Formal and informal flood governance in Jakarta, Indonesia

In many respects, present-day Indonesia meets the criteria for effective decentralization—it has a political party system with multiple parties, free press and democratic elections—and it has been trumpeted as a democratic success story within Southeast Asia. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of Indonesia scholars conclude in their studies that the principle of decentralization in Indonesia fails in many areas. One major problem is that while local governments now have the power to act, they do not have the means or capacities. As a result, governance has not truly become more democratic or inclusive. This paper challenges the assumed relationship between effective decentralization and democratic or inclusive governance by examining flood-disaster management in Jakarta: although decentralization policies have been effectively implemented in this area, no inclusive government or community empowerment has been developed in the city's most flood-prone neighbourhoods. By taking a bottom-up approach, this paper reveals that while flood-risk governance is increasingly effectively coordinated on a subnational level, riverbank settlers stick to alternative ways to cope with floods. Rather than accepting aid and support from formal political institutions, they pursue their interests and needs through informal channels.