Jakarta’s Land Subsidence: Infrastructural Access and Climate Justice

Jakarta is sinking. We often discuss the flooding of coastal cities as an imminent possibility. For Jakarta, however, this is not theoretical. It is currently sinking at a rapid rate of about 10-15 cm every year (that’s around 4 - 6 inches per year) with some parts of Jakarta sinking up to 28 cm (11 inches) annually.?

For Jakarta, the biggest threat to sinking is not sea level rise. Rather, land subsidence has been the gravest factor in causing the sinking of the capital city of Indonesia.

What is Land Subsidence?

Land subsidence is caused when a large amount of groundwater is extracted from aquifers and reservoirs. These sources of water hold up the pressure that supports the soil underneath the city. When water is extracted, the pressure that holds up the land is also relieved, leading to ground failures. Building roads and buildings exacerbate the sinking of soil because concrete prevents water from refilling the reservoirs below the surface.?

In Jakarta, two-thirds of the population relies on groundwater extraction as their source of water. Given that rivers in Indonesia are polluted and informal settlements often lack access to clean water, people often resort to excessive groundwater usage. Despite this burdening reliance on groundwater, the government did not regulate the usage until the groundwater tax was introduced in 2008. However, even then, people find loopholes in the system to pump out water from the ground.?

This said, land subsidence being the main cause of Jakarta’s sinking problem does bring good news. Sea level rise does affect Indonesia, but it can only be solved through a global response. Land subsidence, though, is caused by local groundwater usage, and it can thus be dealt with by local measures within Indonesia.?

Looking at this issue in dimmer light, however, the issue of land subsidence in Jakarta is intricately related to Indonesia’s unequal socioeconomic landscape. The fragmented access to water infrastructure is contextualized by Indonesia’s long-standing history of environmental injustice.?

Fragmented Access to Water in Jakarta

Access to good infrastructure in Indonesia is contingent on one’s wealth. The divided access to clean water can be traced back to colonial times. Back in the 19th century, water infrastructure was accessible mostly in areas occupied by European colonial settlers where wells were constructed. On the other hand, indigenous people depended on the river as their source of water, using taste, visual appearance, and smell to often determine its quality. Even after its independence in 1945, the socioeconomic inequalities are still reflected in the supply of water throughout Jakarta.?

To this day, slums (known as kampungs in Indonesia), which are often located by the riverbanks, lack access to proper water infrastructure. Waste is visibly floating on the rivers that run through Jakarta. Without good access to clean water, most people have no choice but to pump out groundwater to carry out their day-to-day activities. The story of Jakarta sinking sheds light on how the failures of urban planning and wealth distribution shape a city’s environmental crisis.

*Click the link above for an interactive map of Jakarta's kampungs

The 2007 Flood as a Wake-Up Call?

Jakarta is located in a low-lying coastal zone, and 13 rivers flow through the city. It is often pinpointed as one of the cities in the world most vulnerable to flooding and other adverse effects of climate change. Despite knowing Jakarta’s geographical characteristics, the government, until recently, had done little to make the city more resilient to water-related natural hazards.

In February 2007, Jakarta experienced a deadly 10-day long, four-meter flood. The flood led to the shutdown of economic activities. Moreover, 400,000 people were displaced. The government was held responsible for not devising preventive measures, given Indonesia's history of flooding. At the end of the same year, another flood occurred that displaced 50,000 people.

One of the largest sources of water that caused the flooding came from uphill rivers next to the West Java city of Bogor, which has been subjected to heavy deforestation to build golf courses and weekend villas for wealthy Jakarta residents. Not surprisingly, those who were most impacted by the flood were the poorer residents in informal settlements by the riverbanks. The 2007 flood again highlighted how socioeconomic disparities continue to contour the fragmented impacts of climate disasters.

What Can We Do?

Earlier this year, the Indonesian government announced that they will move the capital of Indonesia from Jakarta to Borneo. One of the reasons for moving the capital is, in fact, due to flooding risks. Does that imply that the Indonesian government has given up on saving Jakarta??

“Like in the UK, coastal areas are now being given back to the sea because it’s simply too expensive to protect them. But that is not the case in north Jakarta.”?

-Victor Coenen, Project Manager at Witteveen+Bos

The answer is no. According to an interview, they estimated that abandoning Jakarta would curtail a loss of $200 billion USD. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s GDP comes from Jakarta. Above all, planning to relocate 2-3 million people out of Jakarta would be very difficult and expensive. So what has the government’s response been thus far??

Evaluation of Current Responses

Let’s analyze some of the measures that the government has been discussing and/or implementing. I’ve divided them into 1) short-term measures that may prevent immediate flooding but are not sustainable measures and 2) long-term measures that seem necessary to protect Jakarta in the long run. Below is my evaluation of the measures taken by the Indonesian government.?

The most important takeaway from this chart is that Indonesia’s public policy should prioritize the slowing down of land subsidence rates through sustainable water management. Optimizing the supply of water will depend on the government’s progress in reducing people’s reliance on groundwater. The communities that demand the most care are informal settlements. The kampungs already lack access to basic services and resources, and the increased frequency of natural disasters only exacerbates their vulnerabilities. An integrated approach to upgrading the economic, social, physical, and legal conditions of kampungs is part and parcel of Jakarta’s climate adaptation responses.?

Another critical element of the long-term response is gathering and managing data. Geographical data that can monitor land subsidence will be useful to develop response protocols, raise awareness, and identify areas of the city that demand more attention. Together, these measures will aid spatial planning for the city to become more resilient to future natural hazards.?

Building the Great Garuda

One of the more expensive measures taken by the Indonesian government is building a 25-mile-long dike along Jakarta’s low-lying coastlines. Known as the Great Garuda, this $40 billion USD dike runs parallel to the river flow to prevent the flooding of the capital. In building the dike, the government also plans to construct an artificial lagoon that houses luxury communities by the waterfront.

The Great Garuda, since its introduction, has been controversial. Critics raise concerns about the pollution that the dike construction will produce which will further pollute the waters. Many also point out how the Great Garuda fails to address the root cause of the water problem in Jakarta: social inequality. In fact, creating a lagoon for the wealthy Jakarta seemed to be doing the opposite of improving wealth disparity in the city. After all, those who remain most vulnerable to natural hazards in Indonesia remain the urban poor.

"Folded into the narrative of this spectacle that will ‘save the city’ are well-crafted ambiguities regarding who or what is being saved, at what cost, and to whom."

-Etienne Turpin and Nashin Mahtani, philsopher and architectural researcher

What We Can Learn from Jakarta…

Jakarta’s case illustrates how socioeconomic disparities contour climate change concerns in urban contexts. The economic geography of Jakarta looks disturbingly similar to maps that trace the impacts of climate change across the city. Only time will tell if Jakarta will give in to the worsening flooding cycles and eventually collapse. At the moment, what is evident is that the alleviation of the wealth gap is needed in its response to increasing flood risks in the city. Jakarta’s situation is just the tip of the iceberg for that of Indonesia. Only 2 percent of the Indonesian population has access to a sewer system. As shown in the above figure, cities across Indonesia are under severe water stress. As Indonesia continues its urban and industrial expansion, a greater need for the improvement of water supply remains an increasingly important development challenge.