The Politics of Multi-scalar Governance in Megaproject Development: The Case of Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway Project

In many countries, megaproject development has become one of the key development strategies to boost national economic growth in the neoliberal era. Megaproject development usually encountered state rescaling process and characterised by complex institutional arrangements. In Indonesia, the ambitious megaproject agenda also become one priority of the national development strategies. The government made several adjustments to create a conducive ecosystem to promote massive large-scale infrastructure development. Unlike the powerful states that pursue megaproject initiatives with full dominant control over resources, Indonesia's state has limited financial capacity. In this sense, there is an emerging influence of international funds and transnational corporations in accelerating Indonesia's megaproject development. Moreover, megaproject development in Indonesia has faced some challenges due to complex decentralised governance system.

This research aims to investigate the new developmentalism approach in Indonesia through an exploration of megaproject development agenda. It will specifically identify the pathways and strategies of national infrastructure projects policy. Moreover, this study also will investigate what kind of new institutional arrangements emerges and what are the consequences of such a change to urban and regional development in Indonesia. Through a case study Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project, this study will look at how contentious politics takes place within multi-scalar governance arrangements. This research will use coding analysis to construct information from semi-structured interviews, document archives, as well as observation. The findings will be contextualised through the lens of state rescaling and growth regime theories.

I did my undergraduate programme at Institut Teknologi Bandung (major in Urban and Regional Planning) and graduate programme at The International Institute of Social Studies (major in Governance, Policy and Political Economy).

I’ve held a junior lecturer position at Institut Teknologi Bandung started since January 2018. I was given the opportunity to co-teaching several courses related to regional planning and development, namely Rural Planning, Regional Planning, and Regional Planning Studio.

I have some research experiences and have published several articles related to decentralisation policy, regional development, and metropolitan governance in Indonesia. I also involved in consultancy and community service projects with local governments in Indonesia. For instance, local development and spatial plan formulation, policy evaluation, and feasibility study for the government’s project.