Jakarta After Being the Capital City
The crucial question is how the city of Jakarta will be governed, its relationship with the central government and the fate of its “special” status.
President Joko Widodo\'s move to relocate the Indonesian capital to East Kalimantan will bring about the consequences of what future holds for the Special Capital Region (DKI) Jakarta, after it is no longer the capital city.
The crucial question is how the city of Jakarta will be governed, its relationship with the central government and the fate of its “special” status.
Also read: Relocation Pending Legal Umbrella
The question requires appropriate answers regarding the institutional design of the city in the future, taking into account the enormous burden it is facing, such as tremendous urban problems. It’s by no means an easy challenge for Jakarta.
This article seeks to provide thoughts over the hope that Jakarta can achieve the status of that a world-class livable and increasingly comfortable city.
Stay Attached
Jakarta, after it is no longer the capital, it will be a province with urban characteristics. However, unlike other provinces, Jakarta is a mega-urban area, commonly referred to as tonas megalopolitan or megapolitan. Because of being predominantly rural, no other province has the same characteristics as Jakarta.
Jakarta is among the world’s 20 megalopolitan cities, according to World Bank records (2015).
Jakarta is not a typical metropolitan city, with more than two or more central business districts (CBD). In the language of planologists, a metropolitan city is a city with more than two city centers.
Megalopolitan Governance
A megalopolitan forms an inter-metropolitan network, a fact which will remain attached to Jakarta, even after the status of capital city belongs elsewhere.
So far, these empirical facts have not been accommodated in the legal umbrella of governance in Indonesia. The state tends to focus more on regulating villages than cities, despite the prospect that the regions will develop into urban areas in the future, in accordance with the development of human civilization and demography.
Also read: Hopes Abound for New Capital City
Law Number 23/2014 on regional government stipulates the concept of metropolitan, but falls short of shedding light on the issue of mega-urban or megalopolitan or megacity (see Chapter XV, Articles 355 to 359).
Landscape design of the new nation\'s capital in East Kalimantan.
Article 355 states: (1) An urban area is an area with certain boundaries in which the community has main activities in the industrial and service sectors. (2) An urban area can take the form of: (a) a city as a region and (b) an urban area. (3) The urban area as referred to in Paragraph (2) letter b is in the form of: (a) part of a regency; and (b) part of two or more adjacent regions.
(4) the governance in urban areas regulated in Paragraph (3) is under the authority of the central government or regional government.
Article 356: (1) Urban areas can develop naturally or be developed as planned. (2) The planned urban area as referred to in Paragraph (1) can be carried out by the central government, regional government and / or legal entities in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations.
The next article is not specifically related to urban institutions that would accommodate the empirical phenomenon of cities in Indonesia.
Also read: Looking at the Impacts of Capital City Relocation Plan
The tremendous development in Jakarta, which will also be taking place in other cities in Indonesia, is not thoroughly addressed by the state, as vindicated from the structure of urban area regulation on Regional Government Law above.
Jakarta is set for serious institutional problems because of the lack of regulations that govern urban institutions in Indonesia.
Bold Initiatives
Waiting for the formulation of a legal umbrella on urban regions, would indeed take a long time, while on the other hand, an institutional design is urgent for Jakarta after it is no longer the capital city.
There should be anticipation over the possibility of moving the capital city but leaving Jakarta institutionally in its capital status. This could chaotically trigger twin national capitals.
The government needs to formulate a timeframe for guidelines for post-capital Jakarta.
While preparation for the new capital city is underway, Jakarta can still function as the seat of government in transition, during which the institutional status is maintained.
Aerial photo showing the flood that submerged Jalan Kemang Raya, South Jakarta, Saturday (20/2/2021).
After the transitional period is over, Jakarta enters new era of not being the capital city. The laws and regulations governing the preparation of the new capital city, the Transitional Jakarta and post-capital Jakarta should be of one legal product, possibly by virtue of a government law.
The "megalopolitan" characteristics portrays Jakarta as a super-big city. The functional integration of various aspects of megalopolis life must be addressed so that the city continues to develop robustly and rapidly in order to build strong competitiveness with other cities in the world.
Several Alternatives
Therefore, Jakarta can be run based on the following four alternatives.
First, considering the highly fragmented and specialized hierarchical structure, Jakarta should not need districts or even mayoralties.
Structural area-based top officials are replaced by a special agent of the Jakarta Megalopolitan government.
The City Council will no longer be needed. As a replacement, the Megalopolitan Council is established at the provincial level. However, at the subdistrict level, informal institutions similar to a city-ward in Tokyo, can be formed with a collegial governance.
Also read: New Capital to be Smart City
Second, urban areas are developed areas with social, economic, cultural characteristics different from rural areas. Therefore, a “managerialism” structure, such as in the United States with its Council-Manager System, can be adopted.
While the legislative function, like the DPRD currently does, is assumed by the Megalopolitan Council, the government is run by the professionally elected Chief Executive Organizer (CEO). Like in a company, the Megalopolitan Council is the commissioner, while a CEO is the president director. The latter reports to the former, whose members are made up of those from political parties picked through an election.
In this alternative, because of the direct relationship between the DPRD and the CEO, they may be trapped in politicization, which might lead to a commissioner system, similar to that of Law Number 22/1999-based regional government.
The third alternative still uses a managerial structure, with symbolic leadership established to build political communication with the Megalopolitan Council.
Landscape design of the new nation\'s capital in East Kalimantan.
The symbolic leader functions as a regional head who is directly elected by the people, but does not carry out day-to-day administration.
The day-to-day administration is run by a CEO who is elected by a regional head and must obtain approval from the Megalopolitan Council.
This is a modified version of the Council Manager System model implemented in the United States, in which the CEO is elected by the DPRD to avoid a volatile impeachment. The CEO and his or her bureaucracy, like the president of a company and staff, are responsible to the regional head.
In the US system, they are accountable to the DPRD. The regional head does not have much to do, a situation reminiscent to the currently applied system of direct regional head elections in Indonesia, except that the regional head is given the power to appoint the CEO to lead day-to-day administration with its megalopolis public values.
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Fourth, the institutional design is for the Jakarta Megalopolitan to consists of two major institutions -- the Jakarta Megalopolitan Council featuring elements from the DPRD and regional heads, and the Megalopolitan Executive Board comprising the board of directors headed by the president director.
The Megalopolitan Council is responsible for political policies while the Megalopolitan Executive Board is in charge for the administration. It is almost the same as the third alternative, only that the regional head oversees the Jakarta Megalopolitan Executive Board. The result of monitoring is reported to DPRD.
DPRD and the regional head are partners in the supervision of this Megalopolitan Executive Board. DPRD and regional heads formulate policies regarding all aspects to carried out by the Megalopolitan Jakarta Executive Board.
The government can choose one of the alternatives above with a view to retaining Jakarta with its unique challenges as a super big city and making it a world-class smart city.
Irfan Ridwan Maksum
Whether to include or exclude the bumper zones around Jakarta can be adjusted to the adopted institutional system.
The administrative region becoming broad is not a matter of concern as long as the “special” status remains attached to Jakarta and governed accordingly. Hopefully.
Irfan Ridwan Maksum, A Professor of State Administration-UI, Chair of the Democracy and Local Governance Cluster.
This article was translated by Musthofid.
