A VIRTUAL CITY: THE PERMANENCE OF THE PROVISIONAL LIFE IN CENTRAL JAKARTA

Abstract

This dissertation is about the provisional city, understood as transient, impermanent, always under construction and never finished, “...a thing in the making” (Simone, 2010, p. 3). It is actually about the numerous cities, permanent and provisional, a metropolis like Jakarta can accommodate within itself and the multiple forms people employ to live and navigate in and between these cities. It focuses on everyday life and the lives of individuals within an urban setting spatially produced through provisional structures, i.e. purposely envisaged and accepted for the present time but likely to be changed later. Based on three substantive studies, each approaching provisionality from three practical perspectives—space, everyday life and lifestyle, – this dissertation examines the staunchly individualistic, highly opportunistic and always pragmatic tactics and strategies these individuals deploy to deliberately and indefinitely lead a provisional life; a form of living the urban, furthermore, which informs and shapes Jakarta’s provisional landscape.