Counter-mapping Surabaya: Designing ‘cities within the city’

Abstract

This paper connects the concept of ‘cities within the city’ to the practice of counter-mapping. We explore how people in Surabaya (Indonesia) come together to design, plan and imagine their city differently through counter-mapping. We focus on two design activist projects called Pertigaan Map (pertigaan means three-way intersection) and Suroboyo Ngalor Ngidul (Surabaya to the North and South). In this visual essay, we compile, present and analyze two colonial maps and a series of contemporary counter-maps of Surabaya. The counter-maps, made iteratively and collectively over ten years, offer both critiques of the design of Surabaya and its colonial legacy and propositions for different ways of living, navigating and valuing the city.