Coping with density

Reflections on Java (1960‐2010)

Bibliographic Data

ID20153669
AuthorsRodolphe De Koninck (0009-0008-8454-7690, Department of Geography University of Montreal Montreal Canada, corresponding author), Pham Thanh Hai (Institute of Earth Sciences, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Hanoi Vietnam)
Year2025
Volume46
Issue3
Pages371-385
Publication date2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSingapore Journal of Tropical Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0129-7619 • E-ISSN: 1467-9493
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/sjtg.70025
OpenAlexW4414606466
LanguageEN
References cited37

The issue of uneven population density between regions of Southeast Asia was prominent in colonial literature. Colonial administrators and scholars, particularly geographers, considered that discrepancy in population density was a major obstacle to development. Among the most extreme cases of so‐called ‘overcrowded’ lands were Luzon and the Visayas, the Red River delta and the island of Java. In each of the three countries concerned, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, policies were subsequently adopted seeking to remedy the strong differences between, on the one hand, core areas with very high population densities and, on the other, much less densely populated peripheral regions. In all cases, particularly the Indonesian one, actual population deconcentration has occurred. Yet, the total population as well as average densities have continued to climb. By the early 2000s, Indonesia’s command island remained one of the most densely populated geographic realms in the world. Its density, one would be tempted to say its intensity, was also manifest in terms of agricultural land use and rates of urbanization and industrialization. This paper attempts to provide some food for thought, including reflections on the so‐called problem of high population density, particularly in the case of Java

Colonialism · Coping (psychology) · Indonesian · Java · Obstacle · Population · Population density · Urbanization · Income, Poverty, and Inequality

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