Creative industries in Indonesia: a socio-spatial exploration of three kampongs in Bandung

Abstract

Several studies on creative industries (CIs) have investigated the impact of CIs on the social and economic development of cities, regions or countries in the Global South. In Indonesia, past research has focussed on CIs’ impact on national economic development and their network processes and effects. Few studies have examined the role of creative kampongs at a local scale, especially the multi-dimensional aspects of the socio-spatial processes of kampongs hosting CIs. Our contribution seeks to answer the question: how has the spatiality of the kampongs that host CIs in Bandung changed since the start of the 2009 Creative Economy national policy? Focussing on the city-region as the central concept, we apply socio-spatial analytics to explore the social and spatial dimensions of this phenomenon as well as its policy arrangements. In terms of city-region conformation process, each of the three cases selected reveal the presence of different spatial strategies and social dynamics patterns, emerging from a variety of factors. The different origins of the kampongs, the impact of their creative economy identities, and the role of the communities and community-related actors in their development play core roles in their development.

Keywords:

• Creative industries
• socio-spatial analytics
• spatiality
• kampongs
• Bandung
• Indonesia

1. Introduction

Since the late 1990s, ‘creative city’, ‘creative economy’ and ‘çreative industries’ (CIs) concepts have proliferated across the globe. First emerging in the Global North (see DCMS 1998; Landry 2000; Florida 2002), they propose a new economic strategy to promote urban and regional economic and social development. The goal is to create thriving cities by attracting young, creative entrepreneurs and innovators. Due to their perceived success in the Global North and despite the growing criticisms (Oakley 2006; Stehlin 2016), various and diverse Global South cities have also started introducing CIs policies and strategies, for example, Indonesia (Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016), Colombia (Colombian Congress 2017) and South Africa (Gregory 2016).

Studies on the creative economy and CIs in diverse Global South countries concern the investigation of factors related to these industries and their impact on social and economic development as well as their drivers and ‘side-effects’ (e.g. gentrification) (Peck 2005; Zukin and Braslow 2011; Lees 2012). Several of these studies employed diverse approaches to determine spatial factors (e.g. patterns, drivers for transformations, etc.) and the role of creative sectors when exploring spatial processes part of the creative economy ecosystem (Bertacchini and Borrione 2013); urban infrastructure impacts on it (Kang 2010); or socio-spatial and local and regional economy transformations due to it (Gregory 2016; Lazzeretti, Capone, and Seçilmiş 2016; Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016). In Indonesia, spatial investigations of CIs have explored the role of ‘creative kampongs’ in a city (Kustiwan, Ukrin, and Aulia 2015); the level of informality within the CIs (Fahmi et al. 2019); and CIs business networks (Nugroho 2018; Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016). Furthermore, other research has looked at CIs location patterns and their role on Indonesia’s regional development (Fahmi 2019; Fahmi and Koster 2017), as well as urban neighbourhood regeneration strategies fuelled by the creative economy (Hanan and Hemanto 2020). However, the multi-dimensional intertwined aspects of socio-spatial processes in these Indonesian urban areas remain underexplored. We argue that enhanced understanding of the various processes (e.g. social, economic, spatial and cultural) at play in CIs in Indonesian ‘kampongs’ could inform the identification of appropriate context-based policymaking strategies that can promote CIs development and their ‘embeddedness’ in the hosting neighbourhoods, city and region.

This article seeks to contribute to the research on the socio-spatial characteristics of CIs in Indonesia’s urban landscapes and their processes (see Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016). Specifically, we will explore the following research question: How has the spatiality of the kampongs that host CIs in Bandung changed since the start of the 2009 Creative Economy national policy? Methodologically, our approach uses the socio-spatial analytics (SSA) framework (Follmann et al. 2022) as an iterative and integrative approach to assess the changing urban spatiality of kampongs where CIs are present in Bandung, Indonesia. This article expands on the existing research on urban spatiality of Indonesian CIs (Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016; Hanan and Hemanto 2020) and the social aspects that influenced it (e.g. human capital, cross-community collaborations) (Nugroho 2018; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). Also, it proposes additional insights regarding policy-related arrangements influencing this phenomenon.

Our study focusses on three kampongs, which differ in four main aspects: the main type of creative activities; the social and historical characteristics of their CIs; the evolution of their spatiality; and the policies and institutional strategies put in place to support them. The core of our SSA approach is the conformation of city-region as defined by Bontje et al. (2011). This process and its transformations are seen as one of the core dynamics that shape the three main dimensions of kampongs with CIs presence: social, spatial and policy arrangements. The proposed approach deploys a combination of qualitative and quantitative tools, including geospatial data and methods (Follmann et al. 2022) to provide a multi-dimensional reading and understanding of the specific conditions and inter-connections at play in the Global South.

The article is structured as follows. In Section 2, we review previous research of CIs in Indonesia, their spatiality and the role of the kampongs in this process. Section 3 outlines the case study and the specific areas of exploration, closing with an introduction of the SSA approach. Section 4 reports the findings of the three dimensions defined and the core process selected for these preliminary SSA analyses. In Section 5, we analyse the main findings and reflect on the applicability of the SSA approach for investigating CIs in Indonesia. In Section 6, we outline the key conclusions of our research and discuss its limitations, to close with a few suggestions for future investigations.

2. The context and spatiality of creative industries in Indonesia

2.1. The creative economy and CIs in Indonesia: Bandung as a creative city

For over 30 years, governments all across the globe have been pursuing creative economy strategies, due to the promise of high added value and local economic development. In Indonesia, Presidential Instruction No. 6/2009 introduced the Creative Economy Development strategy (Instruksi Presiden No. 6/2009 tentang Pengembangan Ekonomi Kreatif, Presiden Republik Indonesia 2009). The contribution of the CIs to the national gross domestic product (GDP) is deemed significant, totalling 7.38% between 2014 and 2016 (BEKRAF 2017).

Indonesia’s Creative Economy strategy largely follows the UK’s definition of CIs, which focuses on innovation and intellectual property (‘innovative’ creative industries) but also includes ‘traditional cultural industries’ (see Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016). In total, 16 creative sectors are defined in the Presidential Regulation No. 72/2015 concerning amendments to Presidential Regulation No. 6/2015 about the Creative Economy Agency (Peraturan Presiden No. 72/2015 tentang Perubahan atas Peraturan Presiden No. 6/2015 tentang Badan Ekonomi Kreatif, Presiden Republik Indonesia 2015), an expansion of the 14 previously outlined. Ten of the 16 directly correspond to UK categories, while six are partially derived or are entirely new (see Table 1).

Table 1. Sub-sectors of creative industries in Indonesia (BEKRAF 2016) and UK (DCMS 2001).

