Studies that specifically address the contribution of urban kampungs to the city economy are scarce, or it is yet unclear how can, and should strategies, formulated at the local government level, integrate and collaborate with co- existing informal economies.
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Pictures by Mafalda Madureira
INECIS aims to contribute to the scarce body of knowledge on the inputs of urban kampungs to the city economy in the Indonesian context. Currently, it is yet unclear how strategies, formulated at the local government level, can and should integrate and collaborate with co-existing informal economies in Indonesia. Therefore, INECIS will 1) analyse the relationship between the informal economies of the kampungs and the formal creative industries strategies promoted by the local government, and 2) explore and assess how such factors impact the spatial and socio-economic development of the urban kampungs.
The project consortium
The INECIS project -āInformal Economies and Creative Industry Strategiesā consortium encompasses partners from Indonesia (theĀ Institut Teknologi BandungĀ (ITB) and theĀ National Center for Indonesia LeadershipĀ (INISIATIF)), and the Netherlands (University of Twente | Faculty ITC).
Plan of action
The project involves the following steps:
- To explore the consideration and inclusion of informal economic activities in urban kampungs in Bandungās formal economic strategies, both in terms of regulations as well as in interventions.
- To understand and visualise how the urban kampungs relate, at a spatial and a socio- economic level, with the rest of the city. This includes the investigation and assessment of potential changes, if any, that have occurred in such relationship since the promotion of the creative industries strategies.
- To search/create, assess, and if appropriate to promote, the participation and inclusion of the local communities and their economic activities in the process of change led by the implementation of the creative industries strategies.
Outcome
INECISā main aim is to rethink the current relationship between government-led strategies and the changes to socio-economic characteristics, land, and tenure security in urban kampungs in Bandung. The project plans to involve diverse actors during the study process, such as the informal businesses and their associations, the diverse kampungsā communities, NGOs, policy makers and academia. The final insights, results, and material from the project will contribute to the discussion on how local government strategies on creative economies can integrate and collaborate with co-existing informal industries.
Layman's description
Informal Economies and Creative Industries Strategies (INECIS) Governance arrangements, socio-spatial dynamics and informal economies in urban kampungs in Indonesia.