By mid-1990s the development of Jakarta Metropolitan Region (JMR) appeared
to be heading towards global city status. However, the current economic cri
sis has largely squeezed the JMR economy which in turn rapidly increased un
employment and poverty incidence in the region. Meanwhile, the capacity of
local government to provide urban public service and infrastructure largely
declined as the city revenues decreased substantially. The near future of
JMR will depend on how soon the economic crisis ends and whether political
situation can stabilize, but for now urban poverty becomes the most pronoun
ced issue in JMR development and planning. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. A
ll rights reserved.