Global-Local Dynamics in Urbanization: The transformation of the desa-kota in Bali and the roles of adat institutions

Abstract

For so long, urban studies in developing regions such as Indonesia has been trapped into a single view of global value and capital as the main, powerfull forces of the process. The result is therefore, a global, universal form or urbanization and the production of urban spaces. The fact that cities each have different histories, heritage, and resources show that there are local variations in response to global-economic pressures.With a case study of the transformation of the desa-kota in Bali, Indonesia, this paper shows and argues that in the dynamics process of urbanization, local actors and forces have play a significant roles in the production of urban spaces. Further, it argues that the existing centralized-Indonesia ‘formal/legal’ urban policy and planning system does not fit with the existing dynamics of local-cultural variations of urbanization – the roles of adat institutions and nomrs are significant and therefore should be supported and facilitated.