Progress or Regress? A Systematic Review on Two Decades of Monitoring and Addressing Land Subsidence Hazards in Semarang City

Abstract

Land subsidence is a major cause of environmental degradation. It increases the exposure of global sea level rise-related disasters in coastal cities lying on young sediment. Ample monitoring, adaptation, and mitigation measures have been taken to tackle the impact of such coastal hazards for decades in Semarang City. However, to date, land subsidence still has a negative impact on people’s quality of life. This brings us to the question of whether the measures are progressing towards better management or going to the opposite side. This paper is aimed to answer that question through an extensive literature review using PRISMA Guidelines to 125 scholarly articles and quantitative supporting analysis. We found that land subsidence is overlooked. Although the monitoring measures are progressing towards better technology utilization, it was not properly integrated into mitigation and adaptation measures. Instead of investing more on developing better urban water management, groundwater extraction still became the preferred water source. Thus, there is a major shift needed with regard to urban activities that need to pay more heed to the environment.