Problems of Small Town Development in a Rapidly Growing Metropolitan Economy: The Case of

Soreang, West Java

Author(s): Hastu PRABATMODJO and Tommy FIRMAN
Source: Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (October 1996), pp. 314-
333
Published by: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
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SOJOURNVol. 11, No. 2 (1996), pp. 314-33

Problems of Small Town Development

in a Rapidly Growing MetropolitanEconomy:
The Case of Soreang, West Java

Hastu PRABATMODJO and Tommy FIRMAN

This paper examinesthe socio-economic and physicaldevelopmentof

the smalltownof Soreang inthe Bandung Metropolitan Area (BMA). It
also analyses the effectivenessof the counter-magnetpolicyin deal-
ingwiththe problemofspatialdisparity. BothBandungcityand Soreang
townare being physicallyintegratedand the rapidlygrowingBandung-
utilizedforsocio-economic activitiesin
Soreang corridoris increasingly
the BMA.

Therehasbeenan increasing tendency foreconomicand population

agglomeration inlargecitiesinmanydeveloping countries leadingtoa
widening that
spatialdisparity, is, gap a in terms of the physical and
socio-economic development betweenlargecitiesand theperipheral
areas.Despiteincreasing effortsto controlurbangrowth, largeurban
centres continue togrowanddominate spatialandeconomicdevelop-
mentsin thesecountries. One ofthemaintasksofurbanandregional
development in developing countries is todealcreatively withthepre-
vailingproblems associatedwith urbanization in order to lessenurban-
ruraldisparities.The otherobjectives includeimproving thequalityof
lifein theregions andcreating a fairersocialandspatialdistribution of
services and employment opportunities. Duringthe1970sand mid-
1980s,many scholars that
believe small and intermediate urbancentres
playan important roleinbridging theurban-rural gap(Rondinelli and
Ruddle1978;Rondinelli andEvans1983;Rondinelli 1984), andhence
theseurbancentres shouldbe promoted systematically.Theoretically,
theemergence ofsmalland intermediate citieswhicharealso often
called"buffer" citiesis,ofcourse,desirable sinceitmayprevent thelarge

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 315

citiesfrombecomingprimatecities(Soegijokoand Bulkin 1994).

However,recentscholars,such as Rondinelli(1991, pp. 791-93),
forexample,pointout thatoverthepastthreedecades,thedevelopment
ofsmalland intermediate citiesin developingcountries, notablyinAsia,
withtheobjectiveofcreating a "balancedpatternofurbandevelopment"
has largelyfailed(see also Cheema 1993). It appearsthatthesepro-
grammesto slow down rural-urban migrationand controlthe expan-
sion of metropolitan regionfellshortof theirgoals.
Additionally, it has also been observed(McGee 1991, 1992) that
recentrural-urban interaction and urbangrowthin manyAsian coun-
triesindicatethe existenceof a unique processreferred to as the "ex-
tendedmetropolitan region",thatis, a processin whichvillages,rural
centres,and small towns are physicallyas well as functionally incorpo-
ratedintoa neighbouring metropolitan region. This is most noticeable
in regionssurrounding largeurbancentresas wellas theirsurrounding
areasand is also characterized by thegrowingdiversification and com-
mercialization of agricultural developmentof transportation
activities,
and communication,and the increasinginflowsof investment(Lin
1994, p. 16). While rural-urban linkagesareintensified, thetraditional
rural-urban distinctionsare continuallybeingblurred.Consequently,
newtheoretical modelsof urbantransition haveto be developedin or-
derto cope withthegradualemergenceof regionsas a resultof inten-
siverural-urban interactions (ibid.,p. 16).
With thiscontextin mind,thispaper aims to examinethe socio-
economic and physicaldevelopmentinvolvinga small town in the
shadowofa metropolis.Soreang,a smalltownin theBandungMetro-
politanArea(BMA) (see Figure1), is selectedas a case-study foritschar-
acteristicfeatures.In 1986 thissmalltownwas also designatedas the
capitalof Kabupaten("district")Bandung.
In theBMA development plan launchedin themid-1970s,Soreang
has been explicitlydesignatedas a "counter-magnet", thatis, a town
whichis expectedto absorbpopulationas wellas perform certainsocio-
economicfunctionsas a resultoftheprocessofurbandéconcentration
awayfromthe cityof Bandung,the BMA core,in orderto lessenthe
spatialdisparitybetweenthecityand therestoftheregion.Overall,the

