Polarised or Depolarised Urbanisation: Cities and Growth Centres Development in Indonesia

This study examines the urbanisation pattern in Indonesia, focusing on the complex interplay between population and the emergence of diverse motives for growth centres. Taking census data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, this study adopts a descriptive analysis and utilises the Spatial Durbin Model to explore urbanisation patterns at both national and regional levels. The findings suggest that urbanisation remains mainly concentrated, especially on Java Island. It has a highly hierarchical population distribution, ranging from millionaire cities to small cities with extreme convergence in metropolitan areas, which has not resulted in trickle-down effects in surrounding areas. Furthermore, the growth centres in Western Indonesia are eclipsed by the initiatives in already-advancing areas. In contrast, in Eastern Indonesia, newly developed growth centres like Special Economic Zones play a pivotal role in clustering population concentrations, economic activity spreading, and high spillover effects around neighbouring areas.