No.	Indonesia	UK
1	Advertising (Periklanan)	Advertising
2	Apps and game developers (Aplikasi, dan game developer)	Interactive leisure software; Software and computer service
3	Architecture (Arsitektur)	Architecture
4	Craft (Kriya)	Crafts
5	Culinary (Kuliner)	–
6	Fashion (Fashion)	Designer fashion
7	Film, animation, and video (Film, animasi, dan video)	Film and video
8 9 10	Interior design (Desain interior) Product design (Desain produk) Visual communication design (Desain komunikasi visual)	Design
11	Music (Musik)	Music
12	Performance art (Seni pertunjukan)	Performance arts
13	Publishing (Penerbitan)	Publishing
14	TV and radio (Televisi dan radio)	TV and radio
15 16	Fine art (Seni rupa) Photography (Fotografi)	Art and antiques markets

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and its Creative Economy Agency (BEKFRAF) were created in 2015 to promote both types of industries (i.e. ‘traditional cultural’ industries and ‘innovative’ creative industries (Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016)). Their official mission is to implement the Creative Economy strategy and monitor its progress in the various regions in the country. In 2013, the Indonesian government proposed several Indonesian cities to join UNESCO’s Creative City Network (UCCN), with the following being admitted: Pekalongan (in 2013), Bandung (in 2015) and Ambon (in 2019). At a national level, BEKRAF’s Creative Economy strategy includes 58 cities. Bandung is included at the UCCN due to its rich history and its recognition as a city of culture and innovation (Kim 2017; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). Since the 1970s, Bandung has been seen as a national leader in new cultural practices due to its music and fashion industries (particularly distros¹), as well as publishing (printed magazines), culinary products and architecture (Kim 2017; Fahmi et al. 2019; Hanan and Hemanto 2020). In 2008, a growing network of CIs formed the Bandung Creative City Forum (BCCF), aiming to create and support CIs and consolidate Bandung as a creative city (Kim 2017; Aritenang 2013).

Furthermore, Bandung developed a city branding strategy, ‘Bandung Creative City’, and an urban development strategy, as part of the city’s creative economy strategy (Fahmi et al. 2019; Hanan and Hemanto 2020; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). These guiding documents included programmes for infrastructure development and neighbourhood revitalisation actions, aimed at improving quality of life of its residents and enhancing its appeal as a destination for foreigner tourists (Hanan and Hemanto 2020). However, according to Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson (2013), some of these urban development actions were identified by various community groups in Bandung as neo-liberal approaches that did not reflect the needs and life dynamics of the city’s diverse neighbourhoods, especially the kampongs. The impact of such urban development approaches was accentuated by the eviction actions that displaced ‘more historical’ communities (Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). The creative kampongs (or ‘kampong kreatif’ in Bahasa) emerged to contest these actions. They developed from the common interests of their communities and were conceived as more sustainable and equitable ways of promoting economic growth, along with social and spatial development, through grassroots actions and strategies (Fahmi et al. 2019; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013; Kustiwan, Ukrin, and Aulia 2015).

2.2. Spatiality of kampongs and their CIs

2.2.1. The spatiality of creative industries in Indonesia and Bandung

Wei (2015) defines spatiality as ‘any property related to or occupying space’. Prior explorations of the spatiality of CIs in Indonesian cities looked at the socio-spatial dimensions (e.g. business and collaboration networks) that impacted Cis’ growth as well as the spatial transformations in their territories (Nugroho 2018; Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016). Nugroho (2018) investigates the role of social capital in Semarang city’s local CIs development, specifically the ‘batik’ clusters historically associated with kampongs. The author’s findings point to social ties, along with trust, shared norms and inherited traditions, as influencing variables on the spatial clustering of CIs and their collaborators. In their exploration of CIs’ spatial patterns in Indonesia, Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk (2016) emphasise the need to distinguish between ‘innovative’ creative industries and ‘traditional cultural’ industries. The authors highlight that spatial patterns and occurrences between the two subset of industries differ due to the former’s dependency on urbanisation economies, human capital and idea cross-fertilisation. Moreover, some studies on CIs’ spatiality also use geospatial analysis to investigate CIs’ human capital and cross-community collaborations (Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013) and their potential markets, economic and entrepreneurial climates, and availability and accessibility of IT services (Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016; Fahmi and Koster 2017).

Other research on spatiality focussed on specific aspects of the creative economy as an urban development strategy for Bandung. Hanan and Hemanto (2020) study the tactical occupation mechanisms, associated with the creative clusters that transformed some of the city’s historic residential neighbourhoods into creative centres. The authors focus on young entrepreneurs and the processes they initiated to promote the ‘conviviality of a place’(Hanan and Hemanto 2020, 3). Kim (2017) conducts a historical analysis of the social, cultural, and political aspects that promote Bandung’s ‘creative movement’ and boost brand ‘localism’ instead of ‘nationalism’. The author argues that Bandung’s success as a creative centre was due to the promotion of the distro’s local products by grassroots social movements rather than through top-down government interventions. Fahmi et al. (2019) reflect on how informality in urban kampongs is used to brand them and their CIs, thereby reshaping their urban development and promoting urban revitalisation actions in various cases.

2.2.2. Bandung’s creative kampongs

The creative kampongs contributed to the national and international recognition of Bandung as a creative city (Fahmi et al. 2019; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). Kampongs are the most frequent form of urban settlement in Indonesia. These traditional, sometimes unplanned, settlements are home to diverse people and communities, with various cultural, political, economic and social backgrounds (Anindito et al. 2019; Kustiwan, Ukrin, and Aulia 2015). Spatially, these areas are physically characterised by small alleys (2.5 m wide), small building size (10–60 m²), and irregular orientation of buildings. The more informal of these settlements are characterised by poor roofing material (i.e. corrugated iron, asbestos, plastic, fibre and clay tiles); unpaved or poorly constructed roads; poor sanitation and reliance on well water or bottled water (Leonita et al. 2018; Pratomo et al. 2017). Kampongs are distinguished by a wide and diverse scope of economic activities, including creative and cultural sectors. The community works as the centre of these settlements’ structure and functioning (Fahmi et al. 2019; Kustiwan, Ukrin, and Aulia 2015).

As part of the city’s branding strategy, Bandung developed thematic kampongs and within them two labels: the thematic ‘creative kampong’ and the ‘tourism kampong’ (Fahmi et al. 2019). The tourism kampong is ‘the further development of the creative kampong idea in which the kampong is not expected to contribute to the regional income’ (Fahmi et al. 2019, 16). The authors also point that by 2017, Bandung’s Agency of Culture and Tourism had recognised a total of 25 thematic kampongs.

2.3. Research gaps in studying the spatiality of CIs in Indonesia

Bandung’s Creative Economy strategy has an urban development approach, with place-based actions (e.g. urban revitalisation, creative clustering and infrastructure development) serving as drivers for the creation and consolidation of CIs. These actions intend to increase the value of the city and the region as tourist destinations. Several studies of CI spatiality in Indonesia (at various spatial scales) have provided an in-depth understanding of CIs’ contexts, mostly using qualitative research methods (e.g. interviews, policy analysis, discourse analysis and actor mapping) (see Fahmi et al. 2019; Kim 2017; Kustiwan, Ukrin, and Aulia 2015; Fahmi, McCann, and Koster 2017; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013).

