Probing Regional Disparities and Their Characteristics in a Suburb of a Global South Megacity: The Case of Bekasi Regency, Jakarta Metropolitan Region

Abstract

The Jakarta metropolitan region (the Jakarta megacity), located in the fourth most populous country in the world (Indonesia), is the largest urban agglomeration in the Global South—continues to grow, especially in its outer suburbs (Bekasi Regency). The governments (Central and Local) tend to implement an urban-biased policy (UBP) to connect Bekasi Regency into global production networks and boost Bekasi Regency’s income. However, previous case studies of China and Vietnam have revealed that the UBP increases economic disparities between urban and rural areas. Therefore, this study probes urban–rural economic disparities and their characteristics at a microregional level (desa/kelurahan) in the Bekasi Regency. The methods applied in this study are geographically weighted regression (GWR), RULT index, and quantitative zoning. The results show that almost all desa/kelurahan in the high poverty (HPv) cluster are rural neighborhoods (desa/kelurahan with rural characteristics). By contrast, only 5% of desa/kelurahan with urban characteristics are HPvs, while the remainder are in the low poverty (LPv) cluster. Rural neighborhoods with HPv tend to have a high percentage of households dependent on agriculture. Thus, empirical results (with a case of a Global South megacity suburb) further support previous evidence that the UBP has caused urban–rural economic disparities.