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31 6 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

counter-magnet policywasbasically aimedatslowingdownthesocio-

economicas wellas physical development ofBandungcityas thecore
oftheBMA,whileencouraging thedevelopment ofsmalltownsinthe
peripheralareas.Therefore,
itisalsorelevant attheoutsettoasktowhat
extentthecounter-magnet policy hasbeen successfulincopingwiththe
problemofspatialdisparity in theBMA,and howit hasaffected the
of
growth Soreang town in particular.In addition,thisstudywillalso
attempttoanalyse whether theinteractions between Bandungcityand
SoreangtownfitMcGee'smodelofthe"extended metropolitan region".
The following discussionis organizedintofourparts.The firstpart
providesthe context oftheBMA, thesecond discussessocio-economic
in Soreang.The development
activities policyand physical growth of
is
Soreang critically examined in partthree, whilepart fourconcludes
thediscussion.

Bandung MetropolitanArea (BMA)

The growth andchangesexperienced bySoreangareinseparable from
changes intheBMA,theecological environment ofthetown,inwhich
thecityofBandung(Figure1), witha populationofmorethantwo
million,functions Forthesakeofconvenience,
as thecoreofthisregion.
theBMAisconsidered tocompriseKabupaten ("district") Bandung and
Kotamadya ("municipality")Bandung.Soreang is a smalltown located
in southern KabupatenBandung,about20 kilometres fromthecore
(Figure1).
The cityof Bandunghas dominatedtheregionsincetheDutch
colonialperiod.In theearlynineteenth
century,Bandung wasthecapital
ofKabupatenBandung.Municipalstatuswasgainedin 1906,which
impliedthatBandungwasan important residential areafortheEuro-
peans.The temperate climateandpleasant surroundings madethecity
quite attractive
for communities.
expatriate At the turn ofthecentury
itspopulationwas only38,403,occupying 900 hectaresofthecity
(Natakusumah 1971,p. 12). The growth ofthe cityhasbeenremark-
able sincethe 1950s. In 1954 thepopulationwas reportedto be
802,104,andtheaverage growthratethenwas4.44 percentperyear.

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 317

The citywasestablished as thecapitaloftheprovince ofWestJavain

1950, and as a various
result, employment opportunitiesincreased.
Con-
sequently, manygovernment officialsandotherworkers movedintothe
in
city.Furthermore, 1950sthe and the
early1960s, unstable situation
inthecountryside duetotheDarulIslamrebellion forcedpeopletoseek
refuge in thecity,andeventually to settlethere(ibid.,pp. 16-17).
According to thecensus, the population oftheBMA in 1990 was
5.25 million, outofwhichtwo-fifths livein Bandungcity.Thissuffi-
cientlyensures theeconomies of agglomeration as wellas economies of
scale,resulting in thedominance ofBandungovertheBMA. In fact,
thepopulation growth in the core area between 1980and 1990was3.5
percentperyear,thisfigure beingconsiderably higher thanthenational
of
average per2 cent(Central Bureau of Statistics
1991).However, this
wasalsoin partdue to theexpansion oftheadministrative municipal-
in
ityboundary April 1989 and also reflectsthehighin-migration into
thecityofBandung.
The BMAis rapidly urbanizing, as indicated bythefactthattheav-
erage annual urban population growth was 4.7 percentbetween1980
and 1990,whereas theruralpopulation hada negative growth ratein
thesameperiod.The factthattheurbanpopulation of
growth Kabu-
patenBandungsurpassed thatofthecoreareaduringthisperiod(Ta-
ble1) indicates thaturbanization wasalready spreadingrapidlyoverthe
region, andsmalltownssurrounding thecityofBandungplayedan im-
portant rolein thisprocess.
Thelocalgovernment doesnothavetheinstitutional orfinancialca-
pacity to deal with the and of
congregation rapidgrowth population
in thecityofBandung.As a result, theproblems associated
withlarge
citiesin developing countries suchas traffic congestion, shortage of
drinking water, pollution,poorsanitation, widespread slumareas,and
unemployment readilyexistin Bandung.
The increasing demandforhousing,combinedwiththelimited
spaceintheinner-city, leadstothesub-urbanization ofthelower-middle-
incomegroup,a processwhichhas becomemoreintensive sincethe
1970s.Anexamination ofpopulation growth in the regionconfirmsthis
"sub-urbanization" process(Prabatmodjo 1992). However,theBan-

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318 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

Table 1
Urban and Rural Population in the Bandung MetropolitanArea, 1980 and 1990
(In thousands)

Annual
1980 1990 GrowthRate
Area U R T U R T ~~Ü R T~

Kabupaten 638 2,031 2,669 1,292 1,910 3,202 (7.3) (-0.6) (1.8)
Bandung
Kotamadya 1,463 - 1,463 2,025 32 2,057 (33) - (3.5)
Bandung
BMA 2,101 2,031 4,132 3,317 1,942 5,259 (4.7) (-0.5) (2.4)

Note: U = Urban; R = Rural; T = Total.