Studies usually utilise single approaches, for example, spatial analysis (see Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016) or spatial econometric modelling (see Fahmi and Koster 2017; Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016), with only a few deploying mixed methods, for instance, combining spatial analysis and qualitative research (see Hanan and Hemanto 2020; Nugroho 2018). While these studies can deepen the understanding of a specific CIs’ dimension (e.g. economic growth or social networks, urban development, economic or entrepreneurial climate or placemaking), they are grounded in individual cases and do not analyse the mutual interactions. There is a need for research to address this gap and to further reflect in a comparative manner on CIs’ spatiality dimensions (i.e. social, spatial and policy arrangements).

3. Case study

3.1. The context of the case study: Bandung

Kota Bandung (Bandung City or simply Bandung in this article) is the third-largest city in Indonesia and the capital of the Province of West Java. As emphasised in Section 2, historically, Bandung has spearheaded popular culture in the country, largely due to its distros (Kim 2017), and its creative and tourism kampongs (Fahmi, McCann, and Koster 2015). Through the interviews, we found the creative and traditional cultural industry of urban sub-districts (kelurahan) such as Dago, Cigadung and Binong, are well-known regionally, and even nationally, and internationally.

Three kampongs located within these sub-districts were selected as case studies (see Figure 1), due to the broad recognition they enjoy as creative centres, the difference in their economic activities, and the particularities of their historical and socio-spatial backgrounds (see Table 2).

Figure 1. Kampong locations.

Table 2. Overview of characteristics of the kampongs and their creative industries (based on interviews’ results).

Kampong (sub-district, district)	Main activities	Established	Main actors
Dago Pojok (Dago, Coblong)	Mural painting, traditional dance, batik and handicrafts (e.g. traditional dolls puppets, bamboo instruments)	2003	Local community, Kampong Wisata Kreatif Dago Pojok, Komunitas Taboo
Binongjati (Binong, Batununggal)	Knitted clothing	Mid-1960s	Knitting Industries Cooperative (KIRBI) and its platform ‘kampong Radjoet’, and others in the local community
Kampong Batik (Cigadung, Cibeunying Kaler)	Batik production	2016	Batik Kampong Association, Batik Komar, Local Women Association (PKK), Batik Hasan, and the Agency of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises

‘Kampong Batik Cigadung’ is located in kelurahan Cigadung. The kelurahan’s spatial administrative organisation is divided into 15 Rukun Warga (RWs) and 91 Rukun Tetangga (RTs) (Government of Kelurahan Cigadung 2019). RWs and RTs are administrative subdivisions within the kelurahan and commonly used by the residents and city authorities. Cigadung’s main economic activities include batik, screen printing T-shirts, trading businesses, various small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (UKM in Bahasa), food stalls, street vendors (Government of Kelurahan Cigadung 2019). The kelurahan’s administration points to Batik Komar and Batik Hasan (both traditional and well-established batik businesses in Cigadung), along with C59 and Studio Rosid, as the local businesses with the most tourism potential. Cigadung government’s two main initiatives targeted at promoting Cis are ‘kampong Batik Cigadung’ and the ‘Creative Belt’. The former was initiated in 2018, with Batik Komar leading training workshops with community participants. These activities were also promoted by the government through the Agency of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises (UMKM). The kelurahan, ‘kecamatan’ (district), and ‘kota’ (city) administrations further supported these activities. Initially, only 10 RWs sent representatives (approximately 50) to participate in the organisation of kampong Batik. At the time of research, 19 representatives from seven RWs were reported as still active.

‘Kampong Dago Pojok’ is located in Kelurahan Dago, with a spatial administration of 13 RWs and 105 RTs (Government of Kelurahan Dago 2019). Dago is home to a large range of diverse economic activities (e.g. street vendors, food stalls, screen printing) (Government of Kelurahan Dago 2019). Dago Pojok is known for its performance arts, fine arts and crafts. The creative kampong, as the first of its type, started its activities in 2003 led by the community (through ‘Komunitas Taboo’, a community organisation). It was legally established in 2010 as ‘Kampong Wisata Kreatif Dago Pojok’, as a response by the settlement’s community to the perceived exclusion from the discussion and actions proposed by the city’s government concerning urban development (Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). Its conceptualisation and development encompassed artisanal manufacturing and urban activism forms which produced ‘creative labor and social capital that contribute to the commodification of the creative community’ (Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013, 1). In 2019, a total of 12 CIs were reported to be participating in the creative kampong.

‘Kampong Binongjati’ is located in Kelurahan Binong which is divided into 10 RWs and 72 RTs (Government of Kelurahan Binong 2019). Binong’s main economic activities are related to the furniture industry, food stalls and clothing. Within Binong, Binongjati is recognised as a designated industrial area (‘sentra’ in Bahasa) for knitting production, and its CIs are part of the fashion sector. In 1998, a large-scale financial crisis triggered a boom of knitting production in the kampong; however, the sector’s history goes much further back; it was a recognised location for hand-knitted products as early as 1945. In 2019, the local Knitting Industries Cooperative (KIRBI) reported over 400 CIs members, primarily small-scale businesses. The total number of SMEs active in the sector is higher, but reliable figures for non-KIRBI members were not available at time of research.

3.2. Overview of methodology and approach

We applied SSA because it allows researchers ‘to spatially capture, conceptually analyse and theorise from diverse processes’ with diverse epistemological research paradigms (Follmann et al. 2022). This approach helps us to combine and analyse qualitative, geospatial and quantitative methods through the lenses of three different but complementary dimensions (social, spatial and policy arrangements). SSA provides a more holistic analysis of the constructed realities of the owners/managers of CIs as well as the CIs spatiality, and its transformations, in the kampongs.

We focus on the conformation process of city-regions; the latest defined as economic ecosystems with specialised economic activities fully embedded in their territory (Bontje et al. 2011), as the core process for exploring CIs’ spatiality in Bandung’s kampongs. ‘Embeddedness’, in such context, is seen as the social relations (e.g. collaboration between businesses, from communities, families to business entities) that support specialised economic activities and do not necessarily have to be geographically bound (Bontje et al. 2011). In this study, the ‘embeddedness’ of CIs is seen mainly through the formation of clusters that establish and support CIs (e.g. by connecting companies with workforce, service providers, customers, distributors, etc.). It also includes institutional relations with government agencies or other civic and professional organisations. Furthermore, Bontje et al. (2011) state that connectivity of city-regions is a core aspect that enables them to link up and join broader economic systems, at national and international levels.

Hence, this article will examine CIs and the changes in the urban spatiality of kampongs through five main aspects: ‘embeddedness’ of specialised economic activities (Bontje et al. 2011); spatial clustering; physical infrastructure and connectivity (Bontje et al. 2011; Turok 2004); spatial strategies; and institutional and regulatory arrangements (Swyngedouw 2004) (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. SSA dimensions for analysing the spatiality of creative industries in Bandung (based on Bontje et al. 2011; Turok 2004; Swyngedouw 2004).

3.2.1. Methods

The primary data for this study was collected as follows: (1) surveys (open-ended and closed questions) (n = 166), conducted with CIs’ owners/managers in the kampongs; (2) semi-structured interviews (n = 5) with CIs’ owners/managers and community leaders (one from Binongjati, two from Dago Pojok, and two from Cigadung); and (3) one focus group with members (n = 8) of a civic CIs-oriented organisation in one of the kampongs. The questionnaires and the interviews were designed by the research team and conducted from mid-October to mid-November 2019:

• In Cigadung, we surveyed 20 CIs, including nine batik businesses, eight related to T-shirt design and screen printing and three with multiple activities.

