Governing urban transformation: delivering change in a complex megacity
How can meaningful urban transformation be delivered when the challenges facing a megacity extend beyond the boundaries and authority of any single government?
Jakarta faces deeply embedded pressures, including congestion, fragmented transport systems, environmental challenges, flooding, land subsidence and unequal access to urban infrastructure. Against this backdrop, the central question is not simply how better urban policies can be designed, but how they can be implemented in a large and institutionally complex megacity.
Drawing on his experience as Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan will discuss the governance and delivery approaches that helped translate a political vision into tangible urban changes. The lecture will explore three interconnected dimensions: building a delivery architecture capable of translating priorities into implementation; governing through a clear set of values and a vision of Jakarta as a “City of Collaboration”; and mobilising collaboration across government, communities, academia, civil society, and the private sector.
In this lecture, Jakarta’s urban mobility transformation will serve as the principal case study. The discussion will cover the experience of strengthening TransJakarta, integrating different forms of public transport through JakLingko, efforts to increase public transport use, and reorienting the city’s mobility priorities toward pedestrians and public transport. Through this experience, the lecture will examine how institutional reform, political leadership, infrastructure, and public behaviour interact to produce urban change.
Meet our speakers and chair
Anies Rasyid Baswedan is an Indonesian educator, public leader and urban policy advocate whose career has encompassed higher education, national education reform, city government and civic initiatives. He is Founder and Advisor of Karsa CityLab, an urban think tank focused on collaborative approaches, data-informed policy and urban innovation. From 2017 to 2022, he served as Governor of Jakarta. Prior to this, he served as Indonesia’s Minister of Education and Culture from 2014 to 2016 and as Rector of Universitas Paramadina. Through Karsa CityLab, which he co-founded in 2025, he now works with urban practitioners, researchers, city governments and international partners to explore collaborative and data-informed approaches to urban development.
Paulista Surjadi is a PhD student in Regional and Urban Planning Studies at LSE and a recipient of the Bloomberg Philanthropies PhD Studentship in Cities. Her research examines the political economy of TransJakarta, exploring what Jakarta’s experience reveals about urban governance and mobility in other cities.
Hyun Bang Shin is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies and former Head (2023-2026) of the Department of Geography and Environment at LSE
More about this event
This event is free and open to all, but advance registration is required. Details of how to attend will be provided to registered participants.
The Department of Geography and Environment is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.
If you have a query about this event, please contact geog.comms@lse.ac.uk.
From time to time, event details may change. If you plan to attend, we strongly recommend checking this listing on the day of the event.
LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.