This paper is situated within the discussion of mega-urbanization, a particular urbanization process that entails a large-scale agglomeration. In this paper, our focus is on urbanization in Java, Indonesia’s most dynamic region. We add to the literature by investigating the change and prediction of the land use/land cover (LULC) of mega-urbanization in Java. This research uses a vector machine approach to support the classification of land cover change dynamics, cellular automata-Markov (CA Markov), and the Klassen typology technique. This paper indicates that major metropolitan areas are still expanding in terms of built-up areas, generating a larger urban agglomeration. However, attention should be also given to the urbanization process outside existing metropolis’ boundaries given that more than half of the built-up land coverage in Java is located in non-metropolitan areas. In terms of future direction, the projection results for 2032 show that the Conservative scenario can reduce and slow down the increase in built-up land on the island of Java. On the other hand, the Spatial Plan (RTRW) scenario facilitates a rapid increase in the LULC of built-up land from 2019. The urban spatial dynamics in Java raises challenges for urban and regional planning as the process is taking place across multiple administrative authorities.

The development policies implemented in Jambi Province, Indonesia, since the New Order era, have encouraged transformations in demography, regional paradigms, growth base sectors, and growth actors. This study aims to understand how the central government’s demographic policies and plantation development program have impacted regional land cover change, rural development transformation, and economic development in Sumatra Island’s biodiversity-rich rainforest region (Jambi Province). This study explores the shifts in village typology that have occurred. Descriptive analysis and cluster analysis were applied to collect data at the provincial level that included population, poverty rate, levels of education, HDI, GRDP, Gini index, and land cover. Village Potential Data at the village level was then used to build an infrastructure index and a diversity of activities index. The results of this study indicated that macro development indicators are in a positive trend: HDI, educational levels, GRDP per capita, and the proportion of the tertiary sector in GRDP have all increased. The growth of the tertiary sector was largely driven by the trade and motorized-vehicle repair sectors. The provincial landscape has changed significantly due to the expansion of oil palm plantations. At the village level, the infrastructure index and diversity index show an increase in the number of facilities and variations in economic activity in most villages. Some shifts in rural typology are highlighted: the increase in urban villages and in villages that specialize in oil palm plantation or other industrial plantation crops.

Although uneven regional development has long been an issue in Java, most parts of the territory experienced an increased level of development over the last two decades. Due to the variance in local background and spatial heterogeneity, the driving factors of the development level should, theoretically, vary over space. Therefore, in this study, we aim to investigate the local factors that influence the development level of Java’s regions. We used the spatiotemporal pattern analysis, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, and geographically weighted regression (GWR), utilizing the regional development index as the predicted variable, and the social level, economy, infrastructure, land use, and environmental barriers as predictors. As per our results, it was found that the level of development in Java has improved over the past two decades. Metropolitan areas continued to lead this improvement. All the predictors that we examined significantly affected regional development. However, the spatial pattern of the local regression coefficients of Human Development Index (HDI), landslide, paddy conversion, and crime shifted due to changes in the spatial concentration of development activities.

The complexity of regional disparity has encouraged viewing this issue from various perspectives, one of which is the role of physical geography in disparity. On Java Island, an observation on the role of geographical aspect is needed due to the spatial sturdiness of disparity. This study aims to provide quantitative proof that differences in the physical geography of Java’s regions account for the persistent regional disparity. We applied two approaches namely correlation and typology, employing data of physical geographical attributes and development level. The methods used were correlation analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and one-way ANOVA. Based on the correlation approach, we found the association of regional development level with terrain ruggedness, soil parent materials, sea depth, elevation, and precipitation. Then, based on endowment-based typology approach, Java’s regions could be grouped into lowland, volcanic, old volcanic, and calcareous dry regions. The two latter performed poorly in all socio-economic indicators examined.

The internet penetration on young villagers gives rise to question about its effects on the social interaction and behavior patterns as it accelerates the interaction with the wider network. However, the internet could possibly decrease both the social interaction with local people at the village and the dependency toward native villagers as internet utilization allows the users to be more selective in terms of interactions according to their interests. This research aims to examine the impacts of the Internet through a dystopian view by comparing the degrees of senses of place, participation in local activities, and social capital among internet and non-internet users using a statistical approach. The analysis of variance and linear regression were employed in the present study. The results revealed that the internet did strengthen both broad and local social capital. It also supported young villager’s participation in local activities. Nevertheless, the internet was observed to decline the villager’s sense of place, especially the desire to remain a resident in the native village. Better access to information and network gained by the users elevated their chances to move outside the village when better opportunities were observed elsewhere.

Jakarta–Bandung Mega Urban Region (JBMUR), located in the western part of Java Island, Indonesia, is experiencing rapid regional development which can be observed from its increase in population density, massive changes of land-use from agricultural land into built-up area, rapid development of infrastructure and facilities, and advances in economic activities. Unfortunately, problems related to sustainability emerge along with this rapid regional development, primarily in decrease in environmental quality and social performance, leading to unsustainable development. This study aims: (1) to develop indicators promoting sustainable development at the subdistrict level, named the local sustainability index (LSI), utilizing factor analysis; (2) to observe local-scale spatial interdependency by employing local indicator of spatial association (LISA) statistics; and (3) to identify regional clusters based on LSI scores using K-means clustering method. Our LISA results show that spatial interdependency of local sustainability performances exists between local-scale spatial units: the LSI of a subdistrict is influenced by the sustainability state of the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, the clustering results show that most subdistricts in JBMUR are categorized as members of cluster 1 with low LSI values in economic and social dimensions but moderate in environmental dimensions.