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics(1991).

dungexperience is likelyto differ fromthatofWestern countries, by

virtueofitsrisingincomeandincreasing leisuretimeaswellas progress
in transportation (Berry1981, p. 55). The "sub-urbanization" of
Bandunghasnotbeensufficiently accompanied bythedevelopment of
urbanservices and infrastructure. As a resultthepeoplein thefringe
areaswhoworkmainlyin thecityofBandungstilldependheavily on
theurbanfacilities in
andservices thecore.Thishasconsequently per-
petuated traffic
congestion.
Manufacturing isthelargest contributor tothegrossdomestic prod-
uct(GDP) generated by theBMA, especiallybyKabupatenBandung
(Table2). In fact,theBMA hassignificantly emerged as theprimary
locationofIndonesian textileindustries sincethe1970s,particularly in
in
thecityofBandungand someareas KabupatenBandung,notably
Majalaya,Banjaran, Cimahi,Rancaekek, andPameungpeuk (Figure1).
Theselabour-intensive industrieshaveattracted of
thousands workers,
women,
especially from thecountryside as wellas otherregions inWest
Java.In fact,theBMA hasbeennamed the "textilecapitalof Indone-
sia"(Hill 1992,p. 27).
Trade,hotel,and restaurant is thesecondlargest sector.However,
withinthesectors oftrade, construction, transport, andservices, the"in-
formal economy" may have contributed significantly.Agriculture still

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 319

Table 2
Area:GrossDomesticProduct,bySector,1990
BandungMetropolitan
(In percentages)

KabupatenBandung Kotamadya
Bandung
Sector Share GrowthRate* Share GrowthRate*

Agriculture 14.01 -0.72 0.37 -13.31

Miningand quarrying 0.27 8.07 0.00 0.00
Manufacturing 39.98 18.63 28.19 15.16
gas,water
Electricity, 3.25 30.81 5.27 14.66
Construction 4.78 9.92 15.45 9.92
Trade,hotel,and 20.43 8.15 12.41 10.27
restaurant
Transportand 5.41 9.58 10.12 11.71
communication
Bankingand 0.43 29.00 12.54 30.90
finance
Housing 2.63 5.55 2.24 3.57
Government services 5.03 7.02 10.19 1.67
Otherservices 3.78 9.72 3.22 7.46
Total 100.00 9.71 100.00 11.76
*
Averageannualrateofgrowth
during1986-90,basedon 1983 constant
prices.
Source:WestJavaOfficeofCentralBureauofStatistics
(1992).

formsan importantcomponentof the GDP of KabupatenBandung,

althoughitssharehas considerably decreased.In contrast,construction,
transportation and communications, banking and other financialinsti-
tutionscontributesignificantly to the GDP of KotamadyaBandung.
These sectorsappear to sustainthe dominanceof the BMA over the
region.
Bankingand otherfinancialinstitutions havebeenthemostdynamic
sectorsin thelate 1980s as a resultofderegulation policiesin thefinan-
cial sectorintroducedsincethe early1980s to stimulatenationaleco-
nomicgrowth.Consequently, manynewbanksand branchoffices have
beenestablished in theBMA, especially in thecoreareasand smalltowns
the of
bordering city Bandung. The growthof the financialsectorre-
latesto the factthatthe BMA is among the mostfavourableareasfor
domesticas wellas foreign investment development in WestJava,as well
as in Indonesia.Moreover,thegrowthofthemanufacturing sectorwas

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320 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

