UNDERSTANDING RURALITY: SOME

INSIGHTS OF RURAL INDONESIA

By: Jarot Indarto

BAPPENAS, 2 April 2009

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SUBSTANCES
 WHY SHOULD WE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN URBAN-
RURAL?
 WHAT IS THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
RURAL?
 HOW RURAL AREAS ARE DELINEATED?
 WHAT IS THE RECENT CONDITIONS OF RURAL IN
GLOBAL AND INDONESIA CONTEXT?
 CONCLUDING REMARKS
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SHOULD WE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN URBAN

DAN RURAL?

 Government: different governance and policy with

regard to rural features;

 Communities: rural identity and solidarity ~

especially when facing urban threat.

(Source: Introducing Rural Geography)

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THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL

Rural is what is not urban
Physical • # Population density and distribution,
• Natural resources,
• Remoteness/distance from CBD,
• Less-favored/left-behind,
• # Infrastructure,
• # Settlement density,
• Geographic barriers.

Economic • Agricultural economic activities;

• # Agglomeration;
• # Specialization;
• Poor people;
• Regional economic size;
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….. continued

Socio-cultural • Population (number and distribution),

• Un/under-employment,
• Low income,
• Social exclusion,
• Education

Environmental • Wildlife, countryside, natural resources

Political and • Collaborative working,

institutional • Value of harmony, stability,
• Powerlessness.
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DELINEATING RURAL
Category Variables
Descriptive Geographical distinction  statistical indicators: socio-spatial characteristics
• Pre-conception of what (population (number, density, distribution)
rural should be like and
Non-urban areas: land use; adjacent to center; commuting pattern, population
rural territories
growth and density
Index of rurality
Socio-cultural Values and behaviour, socio-cultural ties: stable, integrated, stratified, with special
• Identifying rural society communication pattern

Locality - primary production

• Process that might - low densities  distinctive connections between rural and issues of collective
create distintive rural consumption
localities (socio- - consumption
economic)
Social representation Symbol, sign and image of rural people
State of mind: socially constructed word of social, moral and cultural values
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Some examples of rural delineation

PBB  city center and suburban fringe
OECD  population density (< 150 inhabitants per sq km); regions’ population in rural
communities
USA  ERS-USDA: population, income, households composition, age, employment,
ethnicity, education
 OMB: adjacent areas to metropolitan
 CBS: population > 2.500 persons, density < 1.000 persons/mile
UK  ONS: contiguous built-up areas with a maximum population density of 500
persons/sq km and a total population of less than 1.000.
Philippines  CBS: population density (< 500 persons/km2); distance to center; infrastructure
facilities
Indonesia  Normative (government regulation): areas with the main region’s function is for
agriculture,
 BPS (Census 2000): population density, the percentage of agricultural households,
and the availability of urban facilities, such as school, market, hospital, asphalt road,
electricity, etc.); the unit of analysis: sub-disctrict.
 MOHA: administrative name and boundary: kabupaten vs kota; desa vs kelurahan.
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URBAN-RURAL TRENDS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

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….. continued

 declining role of farming as a source of rural

income and employment (Deavers, 1992);

 agriculture can be no longer considered as the

backbone of the rural economy (Terluin, 2003).
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RECENT CONDITION OF Urbanization

~ shrinking rural ?
RURAL INDONESIA (economic, area, etc.)

POPULATION 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 Average

Urban (%) 42.0 48.3 54.2 59.5 64.2 68.3

Rate (%/year) 3.0 2.4 2.0 1.6 1.3 2.1

Rural (%) 58.0 51.7 45.8 40.5 35.8 31.7

Number of Provinces with > 6 7 11 14 18 21

50% population living in
urban areas (out of 30)
% 20.0 23.3 36.7 46.7 60.0 70.0

Rate (%/year) 3.3 11.4 5.5 5.7 3.3 5.9

Source: Indonesia Population Projection, BAPPENAS-UNFPA-BPS, 2005

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High burden and problems
….continued ~ rural is getting less
important?
Percentage of the Poor Percentage of the Poor Percentage of the Poor
living in Rural Areas within Rural Areas – within Urban Areas –
(%) millions (%) millions (%)
2000 68.2 26.4 12.3
(22.4) (14.6)
2001 77.3 29.3 8.6
(24.8) (9.8)
2002 65.4 25.1 13.3
(21.1) (14.5)
2003 67.3 25.1 12.2
20.2) (13.6)
2004 68.1 24.8 11.4
(20.1) (12.1)
2005 64.7 22.7 12.4
(20.0) (11.7)
2006 81.8 24.8 14.5
(21.8) (13.5)
Source: Statistik Indonesia, 2007
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Economic activity
…..continued which increases rural
inhabitant welfare ~
non-agriculture ~ agro-
industry ?

