Ministry of Population and Family Development Formulates Action Plan to Anticipate High Urbanisation Flows

The urgency of this meeting stems from the fact that urbanisation issues do not only occur during the Lebaran period and the return flow, but also impact spatial planning if not anticipated properly. Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Population and Family Development (Kemendukbangga)/BKKBN is formulating an action plan in a coordination meeting with 15 Ministries/Institutions (K/L) to anticipate the increasingly high flow of urbanisation each year, primarily after the Lebaran holiday. “The urgency of this meeting is because urbanisation problems do not only happen during the Lebaran moments and the return flow, but also affect spatial planning if not anticipated well. Without thorough planning, the impacts can be widespread,” said the Secretary of Kemendukbangga/Chief Secretary of BKKBN, Budi Setiyono, in Jakarta on Wednesday. He exemplified that every year Jakarta experiences an addition of around 16,000 residents due to urbanisation from villages. This addition must be anticipated, both in terms of education, health services, housing, and other public services. “If not calculated precisely, risks such as density, congestion, to a decline in community welfare quality, even the potential for increased criminality, will emerge,” he stated. Meanwhile, the Deputy for Population Control of Kemendukbangga/BKKBN, Bonivasius Prasetya Ichtiarto, said that the phenomenon of returning migrants often bringing their families back to the city tends to be left without strong coordination between K/L. “As a result, urbanisation handling is entirely handed over to local governments, both receiving areas and areas left behind. In fact, national-level policies are needed as a common reference,” said Bonivasius. “That can show population movement trends. If this indicator is utilised optimally, regions can prepare anticipatory steps, both for receiving residents and retaining them so they do not continuously move to the city,” he added. Therefore, according to him, coordination with 15 K/L to formulate a joint action plan aims to help local governments manage urbanisation flows more synergistically.