also remarkableduringtheperiodconsidered.In effect, thesetwo sec-

torshaveexpandedemployment opportunities in the region.
Agriculturewas the onlysectorwith a negativegrowthin thesecond
halfofthe 1980s.Agriculturallandconversionforurbanland-usecom-
binedwithlabourcompetition withnon-agricultural activities,
notably
manufacturing, mightbe the most influentialfactorin the negative
growthof thissector.The decreasingrole of agriculture in the BMA
economy,however,signifies broaderchangesin thisrapidlyurbanizing
region.
The cityof Bandungfunctionsas a centreof hi-techindustriesin
Indonesia.In fact,currentlythereare threesuch industriesin thecity:
theaircraftindustry(IPTN), armouryindustry (Pindad),and telecom-
municationsindustry(PT Inti), which at presentemploysroughly
16,000, 5,000, and 2,000 persons,respectively (Firman1996). Obvi-
ously these have
industries createda substantialnumber ofemployment
opportunitiesin theBMA.
Anothersectorwhichcontributes significantlyto theeconomyofthe
BMA is tourism,and is particularlyconcentrated in thenorth,notably
in KecamatanLembang(Figure1). In 1991 thegovernment of Kabu-
patenBandungearnedas muchas Rp. 412.2 millionfromtaxesand fees
resultingfromtourism-related activities,whichis thelargestof all the
Kabupatenin WestJava.In addition,theroleofhighereducationin the
BMA economyshould also be emphasized,as currently thereare six
majoruniversitieswitha studentbody rangingfrom6,000 to 13,000
locatedin thisregion(Firman1996).
The "urban configuration"in the BMA is centredin the cityof
Bandung.It is surroundedbyseveralsmalltowns(Figure1), as follows:
1. Cimahi,Ujungberung, Buahbatu,Margahayu,and Dayeuhkolot
- verycloselylinkedto thecityofBandung,thatis,lessthan20
kilometresfromthe citycentre.In fact,thesesmall townsare
beingintegrated
physically withthecityof Bandungitself.
2. Cicalengka,Majalaya,Banjaran,Soreang,Cililin,and Padalarang
- intendedgrowthcentresand counter-magnets forthe core
20
areas,approximately kilometresfromBandungcitycentre.

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 Figure 1
Bandung MetropolitanArea

KABUPATEN Padalarana
PURWAKARTA raaaiarang

/"V ^ KABUPATEN
^! ^, ' SUBANG
^ i » . s Cisarua
¿ V'~~^ ,.•" '^^ Lembang
"" -
- --- ": C "î Cicadas
To ' &'*^^~^: /y
JAKARTA«« V""' TNÄi ' 'V ''' ~'/l k-ARIIPATPM
^^" ' SUMEDANG
Cimai» i '^1^^^ X
■ . ^ "* CIREBON
Banjaran y, y ^
^ XmBFT^^T^

;' ^ %[S I '

KABUPATEN V"^./ /'' ' ' Cicalengka
CIANJUR / / ' y
^ p^<
/' /'**''' ' /' r"^ Majalaya

*.
^ - '' , -^ , '' / KABUPATEN
s ' GARUT
'

1 ' Buahbatu
Soreang fsj
Dayeuhkolot I
' "~
Pameungpeuk

/<ey WEST JAVA

/l^^^j^^
Kabupaten boundary ' . A„ . _SA ^^^'
JAKARTA BANDUNG '
^r
Kecamatan boundary ^^O ^^^

Main road -
'

Source:WestJavaProvincialPlanningBoard.

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322 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

3. Cisarua,Gununghalu,Cikalongwetan,and Lembang- distant

centres,about 20 to 40 kilometres
fromBandungcity.
With thecontextof BMA socio-economiccharacteristics in mind,
this paper will next examine the socio-economic characteristicsof
Soreangtownand theBMA development policythathas beenadopted.

Socio-Economie Activitiesin the Town of Soreang

Soreang,a smalltownlocatedin thesouthernBMA had about 50,000

inhabitants in 1992. It was establishedas thecapitalofKabupatenBan-
in
dung 1986, but was a
only tiny settlement in theearlytwentieth cen-
tury.
AlthoughSoreangis presently the capitalof KabupatenBandung,
thistownhas notbeenelevatedto an administrative status.Thus itsde-
is the
velopment primarily responsibility ofthe bupati(head ofdistrict)
of Bandungwiththe assistanceof the camat(head of sub-district) of
Soreangand Katapang.
Whenthetownwas established as thecapitalofKabupatenBandung,
it consistedof seven villages {desa), namely,Pamekaran,Soreang,
Kramatmulya, Sadu, Cingcin,Parungserab, and Sekarwangi,and was
centredat Desa Pamekaran(Figure2). The firstfourvillagesare part
of Kecamatan (sub-district)Soreang,and the otherthreebelong to
KecamatanKetapang.The townofSoreanghas an areaof926 hectares
withan averagepopulationdensityof40 personsperhectare(Tables 3
and 4).
Abouthalfofthetownpopulationnow inhabitDesa Pamekaranand
Soreang,thecoreofthetown,whereasgovernment ofKabupaten
offices
Bandungare centredat Desa Pamekaran.There are plans forhousing
intendedforthecivilservants ofKabupatenBandungto be builtat Desa
Cingcin.In future,Desa Pamekaran,Soreang,and Cingcinwould be
the centreof the town.At the moment,roughlyhalfof the urbanfa-
cilitiesarelocatedin Desa Pamekaranand Soreang,whicharerelatively
moreurbanized.
It is verycommon to findin Indonesia,as in manycountriesin
SoutheastAsia,agricultural activities
existingin smallurbancentres, and