Average Household Income in Urban in Rural

(Rp millions/cap/year) in 2003
Agricultural labor hh 3.2
Agricultural entrepreneur hh 5.0
Non-agricultural low-middle income hh 8.8 6.2
Non-agricultural high income hh 18.9 13.2

Source: Statistik Indonesia, 2007

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Adjusting agro-industry
…..continued (as economic activity)
with the level of
education

Education Level in Rural Areas 2006 %

< no school/elementary school 68.6

Junior high school (SLTP) 18.9

Senior high school (SLTA) 10.3

College/University 2.2

Total 100.0

Source: Statistik Indonesia, 2007

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…..continued
 Other rural characteristics ~ qualitative:

 Agricultural involution and shared poverty (Geertz)

 Death capital (de Soto)

 Urban bias (Lipton) ~ traditional sector, infrastructure

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….continued
SECTOR % Value Added Linkages (2000) % GDP % Labor Productivity/
(2000) (2006) (2006) Labor (Rp
Backward Forward
millions/cap in
2006)

Agriculture 16.3 0.8745 0.9826 12.9 42.0 6.5

Mining 12.1 0.7412 1.2302 10.6 1.0 182.7
Processing Industry 27.0 1.1110 1.5443 28.1 2.5 43.2
Electricity, Gas, and 0.6 1.1924 0.7479 0.9 0.2 53.8
Drinking water
Construction 5.5 1.1351 0.7318 7.5 4.9 24.0
Trade, Hotel, and Restaurant 17.9 1.0261 1.2065 14.9 20.1 16.2

Transporation/ 4.7 1.0508 0.8724 6.9 5.9 22.0

Communication
Real estate, Finance, 11.5 0.8757 0.9928 8.1 1.4 126.7
Financial Services
Other services 4.4 0.9932 0.6915 10.1 11.9 15.0

Soruce: Statistik Indonesia, 2007

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CONCLUDING REMARKS
Rural Discourses Focus

Academic Defining rural

discourse
Policy discourse Governance in rural areas

Agri-ruralist The principal creator and carrier in rural socio-

discourse economic and cultural space

Utilitarian Rural underdevelopment  modern market

discourse
Hedonist Leisure, natural beauty and attractiveness
discourse
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…..continued

 Some empirical facts:

 Ruralopolis (desakota) vs Rurban vs Exurbia/Conurbation (Qadeer,
2000; Thompson, 2004)
 Urban agriculture (IDRC, 2008)

 Structural transformation (Lewis, Kuznets, Timmer, etc.)

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…..continued
 Future Indonesia: urbanizing country vs globalizing countryside;
 Rural development problems: advocative planning and public
affirmative action for rural development;
 Urban bias in general vs rural bias in urban development;
 Rural amenity;
 Local polity for rural development.
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REFERENCES
 Deavers, K. 1992. What is Rural? Policy Studies Journal, 20 (2): 184-189.
 Dolea, C., etc. 2009. Increasing Access to Health Workers in Remote and Rural
Areas through Improved Retention: Background Paper. WHO.
 Introducing Rural Geography.
 IDRC E-book, 2008.
 Qadeer, M. A. 2000. Ruralopolises: The Spatial Organisation and Residential Land
Economy of High-density Rural Regions in South Asia. Urban Studies, 37 (9): 1583-
1603.
 Saraceno, E. 1994. Recent Trends in Rural Development and their Conceptualisation.
Journal of Rural Studies, 10 (4): 321-330.
 Terluin, I. J. 2003. Differences in Economic Development in Rural Regions of
Advanced Countries: An Overview and Critical Analysis of Theories. Journal of
Rural Studies, 19 (2003): 327-344.
 Thompson, E. C. 2004. Rural Villages as Socially Urban Spaces in Malaysia. Urban
Studies, 41 (12): 2357-2376, November 2004.
 Websites: bps.go.id, deptan.go.id, ERS-USDA, rupri.org, unhabitat.org.
Thank You
Jarot Indarto
Email: jrt_indarto@yahoo.com.