Jabodetabek

Jabodetabek is the metropolitan area surrounding Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. The name is a portmanteau of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, and it is widely used in urban planning and statistics to describe a continuous urban region that extends beyond the boundaries of DKI Jakarta into parts of West Java and Banten provinces.

Geographically, Jabodetabek comprises Jakarta and several adjacent municipalities and regencies in West Java and Banten. The core components typically include Jakarta and the satellite urban centers of Bogor, Depok, Bekasi, and Tangerang, along with the surrounding districts and cities that form a dense, interlinked urban fabric. The exact composition can vary by source and over time, but the area is consistently treated as a single megacity corridor for planning and transport purposes.

The region is one of Southeast Asia’s most populous urban agglomerations and an economic powerhouse for Indonesia. It hosts a large share of the country’s finance, industry, commerce, and services, supported by extensive infrastructure networks and a high degree of economic activity. The concentration of jobs and housing within a relatively compact area drives a complex transport system and significant commuter flows.

Transportation and infrastructure in Jabodetabek include multi-modal networks such as TransJakarta buses, MRT Jakarta, and LRT lines, complemented by the KRL Commuterline regional rail. Road congestion, housing affordability, and flood management are persistent planning and policy challenges, prompting ongoing investments in transit, road networks, and land-use planning to improve mobility and resilience across the region.

Governance of the area is not centralized under a single metropolitan government. Instead, Jabodetabek planning and coordination occur through intergovernmental agreements and frameworks involving Jakarta and the surrounding provincial and local authorities, guided by national and regional development plans.