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 Figure2
Kecamatan (Sub-District) Soreang, 1994

DS Jelegong . ' :

J' I /' / DS Gajahmekar

DSJatisari ^ A K^'' s'7^ /^
^ Pamentasan
p'/'s^^'J^-r -^
DSCibodas
X"' /"^ L '^J^^l1
,^í '^'L 'C7 /J
' /^^ BANDUNG
DS Kutawaringin
t-^ ^
^"N^/nf "^/f I
DS Kopo
/^'^""'7""---K.l/J-'

DS Sekarwangi
DSSukamui^^a^^^
I ' T^- ¿Oí^^^^ DS Pamekaran
'^'¿/^^^^íj^^
DS DS Cin9cin
Buminagar^^^-^ ~"~~^y^y^ ./i '-'^J^tSjL^

DS Cilame > DS Soreang

^ ÍL ^L^

DS Sadu f^- -VÎT A/ /TTn^y'/ BAN

JARAN
) uH/f/ { DS Kramatmulya
J^ jy

- DS Panyerapan ^
/A' ' *^~J' ~r~
*- ^tt - T DSSukajadi /
ys'
CIWIDEY x' y I

DS = Desa(»village»)
JaKARTÄ^ÄÄ^To
Road ^l v^^"!y^¿pC^CIREBON
_-^> River ''X ¡ >'a- ~^/^V' Kr~'
Kecamatanboundary / .--y( / ^
- Village ~
boundary ^''/v

Source:KecamatanSoreangOffice.

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324 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

Table 3
Population and Area of Soreang Town, 1985-92

Population Annual Growth

Area
Village (hectares) 1985 1992 Rate (%)

Pamekaran 209 7,822 9,502 2.71

Soreang 204 11,398 12,989 1.88
Kramatmulya 42 4,586 5,237 1.91
Sadu 65 2,689 6,618 13.73
Cingcin 223 5,225 6,279 2.66
Parungserab 100 3,334 4,846 5.49
Sekarwangi 83 2,612 3,676 5.00

Soreang town 926 37,666 49,147 3.87

Source: Village PotentialData, ProvincialGovernmentof West Java, 1993.

in manycasesurbanand non-urbanactivities in townsas part

coexisting
of a widerphenomenon(McGee 1991). Soreang is not an exception
(Table 4). In fact,it is not surprisingto findsome towndwellersdry-
ingriceon theroad,forinstance, indicatinga mixtureofurbanand rural
activities.
Althoughthe agricultural sectorstillemploysabout 51 per centof

Table 4
Urban Indicatorsof Soreang, 1992

Population Non-Farm Facilities

Density Built-Up Households
(per ha.) Area (%) (%) Type No.
Village
Pamekaran 45 42 59 25 322
Soreang 63 22 76 17 166
126 21 47 12 122
Kramatmulya
Sadu 101 22 27 17 173
28 19 47 8 108
Cingcin
48 25 45 11 96
Parungserab
Sekarwangi 44 14 41 6 53

40 23 49 25 990
Soreang town

includeschool,mosque,hospitaland healthcentre,cinema,sportsfieldand
Note: Urbanfacilities
market,
building, store,kioskand warung,co-operative,and store-house.
Source:Srihastuti(1993).

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 325

thetotallabourforce(Table5), itscontribution to thetown'sGDP is

only17 per cent.The education and skillsofthe rurallabourforceare
usuallyinsufficient formoreproductive jobs. Even in thetownof
Soreang, aboutthree-fourths ofthepopulation agedtenyearsandabove
receive onlyelementary leveleducation (Prabatmodjo andHarun1992,
p. 5). Furthermore,services accountforabouttwo-fifths ofthetown's
and
production manufacturing for one-fifth.
The proportion of agricultural employment was relatively
stable
during1985-92,although the absolutenumber of labour
agricultural
increased Thisindicates
slightly. a slowgrowth in thenon-agricultural
sectorin Soreangduringthatperiod(Table5).
The agricultural sectorin Soreangis supportedbythousandsof
smallholders producing riceandsecondary crops,includingcorn,cas-
sava,and beans,forfulfilling family needsas wellas forselling.The
are
products usually consumed directlywithout passingthrough indus-
trialprocesses.Thus,itis notsurprising thatlinkages betweenagricul-
tureandtheindustrial sectorin Soreangareextremely weak.
The intersectorallinkages arestronger between andthe
agriculture
tradesector. However, thismaynotbe thecaseforplantation andmilk
production in southern Bandung,particularly at Kecamatan Ciwidey
andPangalengan (Figure1). The teaestateownedbythestate,private

