Planning Professor Coedits New Book on Jakarta’s Transformation in the Post-Suburban Era
Jakarta has grown from 150,000 residents in the first half of the twentieth century to more than 31 million in 2024. This explosive growth has reshaped the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA), presented complex challenges, and highlighted the critical role of urban planning.
For Dr. Deden Rukmana, Professor and Director of the Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) in the Department of Public Affairs and Planning (PAPL) at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), understanding and documenting this transformation is not only an academic pursuit, but also an urgent global priority.
Dr. Rukmana is the coeditor of the newly published book, Growth of a Megacity: Planning Jakarta in the Post-Suburban Era, alongside Sonia Roitman, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, Australia. Published by the University of Hawai'i Press, the book provides one of the most comprehensive English-language analyses of Jakarta's contemporary urban evolution.
"Jakarta represents a critical case for understanding the future of urbanization," Rukmana said. "As megacities in the Global South continue to drive population growth worldwide, planners need approaches that reflect local realities rather than relying solely on models developed elsewhere."
Rethinking Urban Growth in the Global South
Rather than focusing on traditional suburban growth, the book analyzes Jakarta through the lens of post-suburbanization, a process in which development extends beyond the city's core while remaining deeply interconnected with it. The book highlights how rapid expansion, infrastructure politics, spatial fragmentation, and socio-environmental challenges shape Jakarta's expansion.
The volume shows that although Jakarta exhibits post-suburban characteristics, its urban core continues to attract population and investment, resulting in uneven patterns of inclusion, displacement, and redevelopment across the metropolitan region.
Organized into four thematic sections—economic development, environmental challenges, housing and public space, and gentrification and displacement- the book provides a timely and accessible analysis for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners engaged with Jakarta's urban future.
From Broader Research to a Focused Volume
The book builds on Dr. Rukmana's broader research agenda on urbanization in Indonesia. Beginning in 2019, he and Sonia coedited The Routledge Handbook of Urban Indonesia. This project broadened English-language urban scholarship by examining nineteen Indonesian cities of varying sizes and historical trajectories.
"During that process, we saw a large number of submitted abstracts in Jakarta," Dr. Rukmana explained. "Despite its global importance, there were major knowledge gaps about how the city actually functions and evolves."
Motivated by that gap, the editors set out to provide new data, fresh perspectives, and deeper analysis of Jakarta's development. The resulting volume contributes to ongoing academic and policy debates about the future of megacities in the Global South.
"I hope readers gain a deeper understanding of Jakarta as a complex megacity influenced by post-suburban dynamics and marked by uneven patterns of growth, inclusion, and exclusion," Rukmana said. "More broadly, this book encourages readers to reconsider traditional urban models and to adopt context-sensitive, integrated approaches to planning megacities in the Global South."
A Collaborative Scholarly Effort
Growth of a Megacity features contributions from an outstanding group of scholars, planners, urban designers, and architects. Dr. Rukmana proudly acknowledges the contributions of (in alphabetical order):
Hana Afifah Amini, Adiwan Aritenang, Ferdinand P. Boedhiarto, Julia Crowley, Ayşın Dedekorkut-Howes, Santy Paulla Dewi, Erwin Fahmi, Rendy A. Diningrat, Raphaella Dewantari Dwianto, Tommy Firman, Deffany Rosa Firstina, Priza Marendraputra, Delik Hudalah, Karina Putri, Dinar Ramadhani, Erie Sadewo, Rukuh Setiadi, Paulus Bagus Sugiyono, Tessa Talitha, and Diana Zerlina.
He also expressed appreciation for the support of colleagues and leadership within UTA's College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) and Department of Public Affairs and Planning (PAPL).
Book Launch: Growth of a Megacity
To mark the publication of Growth of a Megacity, a public in-person book launch will be held in April.
Event Details
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 PM (Central Time CST)
Where: Nedderman Hall 100
Additional event information will be announced soon!
