Climate Resilience and Policy Transfer in Semarang City, Indonesia

Abstract

Cities around the world are facing tremendous challenges due to climate change. Tropical cities are significantly impacted by temperature increases, higher than average global rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. In the tropical Asia-Pacific region effects from the El Niño-Southern Oscillation are especially severe, which, in turn, cause disasters such as floods and droughts. Climate change requires cooperation from actors across geopolitical borders to respond to the problem collectively, which involves global networks in the exchange of climate mitigation policies and adaptation plans through a process of policy transfer. This paper examines the processes of policy transfer between the tropical coastal city of Semarang in Indonesia and its global networks in the ‘100 Resilient Cities’, and the ‘Water as Leverage’ programs. The paper analyses interviews with actors and stakeholders from these two programs, and examines key factors that determine the success of the climate change policy transfer in Semarang City.

Identifying Trends of Policy Transfer Practices in Indonesia: A Systematic Literature Review (2012 - 2022)

“…The author finds that the transfer of policies in the environmental sector is one of the areas that transfer the most. There are around 8 publications that discuss transfers in the environmental field (Yulia & Arlianda, 2020) (Jarvie et al, 2015) (Larsen et al, 2012) (Orleans Reed et al, 2013) (de Oliveira, 2013) (Minkman et al, 2019) (Gronow et al, 2021) (Sanders et al, 2020). For more details, the division of fields or areas where policy transfers were carried out in Indonesia in the 2012-2022 period is as follows (table 4): Sources: analyzed from multiple sources by the Author ( 2023)…”

“…Several authors conducted an analysis using a more specific research method by including the data collection method used in conducting a policy transfer analysis. (Agustino, 2021;Howlett et al, 2017;Ngalimun et al, 2022;Yulia & Arlianda, 2020) were using qualitative methods with in-depth data collection interviews. There are only two publications that analyze the application of transfers using mixed research methods and data collection using in-depth interviews and questionnaires.…”

“…Furthermore, in the environmental sector, there was policy transfer product that has been implemented, namely the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) and the Water as Leverage (WaL) programs (Yulia and Arlianda, 2020). The program above is a transfer implementation from The ASEAN Climate Resilient Network, Asian Cities Climate Change Network (ACCRN), and Global Resilience Network.…”

A Review on Urban Planning and Its Role in Managing Flood Risks

“…Cities, with their dense populations and intricate infrastructures, can ill-afford to ignore these challenges. More than just a response to an immediate threat, effective flood risk management has now become a cornerstone of sustainable urban development [3,4] .…”

“…As urban areas expanded and populations grew, a shift towards more holistic approaches began to emerge. Planners recognized that merely building defenses was insufficient, especially in the face of climate change and rising sea levels [4] .…”