Table 5
Agricultural
Employment in Soreang,1985-92

1985 1992
% Change
Village Number % Number % PerYear
Pamekaran 1,070 87.6 2,116 41.2 14.0
Soreang 1,461 51.1 845 23.7 -6.0
Kramatmulya 2,521 69.3 1,561 63.4 -5.4
Sadu 1,018 32.6 3,288 72.6 31.9
Cingcin 1,508 51.6 1,940 63.2 4.1
Parungserab 619 33.2 1,574 55.0 22.0
Sekarwangi 785 39.1 847 58.9 1.1
Soreang 8,982 50.9 12,171 50.5 5.1

Source:OfficesofKecamatanSoreangand Ketapang.

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326 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

companies,and smallholders as wellas milkproductionmanagedby a

co-operative largelydependedon theprocessingindustries, intermedi-
aries,and financialinstitutions.
High in-migration also characterizesthe recentpopulationgrowth
ofSoreang.It shouldbe statedat theoutsetthoughthatmigrationsta-
tisticsat thelocal levelare inadequate.Populationregistration has ap-
parently not considered as
migration, manypeople do not reporttheir
movementsto thelocal officials. However,a householdmigrationsur-
vey indicates thatin-migration likelyto increaseaftertheestablish-
was
mentof Soreangas thecapitalof KabupatenBandungin 1986 (Gov-
ernmentofBandungDistrict1990). Furtherincreaseis expectedin the
futureafterthedevelopmentofa housingcomplexforgovernment of-
ficialsat Desa Cingcinis completed.
A recentstudyofpopulationmovementto Soreang(Srihastuti 1993)
showsthatmostofthemigrants aretraders, civilservants, and military
personnel.The studyalso indicatesthatsome migrantsmighthave
changedtheiroccupations.Nineteenout of sixty-seven respondents
(28.4 percent)who previously worked,havechangedtheiroccupations,
and tenpersons(14.9 percent)havebecomeunemployed. Thesegroups
mightconsistofthosewithunstableoccupations.Furthermore, eleven
personsout ofthirty-five (31 percent)who werepreviously in the"un-
employed"category, have obtained in
jobs Soreang. About two-thirds
ofworkingmigrants feelthattheyarebetteroffeconomically aftermov-
to
ing Soreang. Thus, the net employment effect stillfavours Soreang.
In conclusion,mobilityis likelyto improvethelivingconditionsofthe
migrants.
About one-thirdof the surveyedmigrantshad previouslylivedsix
monthsor morecontinuallyin morethantwo cities.This particularly
appliesto self-employedor semi-self-employedworkers,such as driv-
ers,pettytraders, workers,
industry and constructionworkers.The prox-
imityof Soreangtownto Bandungcityis an important factor forin-
migration to thetown.Aboutthree-fourths ofthosemovingdirectly to
Soreanghavebeen at thecityof Bandung or other in
places Kabupaten
Bandung. This meansthat mobilityin themetropolitan area is not al-

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 327

ways"upwards"towardshigherlevelsof urbanhierarchy, but "down-

ward"movementsare also quite possible.
In spiteofthelackofdata on commutingpatternsfromSoreangto
Bandung,thistrendis easilyrecognizable.This can be clearlyseenfrom
theheavytraffic congestionsin theBandung-Soreang arteryroad,par-
duringpeakhours,whentheroadis heavilyusedbymini-buses
ticularly
and othermeansof transportation. In fact,in 1992 therewerealready
175 mini-busesoperatingon theBandung-Soreang routewhichmade
about700 roundtripsa day.In addition,therewereanother135 mini-
busesoperatingfromSoreangto Ciwidey,Banjaran,and Cimahi (Fig-
ure 1), makinga totalof about 525 dailyroundtripsin all directions.
The commuters includestudents,pettytraders,and factoryworkers who
livein Soreangbut go to schoolor workin Bandung.It shouldalso be
notedthatforsomeurbanamenities,suchas hospitals,centralmarkets,
storesand entertainment,thepeopleofSoreangstillrelylargely on those
availablein Bandung,which in turnalso generateround tripsfrom
Soreangto Bandung.Overall,thisrevealsan intenseinteraction and also
showshow dependentSoreangtownis on Bandungcity.

