Contested Riverscapes in Jakarta: InfUr- Research Seminar

By Kim Dovey, Amanda Achmadi & Brian Cook

The Ciliwung River in Jakarta is lined in part with informal settlements that have become subject to intersecting desires to erase informality, control flooding and build a modern global city. For residents the flooding is manageable, while eviction and displacement are the real risk.

In this seminar we explore the resistance to eviction in two riverbank settlements with very different outcomes. In one case playing by the formal rules led to a legal win but a loss of livelihood; the more successful case was self-organized and involved multiple tactics including partial self-demolition, media engagement and a re-branding of the kampung.

We demonstrate the ways assemblage thinking can contribute to an understanding of the intersection of formal and informal rules and practices, as well as the struggles of the urban poor to resist eviction and maintain livelihoods.

Anyone is welcome to attend.