Social capital vs. anonymity? 3Ds Urban form and social capital development in Indonesian cities

ABSTRACT

Discussions on the relationship between urban form and social capital have garnered attention for a long time as they are well documented in the literature. However, the empirical analysis regarding these two issues is still limited. This study proposes a new perspective on the link between the 3Ds (Density, Diversity, and Design) element of urban form and social capital in the global south using the Indonesian context. Using the linear multilevel regression, this study consistently revealed a contradicting result according to which greater residential density is negatively associated with several social capital factors. Surprisingly, more retail areas in cities are adversely associated with some social capital indicators. High connectivity did not necessarily encourage the development of social capital for small-medium cities. This study showed varied associations between density and social capital in small-medium, and large cities, with consistent results regarding land use mix.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban form
• social capital
• density
• multilevel regression
• compact city

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to sincerely thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments to improve this paper. The authors would like to thank the Universitas Indonesia for funding this research through the PUTI Grant with the contract number NKB-1773/UN2.RST/HKP.05.00/2020.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Pancasila consists of five moral principles: 1) belief in the one supreme God; 2) just and civilised humanity; 3) unity of Indonesia; 4) democracy led by the wisdom of deliberations among representatives; 5) social justice for all Indonesians.

Additional information

Funding

PUTI Grant with the contract number NKB-1773/UN2.RST/HKP.05.00/2020</#award-id; Universitas Indonesia

Notes on contributors

Irfani Fithria Ummul Muzayanah

Irfani Fithria Ummul Muzayanah is a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (FEB UI), where she has been a faculty member since 2009. Currently, she serves as the head of the office of student affairs at FEB UI. She is also an active researcher and has become a member of the Research Cluster on Energy Modeling and Regional Economics Analysis FEB UI. She has already published articles in reputable international journals, including the International Journal of Urban Sciences and the Journal of the Knowledge-Economy. Her research interests lie in the area of urban economics and issue related to urban sustainability.

Suahasil Nazara

Suahasil Nazara earned his bachelor degree majoring in Economics from Universitas Indonesia in 1994 and his Master’s of Science from Cornell University USA in 1997. In 2003, he gained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.) degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. Suahasil Nazara started his public service as a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, in 1999. Within the Universitas Indonesia, he served in different positions such as the Director of Graduate Programme in Economics (2004-2005), the Director of Demographic Institute (2005-2008), and Chair of the Economics Department (2009-2013). On 25 October 2019, he was appointed as the Vice Minister of Finance by the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

Benedictus Raksaka Mahi

Benedictus Raksaka Mahi Ph.Djoined as a faculty member at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, 30 years ago. His research area is mainly in public finance, taxation, government spending, fiscal decentralisation, regional autonomy. He also served in different positions, for instance, as the head of programme study in Economics and vice dean of College of Economics and Business. He was also involved as a consultant in financial sector management, mainly as Commissioner of State Fiduciary Company PT. Pegadaian (2008-2010) and as Commissioner of PT. Bank Danamon (2011-2014). He also became a fiscal policy advisor for the government, including consultancy services through AIPEG (Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance), the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM) University of Indonesia.

Djoni Hartono

Djoni Hartono is a Professor at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia. He received his B.S. degree in mathematics from Bogor Agricultural University, while his Master and Ph.D. degrees in economics were obtained from Universitas Indonesia. He teaches several subjects such as mathematical economics, econometrics, energy economics, regional economics, and economic modelling. His research interests cover the economy-wide impact of energy policies as well as regional and economic development. His another speciality is on the computable general equilibrium modelling.