An Analytical Framework to Sustainability Evaluation of the Indonesia Road Infrastructure Network

Abstraksi

Assessing the sustainability of transport infrastructure development requires an in-depth understanding of the complex and intricate interactions between various key aspects, located at various scope levels at which those aspects are considered relevant. Road infrastructure, in particular, has a prominent role in developing countries both to provide good accessibility between urban centers and to open regions in geographical isolation in order to support economic development. However, most evaluations on this matter put much attention on mitigating the negative impacts of the physical infrastructure, e.g. reduced material uses during the construction, while neglecting the spatial, temporal, and governance-related issues. Therefore, an integrative analytical framework is needed, that aids a comprehensive sustainability assessment at multiple scope levels. To explore such a framework, this paper explores the case of the Trans-Java road network in Indonesia. As a first step, both general (macro-level) and specific (micro-level) issues are explored by doing interviews and sending out questionnaires. In the next step, an in-depth, qualitative analysis is conducted of each of the issues. The key finding is that a new conceptual and methodological insight is required to assess the infrastructure sustainability, beyond the understanding of the sector-specific view. The most important implication of this research is that, when adopting a limited sector-specific view, the assessment loses track of possible cross-sectoral and cross-regional interactions. In conclusion, this study provides insights for inter-sectoral coordination and inter-regional integration in dealing with weak political and institutional supports, either in Indonesia or in most developing countries.