• In Dago Pojok, 13 CIs were surveyed in the arts, fashion and crafts sectors. Less details have been provided over these CIs to guarantee their anonymisation due to the small sample size.

• In Binongjati, 133 CIs participated in the survey, all ocused on the manufacturing of knitted clothing and accessories (bandanas, beanies, hijabs, sweaters, cardigans, hoodies and vests). Only one business shared that in addition to making knitted clothing they also supplied the raw materials.

The research counted with the Ethics Committee’s approval at ITC, University of Twente, provided in 2019-II. We designed for both, interviews and surveys, an information sheet on the project and a detailed consent form in Bahasa. Few survey participants did not feel comfortable providing a signature on a written consent form but opted to provide verbal consent. Local researchers and surveyors carried out the full information and implementation of the interviews and the surveys in Bahasa or Sundanese (based on the participants’ preference). Secondary data were retrieved from (1) the official 2016 Spatial Plan for Bandung; (2) the 2020 OpenStreet Maps (OSM) data for the kampongs; and (3) satellite imagery available from Google Earth for the years 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019. In the qualitative data analysis, we conducted an inductive and iterative, thematic analysis of the interviews data. The identified core themes – (1) CIs’ challenges, (2) their history, (3) geographical conditions, along with (4) their social relations, (5) related supporting infrastructure and (6) manufacturing characteristics – informed the qualitative spatial analysis.

The content analysis of the collected survey data served to inform the qualitative data and spatial analyses. Finally, the spatial analysis used the related themes and locations identified from the interview and survey data analyses to visually interpret and annotate the satellite imagery.

4. Findings

4.1. Kampong Batik – Cigadung

4.1.1. City-region conformation

4.1.1.1. Social aspects

In terms of embeddedness, in kampong Batik Cigadung, 22.2% of the batik producers surveyed pointed to family as one of the primary sources for their CI funding. One-third of businesses (33.3%) employed friends and neighbours, and another 44.4% employed members of their formal and informal associations and groups (e.g. kampong Batik). For the remaining one-fourth (22.2%) none of these categories were applicable. Furthermore, the surveyed batik CIs rely on verbal arrangements as the main form of employment agreement with their workforce.

The majority of surveyed CIs owners/managers belonged to kampong Batik, which is structured as a cooperative. Individual batik producers primarily sell their wares through the organisation, usually to fulfil large volume orders placed with the cooperative. Other organisations, such as Batik Komar and the Local Women’s Association (PKK), were also mentioned as key actors and leaders of the batik community. Together with some of the large-scale batik businesses these organisations support individual producers with capital, specialised training, equipment, and less frequently also with distribution channels, business-related information and marketing.

More than three-quarters (77.7%) of batik producers frequently work with others within kampong Batik, especially for large orders. These collaborations highlight the importance of social and professional relations among the kampong’s community organisation members. The interviews pointed out that each RW of kampong Batik has specialised in a specific batik pattern (e.g. lilies, roses, sunflowers, lotus) to minimise competition. Such behaviour can favour the creation of production niches, strengthening specialisations within this economic creative cluster.

The role of social relations was further emphasised by the interviewees who highlighted the importance of peer-to-peer recommendations for promotion and sales: ‘Sometimes, some of our friends said that our products were good, then they would bring the products and offer those products to their relatives. So in the end, they would buy ours’ (FGD Cigadung). These social aspects can also be seen in terms of institutional relations between the CIs and a number of government and professional organisations:

• Professional/business organisations. Various CIs from kampong Batik reported to be members of ‘Asosiasi Eksportir dan Produsen Handicraft Indonesia’ and ‘Asosiasi Pengusaha dan Pengrajin Batik Indonesia’. These associations were underlined as being relevant for promoting the kampong’s products and providing CIs with training and specialised information.

• Government. The Small and Micro Enterprises Agency (UMKM) and Bandung’s Industrial and Trade Agency and the Government of West Java Province were the main government institutions mentioned by CIs in interviews and surveys. They were referenced both as clients but also as actors that provide training, capital and support in the promotion of batik.

4.1.1.2. Spatial aspects

1. Spatial clustering. First, most kampong Batik employees lived within the kampong. Second, the majority of collaborations among batik producers took place within the same kampong. Collaborations with other businesses in other parts of the city or outside Bandung were less frequent. Third, most clients come from the city, either local government agencies, local retailers and exhibition venues (local and regional) or tourists who visit the area. These insights show that the majority of socio-economic interactions was at the kampong scale, occasionally expanding at the city scale. The other levels (national or international) were engaged with much less frequency, but they were a target aimed for by the batik community. This was further emphasised by the goal of batik producers to ‘[…] to make Cigadung’s batik known throughout Indonesia and the whole world’ (FDG_Cigadung).

2. Physical infrastructure. Cigadung experienced intensive urbanisation, rapidly accelerating between 2010 and 2015, which transformed green areas and empty lots into built-up areas. This process is more clearly visible in the area surrounding Batik Hasan (see Figure 3). Among the three kampongs, Cigadung still retains the largest green areas (whether public or private).

   Figure 3. Urbanisation areas Batik Cigadung (Source: Google Earth Imagery 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019).

   

Cigadung is distinguished by strong contrasts. For example, large-scale dwellings (e.g. mansions) intermingle with small-scale and more traditional housing, some with signs of severe deterioration. Large and mid-size companies such as Batik Komar, Batik Hasan and C49 (a T-shirt design company) are present in the neighbourhood.

The majority of the batik activities are either carried out at the large-scale businesses or in the kampong Batik community centre located in RW No. 1. Other industries in the fashion and gastronomy creative sectors are home based, with several architecture and design businesses locating in recently reconverted houses.

The impact of neighbourhood improvement actions is also noticeable. For instance, further infrastructure was developed, such as the community centre in RW No. 1, which is mainly dedicated to batik and serves as the organisation’s meeting place. Also, new offices were built for the kelurahan’s government. During the interviews, it emerged that the local government proposed the construction of a batik gallery (including an appropriate manufacturing space) to support promotion and sales.

In terms of connectivity and accessibility, the isochrone maps according to transportation mode (see Figure 4 and Table 3) showed that the accessibility scores for the three types of transport modes assessed (walking, motorbike and cars) tend to be slightly lower compared to Dago Pojok’s, for both the 15 and 30 min time segments.

Figure 4. Isochrone maps analysis of three transportation modes (based on data from Openrouteservice.org).

Table 3. Kampong comparison of total distance covered per time segment and mode (based on data from Openrouteservice.org).

Kampong		Time segment (min)	Area covered by transportation mode (in km^2)
			By foot	By motorbike	By automobile
Batik Cigadung		15	3.12	29.08	146.92
		30	9.87	121.47	798.47
Dago Pojok		15	2.01	31.59	158.17
		30	10.55	134.77	775.53
Binongjati		15	2.81	35.57	303.67
		30	12.29	157.99	1279.59
	Longest potential distance covered in time segment per specific mode.
	Shortest potential distance covered in time segment per specific mode.

