PCD Journal

The Political Dynamics of Space Behind the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Rail (Whoosh) Megaproject Development

2025-04-16T10:19:25+07:00

This paper explores the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Rail (HSR) megaproject, which began in 2016 and was completed in 2023. Currently, the high-speed train, known as "Whoosh," operates, connecting Jakarta and Bandung in just 30 minutes. The project highlights the competition between China and Japan in asserting their leadership in Asia's infrastructure investments. Under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the financing for this HSR project was sourced 75% from the China Development Bank, with the remaining 25% contributed from an Indonesian consortium. This study seeks to examine the impacts of the Indonesia—China HSR construction and analyze them through Henri Lefebvre’s Theory of the Production of Space (1991). The HSR requires space that it passes as well as train stations it stops. The location around train stations later transformed into a new economic zone. Thus HSR created physical and social spaces, including the process of meaning-making and control over representational of space. Using a qualitative approach, the study finds that the project has triggered significant spatial changes, transforming previously low-economic-value areas into high-value (capitalist) zones, marked by the dominance of capital owners and resource control, ultimately leading to conflicts over land rights at the community level. Global capital actors play a crucial role in the space shaping and making, and transportation technology serves as a entry point strategy.

Contested Waters

2025-04-16T10:19:17+07:00

This study examines the mechanisms of community access to water from the Cipasauran River, Serang Regency, Banten, which has been disrupted by damming activities carried out by PT Krakatau Tirta Industri (PT KTI). Employing a qualitative approach with a case study design, this research maps the distribution of water resource benefits, identifies the mechanisms used by various actors to obtain, control, and sustain access, and analyses the power dynamics that shape these mechanisms. Findings reveal that companies predominantly benefit from the river’s water resources through multiple access mechanisms, thereby restricting local communities’ access. Additionally, ecological changes caused by the dam have further exacerbated these restrictions. The study concludes that the allocation of Cipasauran River’s water resources is largely skewed in favour of the company’s interests, facilitated by legal and relational-structural mechanisms. Furthermore, asymmetric power relations among actors have reinforced disparities in water access.

Shrimp Boom, Migration Boom

2025-04-22T14:03:23+07:00

This study examines the expansion of migrant labour as a response to the shrimp boom in Petanahan, Kebumen Regency, which has transformed the local employment structure. The development of shrimp ponds by smallholder farmers, private companies, and the Area-Based Shrimp Ponds Scheme (TUBK) by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) increased labour demand and triggered migration flows, creating new dynamics in the labour market and potential social-economic tensions. This research employs a qualitative approach, incorporating literature review, in-depth interviews, and field observation. It is supported by Derek Hall and Tania Murray Li's (2011) theory of migrant labour and crop booms to address the research questions and analyse the continuity between booms and migrant labour expansion. The findings of this study reveal three key points: (1) the expansion of shrimp farming in Petanahan has increased labour demand, attracting both local and migrant workers; (2) migrant workers are divided into three categories based on employers: small shrimp farmers, plasma farmers, and TUBK; and (3) the key factors driving migration are more attractive economic incentives compared to the other sectors, limited job opportunities due to low education levels, and the recruitment process conducted by companies.