The Joglosemar Mobility Corridor Baseline Assessment Targeted Offer explored economic opportunities for the development of Indonesia’s Joglosemar region in order to provide a baseline for future UK Government projects, including potential projects with major infrastructure pipelines for British Investment Partnership investments.
The major Javan cities of Yogyakarta (‘Jogya’), Surakarta (‘Solo’) and Semarang form a triangular corridor known as the Golden Triangle, or Joglosemar. This region experiences mobility and congestion issues which hamper trade and travel, adversely affecting city and regional economies.
Between November 2023 and March 2024, the Targeted Offer from the Green Cities and Infrastructure Programme (GCIP) investigated high-level transport and mobility issues, with a further focus on tourism, which is a key sector of the regional economy. This baseline study sought to identify initiatives and solutions which could lead to improved economic performance and productivity, grow the local economy, provide employment for a growing population, reduce poverty, lower carbon emissions and pollution, and help meet gender equality, disability and social inclusion goals. It also provided a baseline for potential future projects, such as a feasibility study for a Joglosemar Golden Triangle Mobility Plan.
Improving the ability of people and goods to move between the cities efficiently will minimise transport costs and improve high-volume city mobility. This could foster inclusive economic growth by increasing employment opportunities and creating jobs, especially for women and marginalised groups. A more sustainable and inclusive transport system could also reduce the current reliance on cars and motorbikes, and facilitate shared and public transport uptake. This would provide an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, furthering progress towards the Government of Indonesia’s climate goals as articulated in its Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution of 2022, which aims to improve air quality to benefit the health of the local community.
A key output of this Targeted Offer was the delivery of two main stakeholder dissemination events in March 2024 led by the Head of the regional Development Planning Agencies (BAPPEDAs) from the Central Java Region and the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The objectives were to inform key stakeholders of the outcome of the baseline study and to discuss the development of the Golden Triangle mobility corridor. Feedback from participants on challenges and opportunities in the region will inform the final report and assist in determining the next steps.
“The discussions between the participants and the speakers [helped us] to identify challenges and opportunities in Joglosemar region. The analysis of proposed recommendations and interventions [in the Baseline Assessment Report] gives us a lot to consider for future programme work.” – Harriet Cooney, Deputy Head – Low Carbon Infrastructure, British Embassy Jakarta
Next steps
The GCIP team will use the report and the feedback to identify future projects and interventions in Joglosemar, as well as nationwide. The FCDO post will discuss and agree on the course of action through their continued engagement with the national and sub-national governments.
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The UK’s Green Cities and Infrastructure Programme will accelerate the delivery of sustainable green cities and climate-resilient infrastructure – tackling climate change and extreme poverty.