Table 4. Overview of policy documents explored due to their potential impact on spatial transformations of CIs in kampongs.

Level	List of policies identified
National	Presidential Regulation No. 72/2015 concerning amendments to Presidential Regulation No. 6/2015 about the Creative Economy Agency (Peraturan Presiden No. 72/2015 tentang Perubahan atas Peraturan Presiden No. 6/2015 tentang Badan Ekonomi Kreatif, Presiden Republik Indonesia 2015)
National	Presidential Regulation No. 6/2015 about the Creative Economy (Peraturan Presiden No. 6/2015 tentang Badan Ekonomi Kreatif, Presiden Republik Indonesia 2015)
National	Presidential Instruction No. 6/2009 introduced the Creative Economy Development strategy (Instruksi Presiden No. 6/2009 tentang Pengembangan Ekonomi Kreatif, Presiden Republik Indonesia 2009)
City		- Decree of the Mayor of Bandung No. 1530/Kep.295/DISKUMPERINDAG/2009
City	Bandung City Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMD) 2018 − 2023
City	Bandung City Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMD) 2014 − 2018
City		- Strategic Plan of the Agency of Culture and Tourism 2013–2018
City		- Strategic Plan of the Agency of Industry and Trade 2013–2018
City		- Strategic Plan of the Agency of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises 2013–2018
City		- Strategic Plan of the Agency of Spatial Planning 2013–2018

These results contrast with Cigadung’s larger road network, seen in the satellite imagery. The kampong also seems to have higher quality road connections with the rest of the city, compared with the other two kampongs. Topography could potentially explain for the lower accessibility scores, mainly on the motorised options, i.e. the steeper inclines compared to the other two cases.

However, several main roads accessible by motor vehicles have no sidewalks, making their use by pedestrians challenging. The largest batik CIs are located next to main streets in the area.

1. Spatial strategies. The construction of the previously mentioned batik gallery, by the government could address the challenge pointed out during the interview regarding the lack of further specialised spaces for batik manufacturing with adequate equipment and waste management facilities. According to the interviews, producers from kampong Batik can access three locations, RW No. 1 community centre, and the halls of RW No. 4 and No. 11’s local administration offices (see Figure 5), which are used less frequently. They aim to have a manufacturing centre in each RW, in order to facilitate participation and community engagement in batik-related activities through training, exhibition and sale of products. Additionally, it could contribute to appropriate waste management in batik production, which some inhabitants associate with the kampong’s water pollution, according to the interviews. Due to the types of products used on the manufacturing of batik, this activity requires special waste management treatments and disposal systems not easy to acquire for home-based manufacturers. As a result, according to the interviews, some women in the kampong interested in learning and manufacturing batik at home, due to their daily-life activities, are not able to participate in these activities.

Figure 5. General spatial characteristics Batik Kampong Cigadung (based on the 2019 profile report for Kelurahan Cigadung from the subdistrict’s government and the interviews data).

4.2. Creative kampong Dago Pojok-Dago

4.2.1. City-region conformation

4.2.1.1. Social aspects

The ‘creative kampong Dago Pojok’ is a community-led and community-oriented organisation with strong social relations. It is the centre of creative industry creation, advancement and support in the kampong, with the goal to promote local economic development by ‘accommodating community activities’ that bring benefits to all members (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 2). Concerted focus has been placed on nurturing of the kampong’s artists and their crafts. These are small-scale businesses, with the vast majority as single-person operations. As a result, only one-quarter (27.3%) of surveyed CIs reported their workforce like being, mainly, constituted by neighbours, family and friends, with only two stating that the employment arrangements were verbal agreements. The other 11 CIs stated such employment agreements did not apply in their case.

In terms of community organisations, most CIs belonged to ‘Kampong Wisata Kreatif Dago Pojok’, with one CI mentioning the ‘Komunitas Gerbong Bawah Tanah’. The former was mentioned to provide support to the CIs, primarily, with their distribution channels, marketing, and information. However, when asked to name actors that support them (from government to universities, banks, NGOs, community associations, etc.), only six CIs referred to community associations/organisations.

In terms of collaborations with other businesses or art groups, 38.5% reported working with other businesses within the kampong as well as with others elsewhere in the city. The main reasons for collaboration, mentioned by the respondents, were making products, presenting and offering culture products, and sustaining culture. Furthermore, institutional relations were deemed key for CIs in Dago Pojok:

• Professional/business organisation. ‘Seniman Kabupaten Bandung’ was reported to have supported one of the business with its distribution channels, marketing and information.

• Government. In the surveys, exchanges between the CIs and the ‘Organisasi UKM dari Pemerintah’ and the ‘Perkumpulan UKM Little Bandung’ were mentioned. The latter is a programme from the local Agency of Industry and Trade. However, the type of support provided by these government agencies and programs was not clear, as respondents provided little details on their type of support. Also, Dago Pojok was selected by the government as a creative kampong pilot project to be ‘reproduced’ in other kampongs in Bandung and in other cities (Jakarta and Malang) (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 1).

Since 2018, the creative kampong organisation has seen a decrease in tourism-related activities (e.g. guided visits, CIs sales associated with tourism, accommodation services to tourist) (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 1 and No. 2). This drop slowed down the growth of existing CIs and the kampong’s overall economic development. Nonetheless, artistic festivals and activities were still being carried out (e.g. the annual Dago Pojok festival and traditional dance presentations). Such festivals are usually organised by members of creative kampong Dago Pojok and their community. Nonetheless, other festivals and events were also organised together with other kampongs (e.g. the ‘no corruption movement’ event was organised together with Tegalega kampong). Several of these activities targeted the kampong community but some also sought to attract outside visitors to the area.

4.2.1.2. Spatial aspects

1. Spatial clustering. Dago Pojok’s CIs are concentrated around a specific part of RW 3, relatively close to the community cultural centre (see Figure 6). The community-led organisation promoted this spatial arrangement was to ease tourist access by focusing visitor traffic into a single area (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 1). For Dago Pojok, possibly due to the diversity of CIs, no spatial clustering processes are evident for their suppliers or customers. In terms of sales, the majority of the CIs surveyed highlighted individuals (e.g. students, friends, neighbours and tourists) as their main customer base, spread out over a diverse range of locations (e.g. within the kampong, elsewhere in the city, etc.).

2. Physical infrastructure. Dago Pojok has experienced some changes, although not as fast or as noticeable as in Cigadung. It was already a dense kampong by 2007; however, additional densification occurred via the reduction of small internal green areas and non-built spaces. At the sub-district scale, Dagós west border (neighbouring Sungai Cikapundung river)showed fast occupation processes mostly visible from 2012 and accelerated between 2014 and 2018. Also, the community has invested resources into infrastructure development (e.g. community centre) and neighbourhood regeneration (e.g. fixing and beautifying house facades) to promote local development but also to increase tourist appeal. As stated previously, the actions initiating the creative kampong were done by the community challenging the spatial actions and government mandates (i.e. ‘Kota Bandung Spatial Plan No. 2–3’) (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 1 and No. 2).

