The politics of dry feet: the political economy of flood risk management in Indonesia

Abstract

Flooding poses the most significant risk in Indonesia due to its frequency, widespread impact, and the extensive damage it causes. This dissertation focuses on Flood Risk Management (FRM) in cities. Some cities are relatively successful in managing floods, while other cities fail. How can cities within the same national boundaries facing similar challenges, perform so differently when it comes to flood management? The contrast is even more striking when we see that cities investing heavily in large-scale technical interventions often fare worse than those that do not rely on such measures. Applying a political economy approach, and building on a combination of extensive fieldwork and policy analysis, I argue in this dissertation that pervasive politico-business collusion, a common feature of local politics in Indonesia, hinders the effectiveness of flood risk management. This type of deal-making undermines policy interventions in infrastructural works and emergency response. It also weakens spatial planning and diminishes the overall effectiveness of flood risk management policies. Cities that have been able to curtail the collusion achieve better results, as evidenced by a reduction in the number of flood cases and affected population. Progressive political leaders who form strategic alliances with civil society have been able to prioritize public interests, resulting in improved drainage systems, better spatial planning, and more effective emergency response, leading to effective flood risk management. I develop these arguments on the basis of a detailed comparative study of Flood Risk Management (FRM) efforts in four Indonesian cities: Surabaya, Semarang, Bojonegoro, and Bandung. The dissertation focuses on three main elements of FRM policies: flood defence, flood prevention, and flood preparation. This study unravels processes and mechanisms that also determine the success and failure of the FRM agenda outside of existing discussions in literature and global policy models. This way, it contributes to urgent debate about flood management, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation beyond the case of Indonesia.