s, growth has fuelled a substantial increase in per-capita income lifting people out of extreme poverty. China's per capita income has increased fivefold between 1990 and 2000, from $200 to $1,000. Between 2000 and 2010, per capita income also rose by the same rate, from $1,000 to $5,000, moving China into the ranks of middle-income countries. Between 1990 and 2005, China's progress accounted for more than three-quarters of global poverty reduction and was largely responsible for the world reaching the UN millennium development target of dividing extreme poverty in half. This can be attributed to a combination of a rapidly expanding labour market, driven by a protracted period of economic growth, and a series of government transfers such as an urban subsidy, and the introduction of a rural pension. The World Bank Group said that the percentage of the population living below the international poverty line of $1.9 fell to 0.7 percent in 2015, and poverty line of $3.2 fell to 7% in 2015. At the end of 2018, the number of people living below China's national poverty line of ¥2,300 (CNY) per year was 16.6 million, equal to 1.7% of the population at the time.
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Bangladesh is a developing nation. Despite rapid economic growth, poverty remains a major issue. However, poverty has declined sharply in recent history. Shortly after its independence, approximately 90% of the population lived under the poverty line. However, since economic reforms and trade liberalization of early 1990s, along with accelerated economic growth since early-2000s, Bangladesh have experienced a dramatic progress in reducing poverty. The remarkable progress in poverty alleviation has been recognized by international institutions. According to World Bank, more than 33 million Bangladeshi people have been lifted out of poverty since 2000; as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms.
Sidenreng Rappang Regency is a landlocked regency of South Sulawesi Province in Indonesia. It has an area of 1,883.25 kilometres (1,170.20 mi) and had a population of 271,911 at the 2010 Census and 319,990 at the 2020 Census. Its capital is at the town of Pangkajene Sidenreng. The original inhabitants of this area are Bugis.
Overurbanization is a thesis originally developed by scholars of demography, geography, ecology, economics, political science, and sociology in thrergence of International Nongovernmental Organizations Amid Declining States. The term is intentionally comparative and has been used to differentiate between developed and developing countries. Several causes have been suggested, but the most common is rural-push and urban-pull factors in addition to population growth.
Urbanization in India began to accelerate after independence, due to the country's adoption of a mixed economy, which gave rise to the development of the private sector. The population residing in urban areas in India, according to the 1901 census, was 11.4%, increasing to 28.53% by the 2001 census, and is now currently 34% in 2017 according to The World Bank. According to a survey by UN, in 2030 40.76% of country's population is expected to reside in urban areas. As per World Bank, India, along with China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United States, will lead the world's urban population surge by 2050.
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The 1961 Indonesian census was the first census of Indonesia as a sovereign state. With a total population of 97,018,829, Indonesia was the world's fifth-most populous country at the time. The census covered all territories in the country, but no enumeration was done in Indonesian-claimed Western New Guinea because it was under Dutch occupation. Instead, an estimated population for the region was included in the final census numbers.