Concerning connectivity and accessibility, this kampong has similar results on the isochrone analysis to Cigadung. Both had lower scores than Binongjati, especially for automotive access. With a car, one can cover almost double the area in 15 min and almost one-third more in 30 min. Dago Pojok is mainly constituted by a network of pedestrian roads, many unpaved, connecting the several houses and businesses. Jalan (Jl.) Dago Pojok is the main motor vehicle access to the inner part of the kampong and connects it to the centre of Bandung. These conditions, together with the steep topography of the area and the existence of natural borders (such as the Sungai Cikapundung river) might reduce the accessibility of this kampong, particularly if arriving by automobile from a far-away part of Bandung.

Figure 6. General spatial characteristics of Creative Kampong Dago Pojok (based on the 2019 profile report for Kelurahan Dago from the subdistrict’s government and the interviews data).

Spatial strategies. Dago Pojok’s spatial strategies, largely carried out by the community, aim to attract visitors and promote local economic development. For instance, the cultural community centre was built to provide activities related to CIs and the training of young members of the community in diverse traditional activities (e.g. dancing, painting, doll making). Additionally, the neighbourhood regeneration actions sought to improve the overall quality of living spaces (e.g. common spaces and housing).

Various community interventions were executed with the help of the creative kampong’s collective funds, collected through CIs’ services and product sales (20% of each sale) (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 2). These community-based and community-oriented actions were highlighted as part of the design of ‘tourist plans’ (e.g. to offer local accommodation in private houses accompanied with traditional art workshops), created by the creative kampong organisation (Dago Pojok Interviewee No. 1).

Dago Pojok had substantial impact, both in Bandung and nationally. Its success, due to its organisational model, its socio-spatial interventions and promotion of local development, as Bandung’s first creative kampong community, has positioned it as a pilot model for the city, region and the country.

4.3. Kampong Binongjati-Binong

4.3.1. City-region conformation

4.3.1.1. Social aspects

‘Kampong Binongjati’ has a long-standing tradition as a knitting centre. This history shaped its current configuration, where a large majority of CIs are small-size companies (1–10 employees); three are medium (51–100 employees) and one is quite large with more than 400 employees. Almost half of all CIs (45.1%) employ friends, neighbours or family members. For one-quarter of business (24.8%), their current employees used to work for a competitor before. Three-fourths (75.9%) reported that they primarily rely on verbal agreements as employment arrangement, while 22.5% also had other forms, such as temporary arrangements (i.e. employees hired only when large orders are placed, directly recruited, or as a day labourer) and self-employment (n = 1).

The CIs surveyed reported being part of larger community organisations that support them, for example, Youth of Islamic Unity (Pemuda Persatuan Islam), the Community of the Industrial Centre 7 (Komunitas 7 Sentra Industri), Laa Riba, Zi Offline 2, Universal HHH, and the Association of Knitting Industries of Bandung (Asosiasi Industri Rajut Bandung). Regarding institutional relations, the Binongjati CIs work with both business and governmental organisations (albeit less intensively with the later):

1. Professional/business organisations. The main actor mentioned was the Knitting Industries Cooperative (Kooperasi Industri Rajut Binongjati – KIRBI) and their associated platform Kampong Radjoet. KIRBI has 400 members in Binongjati (Binongjati Interviewee No. 1); however, in the survey only 21 CIs (15.8%) explicitly mentioned being a member or supported by them by having access to specialised trainings and, in a more limited manner, also to capital. Other organisations mentioned were the Association of Young Indonesian Entrepreneurs (Himpunan Pengusaha Muda Indonesia) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.

2. Government. Only a few (8.3%) CIs reported having received support from either the central, provincial, or local government. Only one CI had received support from all three levels. The support ranged from capital to specialised training and equipment provision. However, various respondents highlighted that the assistance provided by the government and its programmes has not been well distributed, particularly among the small CIs. Several participants also stated to not have received information about government’s programmes to support them or also, that their support has not been sufficient. Moreover, one respondent mentioned the training offered did not have a continuation.

Lastly, concerning collaborations with other businesses, 22.5% of CIs have done so for manufacturing and fulfilment of orders as well as marketing. Furthermore, some of the mentioned goals from KIRBI include promotion of joint projects (i.e. member CIs help each other fulfil large orders) and of sub-product specialisation, to increase CIs’ market attractiveness. Some businesses from other industries, such as the culinary sector (i.e. food stalls), indirectly collaborate with the knitting CIs (Binongjati Interviewee No. 1). For example, several food stalls are available 24 h per day to provide the ‘knitters’ with food when large orders are placed. If developed further, such collaboration could create smaller activity clusters in the kampong; these together with the CIs and the supporting infrastructure could potentially lead to deep socio-spatial transformations.

4.3.1.2. Spatial aspects

1. Spatial clustering. The knitting businesses in kampong Binongjati are all concentrated in a dense geographical cluster with a higher density than Batik Cigadung and Dago Pojok (see Figure 7). Binongjati is defined as one of Bandung’s ‘industrial centres’ (sentra). In terms of location, its major identified advantages in the survey were its proximity to suppliers (concentrated in Binong) and to other similar businesses. The respondents also pointed to Binongjati’s high regard as a renown knitting centre as a determining factor to locate their business there. Such positioning was mentioned frequently as facilitating access to customers. The customer’s base is mainly made up of Indonesian wholesalers (primarily Jakarta, Solo, and Surabaya), with a few in other parts of Bandung, and international clients as well (e.g. Malaysia). Moreover, proximity to supporting logistics services (i.e. storage, packaging and distribution services, and spare parts and equipment repair) was another key reason to select this location.

Binongjati’s CIs have attracted workers from different parts of West Java, such as Garut, Tasikmalaya and Sukabumi. A driver underpinning this phenomenon could be the kampong’s positioning as a recognised and large knitting producer cluster in the region. Another aspect to highlight is that the vast majority of CIs (n = 89) have employees that reside outside the city. Some (n = 29) also reported workforces that lived within the kampong, and a more limited number (n = 13) have workers who live elsewhere in the city.

1. Physical infrastructure. Binongjati is a very dense kampong in terms of the built environment. Several knitting CIs are located in residential houses that have been combined with industrial activities. Moreover, the densification of the urban footprint has resulted in scarcity of public spaces (e.g. parks and squares), with adverse impacts, especially on youth and children (Binongjati Interviewee No. 1). However, differentiated urban development emerged across the kampong from 2007 to 2020. Its north part (ending with Jl. Gatot Subroto) already in 2007 had a consolidated and dense urban footprint, and the subsequent changes in constructions are difficult to spot only via satellite imagery observations. However, around the central and the southern parts (in the border with the national highway), where several unbuilt (green) areas had existed, the urban footprint densification processes were more clearly identifiable. The number of construction sites identified started to slowly increase between 2007 and 2012, with a notable subsequent intensification in the 2016–2018 period. Regarding connectivity and accessibility, Binongjati had the best accessibility scores in the isochrone maps (see Figure 4). Its results for motorbike and pedestrian access, although higher than in the other two kampongs, are quite similar. A possible explanation for the large difference in automobile access can be the fact that this kampong borders major city roads: Jl. Gatot Subroto (to the north), Jl. Kiara Condong (to the east), and the national highway Jl. Raya Cirebon (to the south). However, despite proximity to these primary roads, accessing the inner part of the kampong is challenging for automobiles, since it is served by a single paved road (Jl. Binongjati), crossing from north to south.

