Middling urbanism: the megacity and the kampung

This essay shows that irregular settlements (known as kampung) are constitutive parts of urban development in Jakarta as well as in the city’s extended peri-urban areas. It argues that the persistence, location and functionality of kampung at the outskirt of Jakarta or in middle of the city constitutes a phenomenon of “middling-urbanism.” A large part of the essay outlines the condition, connection and the socio-political contexts that have contributed to such an urban formation which include the state’s politics and the milieu of the international division of labor and investment. At the end, the essay indicates how a conceptualization of the kampung as a middling urban milieu might contribute to urban theories.