Development Policy and Physical Growthof Soreang Town

The regionaldevelopment policyfortheBMA emphasizesthatthemet-
ropolitan area will be developed througha counter-magnet strategy
(Rustandar1994) whichis also calledStrategi DekonsentrasiPlanologis.
The objectiveis to slowdown thephysicalgrowthofthecorearea,that
is, the cityof Bandung,whichhas been consideredtoo congested,by
promoting socio-economic development in itssurroundingsmalltowns,
notablySoreang,Lembang,Rancaekek,Padalarang,Cicalengka,and
Cililin(Figure1). Hence, theflowsof migrants to Bandungcitycould
be largelyreduced,as people are expectedto come to thesmalltowns
instead.
In linewiththisstrategy, thetownof Soreanghas been designated
as the capitalof KabupatenBandung,whereasRancaekek,Banjaran,
Majalaya,and Cicalengkahavebeenselectedas industrial centresin the
region. In addition, the NationalUrban DevelopmentStrategy Project

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328 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

(MinistryofPublicWorks1985) has also designatedCimahi,Ciparay,

and Majalaya (Figure1) as majorsub-centres withintheBMA.
However,it seemsthatthisstrategy does not reallyworkalthough
it has been thereforabout two decades.In fact,the cityof Bandung,
wheremostof the manufacturing, services,and othermajorbusiness
activitiesin theBMA arelocated,is stillpredominant, exceptforactivi-
tieswhichneed largeland parcels.Basically,thisrevealsthatthecoun-
ter-magnet strategyhaslargelyfailedto cope withspatialdisparity in the
BMA. The dominanceofthecityof Bandungis largelydue to thefact
thatthiscityhas betterinfrastructure thanitsperipheralsmalltowns,
so thatinvestorspreferBandungforthe locationof theirbusinessac-
tivities(Firman1996).
The designation ofSoreangas thecapitalofKabupatenBandunghas
also resultedin themovementofa numberoflow-ranking civilservants
to thistownand createdjob opportunities in the construction sector
when government officeswerebuiltin the middleto the late 1980s.
However, these activitieshavenotstimulatedthedevelopment ofother
economicsectorsin Soreang.Consequently,Soreangis simplynotable
to countertherapidgrowthof Bandung.
One of the primaryreasonsforthisfailureis thatthe strategyof
counter-magnet has neverbeenreallyimplemented (Sudarjat1993). For
instance,thusfartherehas been no taxregulationto supportthisstrat-
egy.As a result,thecityofBandungis growingphysically and encroach-
ingon theperipheral areas(Firman1996). This is partlydue to thefact
thatat present there is neithera metropolitan authorityworkingabove
KabupatenBandungand KotamadyaBandungnora WestJavaProvin-
cialAgencyto co-ordinate sectoralplanningin theBMA (Firman1996).
Anotherprobablereasonis thatthephysicaldistancebetweenBandung
and thesesmalltowns,rangingbetween15 and 40 kilometres, is too
close to enablethesmalltownsto operateas counter-magnets.
In short,thesmalltownsborderingthecityof Bandungincluding
Soreangarenotable to functionas independentcentresofurbansocio-
economicactivitiesin theirown right.At presentsome of themhave
evenbeenabsorbedintoBandungcity.At thispoint,Soreangtownhas
shownitselfto be essentially a dormitory townratherthana counter-

