The progression of transport infrastructures and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) areas in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur suburban: Lessons from policy approach

In developing metropolitan cities, the expansion of urban areas due to the urbanization phenomenon has resulted in massive transport infrastructure development in suburban areas. This development has prompted many governments to begin introducing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) to organize emerging transit hubs in suburban areas into their city plans. The approach adopted to introduce TOD may differ, depending on the existing context. Countries with similar socio-cultural background typically adopt a uniform approach, but not Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur as the most developing metropolitan cities in Southeast Asia with similar urbanization and socio-cultural Based on the situation, through the examining documents and spatial analysis, this study seeks to examine the impact of different policy approach between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur on the progressions of transport infrastructure and TOD areas in suburban. The results showed that Kuala Lumpur had a more rapid progression in transport infrastructures development, accompanied by the establishment of several transit zones in urban and suburban areas. Meanwhile, Jakarta’s approach comprised the gradual development of infrastructures, initially focusing on TOD in central urban areas and only a limited number of suburban areas with significant commuter traffic. These results indicate that differences in policy approaches in the two regions with similar urbanization and socio-cultural contexts influence the evolution of transport infrastructure and TOD areas development. Several factors contribute to these discrepancies, including efficiency, synchrony, bias, clarity of organizational structure, and conceptual comprehension. At macro basis, policy makers must underline that the characteristics suitability between the approach and region critically determines the success of urban development.