Semarang, From a Traditional City to a Modern City: Environmental Changes in History Perspective

Abstract

Entering the first half of the 21st century, environmental issue is a part of a perspective and a new approach in Indonesia's historiography. In the context of environmental issues, this historical study discusses the formation of the Semarang environment which processes into a modern city. Beginning in the 19th century, it began to show its shape as an urban area which was marked by the increasingly active city government, in this case gemeente carried out city infrastructure development. This paper aims to understand the reality of the past on urban society and its environment which is part of the urban process itself. As an area which has been constructed from the beginning to become urban under the authority of the local authorities, in its development it turned out that it had been co-opted by the colonial state through changes in the system of government. The conclusion of this paper is become a modern city, gemeente Semarang has succeeded in making organizational changes and government administration as well as presenting a variety of modern infrastructures, but at the same time when faced with matters of upholding law and order in a modern urban environment, gemeente shows its inability. When the physical environment of the city has changed, it turns out that anomie or social disorganization was found in the modern city space of Semarang.