1. Urbanization in Indonesia
Indonesia is one of the countries that have largest population in Asia after China and India (Firman, Kombaitan, & Pradono, 2007; Hugo, 2003; United Nations, 2002). In relation to urbanization around the world, Indonesia is also experiencing various problems of urbanization and population density, especially the state capital (Jakarta) (United Nations, 2002) and several other large cities.Trends in the rural population in Indonesia from year to year are decreasing while the urban population is increasing. According to data published by Firman, et al. (2007) and number of population as calculated by using World Bank population estimates from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects indicate that urban population is increasing (Firman, et al., 2007; World Bank, 2011). Figure 8 shows that the early 1980 the percentage of urban population in Indonesia was only 22.35 percent and continuously increasing as in 1990 (31.03%) and 2000 (41.9%). In 2009 Indonesian’s urban population have reached around (Sarosa, 2006)On the contrary, the rural population was decreasing. It is predicted the urban population will increase continually up to 75% in 2030 (Sarosa, 2006).
However, compare to the developed countries such as Australia, USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, and other developed countries, generally the percentage of urban population is above 75 percent of total population rather than urban population in the developing countries in which still below 50 percent of the total population. For example in 2009 urban population in Bangladesh was 28%, Timor-Leste (28%), Thailand (34%), Sri Lanka (15%), Vietnam (28%), China (44%), India (30%), and Uganda (13%) (Firman, et al., 2007; World Bank, 2011). The desire for people to move from the rural to the urban area is very high. People are sure and believe they will have a better life if they live in the urban environment. According to Firman, Kombaitan and Pradono (2007) there are three causes of urbanization, namely increasing natural population, population migration from rural to urban and reclassification (Firman, et al., 2007) in which economic factors are the main determinants of urbanization process especially migration from rural to urban (Kasto, 2002). Adam concluded that urbanization occurs because of the desire of each individual or group to get a better life; urbanization level was higher in regions whose economies are developed; urbanization occurs in many areas at centre of economic, social, cultural and government (Adam).
In addition, still in urban population in Indonesian’s context, of the total population as mentioned above there are 12 largest cities based on the population. Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, was the largest city with population approximately 8,839,247 and followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Bekasi, Tangerang, Semarang, Depok, Palembang, Makassar and Bogor while the lowest urban population was Malang (790,356 people). Indonesia largely has 6 islands or archipelagoes’ group, namely Sumatera, Java, Bali and Southeast Nusa, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Maluku-Papua (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2010). However, the concentration of urban population is still in the Java Island. It can be seen from the table that among 12 largest cities in Indonesia, nine largest cities are in Java Island, 2 in Sumatera and one in Sulawesi (see table 2).
Table 1: Twelve Largest Cities in Indonesia based on population
| No | Cities | Population in 2005 | Islands |
| 1 | Jakarta | 8,839,247 | Java |
| 2 | Surabaya | 2,611,506 | Java |
| 3 | Bandung | 2,288,570 | Java |
| 4 | Medan | 2,029,797 | Sumatera |
| 5 | Bekasi | 1,983,815 | Java |
| 6 | Tangerang | 1,451,595 | Java |
| 7 | Semarang | 1,438,733 | Java |
| 8 | Depok | 1,374,903 | Java |
| 9 | Palembang | 1,342,258 | Sumatera |
| 10 | Makassar | 1,194,583 | Sulawesi |
| 11 | Bogor | 891,467 | Java |
| 12 | Malang | 790,356 | Java |
| Indonesia | 218,086,288 | | |
Source: adopted from different resources(Central Bureau of Statistics, 2010; Nam, 2010; Sarosa, 2006; Statistics Indonesia, 2011)
To address the urbanization trend, Indonesia mainly established two policy groups (Tjiptoherijanto, 2007). First, develop rural areas in order to have characteristics as urban areas. This term now is called as rural urbanization. This effort is used to accelerate the rate of urbanization without waiting for economic growth by making innovation in non-economic for example modernizing rural areas physically in order to have modern characteristics of urban population; having greater livelihoods in non agriculture; utilizing the financial institution and having high aspirations for educationSecond, develop centers for new economic growth or called central buffer zone growth. This aims to develop small and medium cities in order to offset the growth of large cities and metropolitan through: a). Macroeconomic policies aimed at creating an environment and climate for the development of urban economic activities. b). Spread of urban development patterns that support economic growth: balanced, harmonious and sustainable implemented in the policies of urban spatial structure. c). Handling performance issues each city
In short, urbanization in Indonesia has given positive impact in particular economic growth, easier health services and education access. However, it also has caused various matters in urban environment such as loss of public space, increased congestion, and income inequality among urban residents. This will be further reviewed in the next section, especially in the context of urban health problems in Indonesia.
2. Urban health challenges in Indonesia
It seems urban health problems almost similar between one country to another, especially in developing countries. Urban health problems include transport, mobility, housing, environmental sanitation, pollution, traffic congestion and so forth. The difference lies in the severity level and complexity of the problems that is faced in the urban environment. Surjadi (2004) mentioned that urban generally is facing five health problems, namely, urban poverty and poor environment; industrialization: behavior, tourism and food; psycho-social burden either individual or family); health problems on vulnerable populations: commercial sexual workers, HIV/AIDS sufferers, drug users, street children; street musicians; aging population; and disaster matters affecting health caused by flood, fire and earthquake (Darmawan, Thabrany, & Kamso, 2007; Surjadi, 2004). Azwar grouped urban health problems into four categories according to nature and complexity: urban health problems related population behavior, environment, and health services and hereditary. Further, he said that urban areas are facing of what is called triple burden diseases: unfinished agenda such as communicable diseases, malnutrition, poor hygiene and sanitation; new emerging diseases: obesity, injury and new infectious diseases such as Avian Flu, SARS etc.; and the last is re-emerging diseases that is TBC and Malaria (Darmawan, et al., 2007).
Therefore, based on the above explanations, urban health problems in Indonesia in particular among the large cities can be grouped as follows: Urban poverty and environment; urban transport, congestion, pollution and injury; urban crime, violence and mental health; population behavior; vulnerable population; triple burden diseases; and disaster
REFERENCES
World Bank. (2011). Indonesia Retrieved 18 May 2011, 2011, from http://data.worldbank.org/country/indonesia
No comments:
Post a Comment