ABSTRACT
Jakarta’s uniqueness is captured in S. Abeyasekere’s description of it as ‘a forum for government policies at odds with people struggling to make a life of their own’. In the environment, Jakarta’s industries are embedded in global, regional, and national production chains. This chapter examines Jakarta’s industries in their global, regional, national, metropolitan and local contexts. Jakarta’s industries are enmeshed in global patterns of production. Investment and production has shifted from the East Asian economies to Southeast Asia with the largest proportion of manufacturing located in or close to cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Proximity of the Newly Industrialising Economies to Jakarta has not necessarily determined their importance for Indonesia. Jakarta and Surabaya are Java’s large urban-industrial centres and have attracted substantial amounts of labour and investment as the economy continues to shift to non-agricultural production. Jakarta’s rapid population and industrial growth has spilled over into the three surrounding kabupaten of Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang.