Figure 7. General spatial characteristics of Kampong Binongjati (based on the 2018 profile report for Kelurahan Binong from the subdistrict’s government and the interviews data).

In addition, the limited coverage and quality of the public lighting infrastructure was seen by the community as partially responsible for the crimes that occurred in some areas of the kampong (i.e. motorbike theft and incidents of mugging).

1. Spatial strategies. Some spatial improvement actions have been carried out in the last years in some areas of Binongjati. For instance, some communities (e.g. in RW 5) opted to build a community-funded public lighting network and install CCTV surveillance systems on the streets to improve the safety. With regard to connectivity, the community expects the potential development of an access road to the kampong (Binongjati Interviewee No. 1); however, the high housing density (both residential and industrial) puts this plan into question.

Finally, KIRBI’s vision is to transform Binongjati into a tourism-based kampong. Thus, it plans the development of a ‘knitting thematic centre’ (conceptualised as a showroom for local products) and a community centre in the near future. Also, government support for developing the area and the construction of this infrastructure is anticipated (Binongjati Interviewee No. 1).

4.4. Policy arrangements

The implementation of the 2009 Creative Economy Strategy, through Presidential Regulation No. 6/2015 (later updated by No. 72/2015), derived on the creation of a new ministry and a governmental agency focused on the creative economy (Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and BEKRAF). Also, it triggered changes all across the country birthing the current institutional set-ups and regulatory arrangements. In 2009, Bandung’s local government issued a regulation that defined, among other things, the creative centres in the city and proposed goals for their promotion (Decree of the Mayor of Bandung No. 1530/Kep.295/DISKUMPERINDAG/2009). The implementation of this policy, and its subsequent programmes, attracted attention towards the development of particular types of industries and areas in the city (e.g. Cigadung, Suci, Cicadas). Such actions were strengthened with the 2013–2018 Mid-Term Regional Development Plan (Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Daerah–RPJMD) of Bandung and its follow-up, the 2018–2023 RPJMD. The latter included the definition of strategic development issues that would improve the business climate for tourism and the creative economy.

Several of the spatial strategies identified in this research (including the improvement of physical infrastructure) are included in both RPJMDs as well as in the local territorial planning instruments (e.g. strategic plans – RENSTRA) for the 2013–2018 and 2018–2023 periods (see Table 3). In these policy documents, the need to develop various traditional settlements in the city into creative neighbourhoods was explicitly stated. These neighbourhoods were expected to promote the improvement of urban spaces in Bandung, while showcasing the city’s cultural traditions for locals and tourists alike. Thus, the local government’s objective is to promote both tourism as well as clusters of creative activities in the city. As an example of this, it can be seen that the RENSTRA of the local Agency of Culture and Tourism includes the goal to develop co-working spaces in each of the city’s sub-districts, to promote innovation, collaboration, and competitiveness among CIs.

Also, the latter RENSTRA together with the one from the Agency of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises propose to develop Cigadung: (1) as an area for edu-tourism (educational tourism) on the batik tradition (through kampong Batik); and (2) as an area for arts and culinary-based tourism (through the ‘creative belt’ project). Such arrangements and strategies marked, for example, the 2016–2018 creation of the kampong Batik initiative: its organisation, operation, and branding. Several of the small CIs (majority are owner-operator businesses) were trained by Batik Komar (a consolidated and recognised local business created in 1998) together with the local government through the Bandung City Government and the Cooperative and Small-Medium Enterprises Agency. Further trainings were offered by Batik Hasan (also a well-known batik business created in 1978).

Another example is the RENSTRA of Bandung’s Agency of Industry and Trade which defines the establishment and promotion of industrial and trade clusters (including Binongjati) in Bandung. In 2009, Binongjati was declared as one of the nine designated creative centres, through the local Decree of the Mayor of Bandung No. 1530/Kep.295/DISKUMPERINDAG/2009. Within this programme, the kampong should receive specialised equipment to support fast and quality manufacturing along with supporting their product diversification. The alignment of these efforts with a series of additional programmes such as the Bandung City Industrial Development plan 2019–2039, could end supporting the growth of CIs in these area and their sub-specialised manufacturing clusters. In support of this promotion of industrial and trade clusters, the Agency of Spatial Planning defined Binongjati as one of the city’s four strategic urban areas (Special Urban Zone – KSK), in order to improve the kampong’s connectivity by enhancing access and use of space. One impact was the development of physical infrastructure, such as the construction of a minor access road; however, substantial additional efforts are needed to address the problem of road network connectivity.

Lastly, the RPJMD 2018–2023 also proposed the transformation of the traditional settlements (i.e. kampong) into creative thematic neighbourhoods as a strategy to reduce the so-called ‘slum areas’ while creating new tourist destinations. The interviews emphasised that Dago Pojok’s success, as the first grassroot creative kampong in Bandung, provided a lighthouse model for the country. The actors previously involved in Dago Pojok such as its former leaders and the Bandung City Creative Forum (BCCF), have informed some of the policies, strategies, and programmes put in place for the development of the new creative kampongs.

5. Interrelations among SSA dimensions

The initial exploration of CIs’ urban spatiality in three Bandung kampongs, using the SSA approach, revealed that in these creative areas the SSA dimensions studied are interrelated in three main aspects. These are (1) the importance of social actors and relations in CIs existence and development; (2) the acceleration of densification processes and neighbourhood improvement actions after 2009; and (3) the clear identification of inter-institutional policy arrangements aimed to strengthen CIs located at the kampongs studied.

Regarding social actors and relations, it can be said that these marked the origin, history and the identity of the kampongs. For Dago Pojok and kampong Batik Cigadung, community organisations such as Kampong Wisata Kreatif Dago Pojok, kampong Batik Cigadung (both organisations with cooperative-like structures) and the Local Women Association have a core role in current and future CIs and the kampong’s development. Also, in kampong Batik Cigadung, the role of established batik businesses (i.e. Batik Komar, Batik Hasan), along with other actors, such as government agencies, was critical for CI development. For Dago Pojok, its collaborations with other kampongs seemed to be also relevant, but further research is needed on the nature and impact of such collaborations. An additional element identified was that these two kampongs house the majority of supporting activities and actor clusters within their boundaries. In Binongjati in contrast, the cooperative (KIRBI) and its community platform (Kampong Radjoet) seem to lead the commercial activities of several CIs in the area but not all. The role and impact of this organisation in the kampong’s social network needs to be further evaluated. Moreover, relevant supporting activities and actors (e.g. suppliers and workforce) also are located outside the kampong, within Bandung and in other urban areas across West Java.