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 329

magnetin theBMA, althoughto someextentithas been able to attract

and provideemployment opportunities formanymigrants. In fact,the
economic base for urban development in this town is veryweak
(Rustandar1994).
The counter-magnet strategyis aimedat establishingthesmalltowns
surrounding Bandungcityas centresofsocio-economicactivities which
are able to counterthe rapidgrowthof Bandung.In reality,however,
thecityofBandungand thetownofSoreangarepresently beingphysi-
callyintegrated by a corridorcharacterized by a mixtureof urbanand
ruralactivities,a farcryfromtheprimary objectiveofthecounter-mag-
net strategy itself.In fact,manufacturing is rapidlydevelopingin this
corridorside by side withagriculturalactivities.In 1992 therewere
twenty-one manufacturing establishments in thiscorridor,including
chemicals,bricksand tiles,leather,and textileindustries involvingmore
than400 workers,althoughin the KabupatenBandungPhysicalPlan
thisarea has been designatedonlyforhome industryand agricultural
development(Edrijani1994, p. 43).
In thiscorridor,whichincludesfourvillages,namely,Pangauban,
Gandasari,Cilampeni,and Katapang(Edrijani 1994), sizeableprime
agricultural land, notablysawah (paddyfield),is beingconvertedinto
industrialand residential land-use.In fact,between1985 and 1992 the
agriculturalland in thisarea rapidlydecreasedfrom857 to 740 hectares
or about 16.7 hectaresper year.Likewise,the numberof agricultural
householdsdecreasedfrom3,144 to 2,727 duringthisperiod,whereas
the numberof non-agricultural householdsincreasedfrom3,752 to
4,766. Meanwhile,duringthesameperiod,thepopulationhad grown
from22,200 to 28,050, a rateofgrowthof 5.3 percentperyear,which
was muchhigherthantheBMA's 2.4 percent.As a result,thedistinc-
tionbetweenareasofurbanand ruralactivities in theBandung-Soreang
corridor has beenphysically blurred, and the growthofthiscorridorhas
evenovertakenthatof Soreangtownitself.

Conclusion
The objectiveof developingSoreangtownas a counter-magnet in the
BMA has largelyfailed.In fact,thecityof Bandungas thecore of the

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330 Hastu PRABATMODJO and TommyFIRMAN

region wheresocio-economic activities

arelargely concentrated isgrow-
ing much fasterthan in
Soreangand othersmalltowns theregion.
Despite the fact that Soreanghas beendesignated as thecapitalof
KabupatenBandung,theeconomicbaseofthetownis stillnotsuffi-
cientlystrong to function as a counter-magnet in theBMA. However,
thisfailure isactuallynotspecific totheBMA,butiscommoninmany
Asiancountries (Rondinelli 1991).
In reality, thetownof Soreangmainlyoperatesas a "dormitory
town",whichis alsoreflected in theintense flowsofpeopleandgoods
between Soreangand Bandung.In fact,Soreangtownis beingphysi-
callyincorporated intoBandungcitybya corridor characterized bya
mixture ofruralandurbanactivities. Hence,thetownhasa tendency
to be absorbed intopartofBandungcity.
The caseofSoreanghasdemonstrated thatpromoting a smalltown
within thelargerapidly growing metropolitan region, as theBMA,
such
forthepurposeofcreating a counter-magnet to reducespatialdispar-
ityin the has
region, largely failed due to thefact thateconomicforces
workfarmoreeffectively thanspatialdevelopment policy,notably the
counter-magnet strategy. Obviously, investors to
prefer expand their
businessin largecitiesinsteadof in smallerones,as largecitiesare
equippedwithbetter supporting infrastructure.
This studyalso revealsthe rapidlyurbanizingprocessin the
Bandung-Soreang corridor, and exemplifies a processof "extended
metropolitan region" within the BMA, which McGee (1991) calls
desakota, a termhecoinedfromtheIndonesian worddesa(village)and
kota(city),to describe a regionconstituting a mixofagricultural and
non-agricultural activitiesemerging the
adjacenttoandbetween urban
core(seealsoMcGee1992;andFirman1996).Ashasbeenrecently ob-
served, thisnewphenomenon alsocharacterizes manyurbanizing re-
gionsinAsiancountries, suchasJabotabek (JakartaMetropolitan Area)
andGerbangkertasusila (Surabaya Metropolitan Area) in Indonesiaand
theBangkok Metropolitan Areain Thailand(Firman1992;Douglass
1992;Lin 1994).
Giventhiscontext, theexistence ofa rapidlygrowing Bandung-
Soreang corridor shouldbe recognized andtakenintoconsideration for

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Small Town Development in a RapidlyGrowingMetropolitanEconomy: Soreang 331

thedevelopment ofSoreangtownas wellas theBMA as a whole,as the

physicalintegrationbetweenBandungand Soreangappearsto be an in-
evitableprocess(see also Firman1996).

NOTE

* This researchis funded a

by grantfromthe Canadian InternationalDevelopment
Agency(CIDA) throughco-operationbetweentheDepartmentof Regionaland City
Planning,Instituteof Technology,Bandung (ITB), and the Centreof Human Set-
tlements,Universityof BritishColumbia. The authorsacknowledgethe assistance
ofW. Srihastuti,Edrijani,T. Rumarsidik,and P.P.S. Habrijanto,in collectingand
analysingthe data while theywerestillaffiliatedwiththe ITB. The authorswould
also like to thanktwo anonymousrefereesforcommentsand helpfulsuggestionsto
an earlierdraft.However, the authorsare solely responsibleforany mistakesand
shortcomings.

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