Land Tenure Security in Disaster Affected Areas and The Role of Spatial Data Infrastructure: A Case Studies of Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Indonesia faces significant vulnerability to disaster risks due to its susceptibility to geophysical and hydrometeorological hazards. This vulnerability is exacerbated by factors such as high population density, economic inequality, and rapid urbanization. Within this challenging environment, complex land tenure arrangements present substantial obstacles to effective disaster management and securing land rights, particularly during post-disaster recovery. The devastating 2004 tsunami disaster in Aceh vividly illustrated how land tenure insecurity, extensive destruction, and ineffective land administration can hinder the rebuilding process following a disaster. In response, the Indonesian government incorporated the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) into land governance to formalize land rights, improve land tenure security and disaster resilience. However, this thesis argues that the implementation of SDI has intensified bureaucratic control, risks marginalizing local knowledge, and overlooks the social complexities involved in land tenure systems.Using Banda Aceh as a case study, this study examines the role of SDI as a government-led intervention tool in addressing land tenure insecurity in a disaster context. Examining the relationship between disaster recovery, land tenure, and SDI implementation reveals the institutional and socio-political constraints that emerge when formal spatial data systems are introduced into a pluralistic land tenure environment. This perspective highlights the tensions between standardized, technocratic approaches to land governance and the complex realities of overlapping, informal, and customary land claims in disaster-affected areas. Based on primary data collected through interviews and focus group discussions with government agencies, NGOs, academics, and local landowners, the study identifies significant gaps in data accessibility, technical expertise, and inclusiveness. The study finds that while SDI can support land tenure security for some, it also perpetuates inequality by favouring formal land administration systems over the actual experiences and needs of local communities, in particular in the context where land tenure is plural, overlapping and shaped by informal or customary arrangements. This study contributes to post-disaster recovery processes, land governance studies and Geo-ICT utilization by demonstrating that technological interventions such as SDI are political instruments that can influence and shape land tenure outcomes in post-disaster recovery contexts. The findings prompt reflection on the dominant “Build Back Better” narrative, suggesting that a more inclusive and bottom-up approach to post-disaster land tenure security is needed. These insights provide an important framework for policymakers, practitioners and researchers to evaluate land governance strategies in disaster-prone areas.