PhD Defence Gitasanti Djais

More about her research

In 2015, the Government of Indonesia initiated the Strategic Development Regions Corridors, departing from the traditional corridor approach to a holistic perspective, as the corridors incorporate environmental preservation and socio-cultural considerations alongside economic interests. This poses challenges since the traditional corridor approach often places environmental and socio-cultural concerns on passenger seats. Also, corridor projects claiming to be sustainable may not truly uphold their sustainability claims without the balance between environmental, social, and economic dimensions. For this, the involvement of multiple stakeholders with sustainability knowledge and implementation capacities is needed. At the same time, actors have their perceptions, agendas, and strategies influencing the decision-making process that can either promote or hinder sustainability. This makes governance crucial for positioning actors with specific roles and responsibilities in the decision-making process to reach joint sustainability actions.

This research delves into the governance of Gilimanuk-Denpasar-Padangbai and Yogyakarta-Solo-Semarang Corridors – exploring how it guides and directs actors’ behaviors. To do so, a conceptual framework was developed using regional development, corridor development, sustainable development, and governance theories to generate concepts of governance factors and interaction process that can steer a corridor development into sustainable direction. The findings revealed a shift from an initial economic focus to a broader consideration of sustainability. The corridors’ early sustainability vision, complemented by process management and process design, allowed the inclusion and facilitation of sustainability actors with local, tacit, and codified knowledge. Nevertheless, limitations persisted due to the initial economic-focused top-down approach, resulting in economic-focused delineations and constrained soft-infrastructure programs in both corridors.

More about Gitasanti

• Supervisor: Prof.Dr. (Joop) JFM Koppenjan (ESSB)
• Co-supervisor: Dr. (Jan) J Fransen (IHS)

Gitasanti (Santi) is an experienced architect, urban planner, and regional planner with a demonstrated history of working in the Indonesian public work sector. She graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from the Catholic University of Parahyangan, Indonesia; a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Urban Design from Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands; and currently is a PhD candidate of Urban Development and Governance at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Study, Erasmus Rotterdam University, The Netherlands. In addition, she is an awardee of the LPDP scholarship (Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education).

Join Gitasanti's defence to hear more about her research. 

• Date: 22nd March, 10:30 AM
• Place: Woudestein Campus, Erasmus Building, Senaatszaal