Looking at the physical infrastructure, all cases reveal a process of densification of their urban footprint where Cigadung and Binongjati showed more accelerated urbanisation than Dago Pojok. Such dynamics were particularly evident in the years after the national and local policies on the creative economy were regulated. In the Binongjati case, diverse but constant urbanisation processes were identified during the 2007–2012 period, with notable intensification between 2015 and 2018. In Dago Pojok, several community-led neighbourhood improvement actions were carried out, construction of community centres and refurbishing housing, particularly between 2003 and 2008. However, the limited scope of our study, due to the reduced sample and type of analysis, does not allow us to draw a causal relationship between the implementation of these policy arrangements and such spatial processes.

Finally, concerning policy, Indonesia (and Bandung in particular) continue to pursue policy patterns and regulatory arrangements that seek to strengthen the role and impact of the creative economy on national economic development. One part of these policy efforts focuses on the function CIs play as drivers for tourism and its related economic impacts, while another part is directed at promoting innovation. This focus is evident in both RPJMD 2013–2018 and 2018–2023 plans. Both RPJMDs are targeting local development in traditional urban settlements via creativity-related activities in neighbourhood/area-based improvement actions (e.g. road infrastructure construction for BinongJati, construction of co-working spaces). Insights from examining these policy arrangements showed that they triggered the creation of one of the studied kampongs (Batik Cigadung) and regulated the transformation of one which was an industrial area (sentra) into one of the city’s main creative tourism centres (Binongjati). The third case (Dago Pojok) preceded these arrangements, and it seemed to have influenced various aspects of the current policies and strategies, not only in Bandung but also in other cities and regions, when turned into a pilot lighthouse project for creative kampongs. An interesting point arising from this relates to further investigate the extent to which the Dago Pojok case and their leaders influenced programs and policies on CIs in Bandung.

6. Conclusion

This study expands the academic insights regarding the multi-dimensionality of urban spatiality of CIs (‘innovative’ creative industries’ and ‘traditional cultural industries’) (Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016) of kampongs in Bandung, Indonesia. It also further looked into the spatial transformations spurred on by CIs in Bandung’s traditional neighbourhoods, specifically kampongs (Hanan and Hemanto 2020; Prasetyo and Martin-Iverson 2013). We analysed the processes before, during, and after the implementation of the 2009 Creative Economy national policy using the SSA approach (Follmann et al. 2022).

SSA proved useful for systematically studying the diverse characteristics and analysis of interrelations of spatiality of CIs in Bandung’s kampongs and facilitating the comparison of the three case studies. Specifically, we selected one core process (city-region conformation (Bontje et al. 2011)) to focus on instead of the two used by Follmann et al. (2022) in their article. We based this decision on two main reasons: (1) to identify an urban process which adjusted better to the notion and context of CIs, and of these in kampongs; (2) after this identification, to be able to conduct an in depth characterisation of the realities of CIs’ spatiality in kampongs while easing the comparability among the three cases. Additionally, we added further specificity to the main concept by defining three dimensions of CIs in kampongs: the spatial (clustering, physical infrastructure and strategies), the social (relevant social actors supporting CIs) and policy arrangements (see Figure 2). SSA’s flexibility yielded valuable insights. First, it presents a clear approach for examining territorial processes that more appropriately represent the diversity of CIs (e.g. conditions of informality, role of human capital, rural vs urban creative clusters). Second, it allowed deep characterisations of CIs spatiality in kampongs, particularly related to the dimensions defined to the studied core process, which can be operationalised in future studies for a better understanding of CIs dynamics in kampongs. Third, it offers a simple but integrative and iterative structure to layer out and streamline complex social and spatial relations.

The focus on the city-region allowed us to draw the conclusion that the studied areas seemed to diverge in their processes due to origins, creative economy identities, and the role of the communities and community-related actors in their development. The case studies range from a small-scale, community-originated creative kampong (Dago Pojok) to a medium-scale, government-promoted but currently community-led edu-tourism kampong (Batik Cigadung) and the large-scale, creative industrial cluster (Binongjati). Specifically, for the social dimension, we identified that different social and institutional actors such as communities, government agencies, and also specialised community organisations play a key role in the formation, development, and promotion of CIs and their hosts, the creative kampongs. Moreover, in the three cases, social capital (specially, friends and neighbours) was highlighted as important for the daily activities (e.g. as workforce) and growth of the CIs in kampongs. In terms of spatial aspects, the presence of CIs in kampongs, particularly Dago Pojok and Batik Cigadung, seems tightly related to the construction of physical infrastructure to support them either by the government (Cigadung or Binongjati) or by the community (Dago Pojok). Such actions were mainly related to a variety of spatial strategies previously defined in policies at the city level, such as the RPJMDs or the RENSTRA, as well as by the goals of the community organisations. Several of the identified strategies and goals within such planning instruments pointed directly to strengthening of CIs activities which were located in kampongs; others, directly targeted the kampong areas in general, but relating the strategy or goal to their tourism or industrial value.

Despite the valuable insights we gathered from this first iteration of SSA, our adaptation had certain limitations. For example, due to the limited scope of our analysis the findings can only be considered as exploratory. We also could not identify a clear relationship between the urbanisation processes in the three kampongs with the implementation process of the creative economy strategy and the CIs policies in the city. Furthermore, other geographical scales of analysis need to be analysed (regional and national) to elaborate further on the city-region notion concerning CIs’ clusters in Bandung. Additional research on SSA for exploring CIs in kampongs could further enhance the application of the approach by focusing on informality and the particularities of the cultural and socio-economic context of these specific businesses. For instance, it could help generate indicators to identify socio-spatial and historical processes leading to the conformation of CIs clusters in kampongs and the underlying formal and informal dynamics generated at different levels: it could lead to more context-aware analysis and policy recommendations. Such iterations and applications of SSA could result in a refined multi-dimensional mixed-methods approach and thus inform context-based policymaking frameworks. The enhanced frameworks would be more closely related to the realities of cities with a high diversity of creative sectors and socio-spatial conditions for their locations.

Geolocation information

• Bandung city, West Java Province, Indonesia: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Bandung&params=6.9120_S_107.6097_E_region:ID-JB_type:city

Note

¹Distros are small-scale, independent distribution outlets that sell a variety of music, fashion and design products related to the contemporary cultural movements of Bandung (Fahmi, Koster, and van Dijk 2016; Kim 2017).

Acknowledgements

We would like to kindly thank the community participants from the kampongs for welcoming us in their communities and in Bandung and for their valuable contribution to the project. We also want to thank the team of surveyors and colleagues at ITB, and Inisiatif: Sangkara Astabidasa, Almira Amalia, Yunida Indira Cahyono, Elmira Azalea, Mahbub Maulaa, Nisa Zafirah and Rizky Aditia Budiman. We greatly value their essential help and support in completing research components through the duration of this long project.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and publication of this article.

Data availability statement

The interview data supporting the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The interview data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

The survey data supporting the findings of this study is available under https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-z6s-47js.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from NWO-WOTRO through the ‘Informal Economies and Creative Industry strategies (INECIS) – Governance arrangements, socio-spatial dynamics, and informal economies in urban kampongs in Indonesia’ project under the grant number: W O7.5O.1853.