The problem of extreme heat governance: A local and global phenomenon

Over the past 30 years, the world’s 20 largest cities have seen a 52% increase in days exceeding 35°C. This alarming trend highlights the urgent need to reform urban heat governance. In fact, at a global level,  April 2024 was the hottest April ever recorded, with global temperatures 1.58°C higher than the pre-industrial average.

Southeast Asia is feeling this impact acutely. In April-May 2024, millions across South and Southeast Asia faced record-breaking heatwaves. 

Jakarta, one of the cities most affected by extreme heat, illustrates this growing crisis. From 1994 to 2003, the city experienced just 28 days with temperatures above 35°C. Between 2014 and 2023, that number skyrocketed to 167 days. In October 2023 alone, Jakarta endured 30 consecutive days of extreme heat, surpassing the total number of extreme heat days recorded over an entire decade earlier. Asia as a whole is warming at a faster rate than the global average, with the pace of warming nearly doubling since 1961.

The public health risks associated with extreme heat are particularly concerning for vulnerable populations, including the elderly. Jakarta's rapid urbanization, combined with climate change, is exacerbating these risks. High-resolution climate models project a significant rise in heat-related deaths among the elderly by the 2050s, especially during August, the hottest month. Currently, 4.26% to 4.89% of Jakarta’s elderly population is at risk, but this figure is expected to rapidly climb. 

Another especially vulnerable group are youth, including its impact on children’s health, wellbeing and education. This is compounded by lackluster and tokenistic engagement with youth when it comes to extreme heat and climate adaptation. Youth participation in Indonesia still faces challenges in tokenism and exclusion, and government officials engage in ‘box ticking’ consultation, rather than genuine deliberative policy design. 

Other factors exacerbating heat vulnerability are socio-economic status - with poorer residents being more susceptible to extreme heat’s worst impacts. 

Governance solutions: Green shoots of effective heat governance in Jakarta? 

Governance of extreme heat in Jakarta faces numerous challenges but has also seen some successes. 

For example, WRI Indonesia collaborated closely with Jakarta’s  government to implement the Cities4Forests Initiative. Through the  initiative, WRI experts drafted two new regulations on tree management and park development. As a result, since 2022, Jakarta has added 54 new parks and planted over 65,000 trees, many in underserved areas. These parks serve traditionally vulnerable demographics, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, providing recreational spaces along with environmental benefits like air cooling, flood control, and carbon abatement. The new green spaces are not just supporting environmental sustainability, but also social equity. 

Furthermore, programs like the "Gang Hijau" (Green Alley) initiative have successfully reduced neighbourhood temperatures by up to 2°C. To date, there have been recorded to be 200 green alley locations spread across six sub-districts. From January to August 2023 alone, 30 green alley locations were developed. This is complemented by Jakarta’s Gubernatorial Instruction No. 66/2019 on Air Quality Control - which has created the implementation of numerous air quality control initiatives. This includes the expansion of urban parks and optimization of greenery. 

Likewise, the health effects of extreme heat are gaining more attention, particularly demonstrating bottom-up extreme heat governance from civil society stakeholders. For example, the  KEBUMI project, launched by the Indonesian Health Promoting Hospitals Network (IHPH-Net) with support from Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA), empowers health professionals to advocate for climate justice, health equity, and resilience in Indonesia. Its launch included discussions and exchanges among policymakers and practitioners, emphasizing the growing urgency of addressing extreme heat in the region.

Governance challenges for Jakarta’s extreme heat: The issues of prioritisation, policy framing and short-termism

Despite some success stories, Jakarta still faces numerous governance challenges for extreme heat. In particular, many of the remaining challenges stem from government oversight and the framing of extreme heat when interrogating it as a socio-environmental problem.

A way to demonstrate this was the lack of action from Jakarta’s government during the extreme heat of May 2022, when temperatures reached 36°C in Jakarta without any heat warnings or public alerts. The Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) did not consider this event a heat wave and, therefore, only offered mild and largely ineffective solutions to manage heat, including boosting hydration and shade. In turn, it is clear that the framing of extreme heat can determine how effectively it is actually governed. 

In particular, the ‘bounded rationality’ and resource deficiencies of the Jakarta City Government have meant heat has not received the same attention as other environmental crises like flooding or typhoons. Jakarta's urban planning tends to focus on flood control, pollution reduction, and cutting carbon emissions through sustainable infrastructure and green spaces, with heat mitigation seen as an added benefit rather than a main objective.

As a tropical city, higher temperatures are often accepted as part of everyday life, rather than an incremental crisis that is becoming increasingly worse. While short-term heatwaves might be framed as a crisis, the tropical characteristics of Jakarta’s environment mean that heat is not seen as a crisis or socio-environmental threat. In other words, it’s almost too normalised for the government to pay proper attention, particularly when there are other more visible socio-environmental threats. 

Consequently, there’s also a lack of research and data on urban heat, creating an implementation gap between knowledge and action. This is partly exacerbated by the top-down nature of Indonesia’s climate governance, as national policies shape Jakarta’s priorities, and without clear mandates from higher government levels, there is little political or financial backing to tackle the issue. Additionally, the short tenures of Jakarta’s governors stymie long-term policymaking. 

Youth engagement for extreme heat governance: Meaningful, or a box-ticking exercise? 

As mentioned before, youth are a susceptible demographic to Jakarta’s extreme heat. However, research from the Center on Child Protection and Wellbeing at Universitas Indonesia (PUSKAPA) identifies that youth involvement in extreme heat is questionable and not particularly equitable. Often, those who are most engaged in climate change discourse and deliberation are well educated Jakarta residents with higher levels of income and education. This is especially exacerbated because youth are often perceived as unable to make meaningful contributions, and disabled youth are especially not represented in deliberative processes for building solutions to extreme heat. 

Furthermore, training and capacity-building activities on climate and environmental issues are also costly, which makes it difficult for youths from the lower middle class to gain access. Youths from lower economic classes tend to spend their time working, which means they do not have the time to learn about and engage with climate and environmental issues. Some youth participants also argued that many youths spend most of their time completing their academic work for school, thus leaving no time to participate in climate and environmental issues.

Greening Jakarta: Environmental justice, or tokenistic greenwashing? 

Jakarta’s Green Open Space Master Plan aims to provide equal access to green spaces to help reduce heat in poorer areas. However, while these policies promote more green space, having regulations on paper does not guarantee effective implementation. For example, green open space takes <10% of the land in transit-oriented areas with denser populations, and more severe cases often happen in dense and poor neighbourhoods. This is especially because pressure to convert land for industrial and trading centres often depletes green open space in slum areas. As a result, green open space is seen as a nice-to-have rather than a necessity and a human right.

Likewise, pressures of urban development and housing supply often outweigh the need for green spaces, especially in poorer areas where green spaces are perceived as luxuries, not necessities. As a result, municipal government efforts have failed to produce sound environmental justice, particularly as there has been an emphasis on increasing the supply of green open spaces, but not the equitable distribution of such spaces.

Conclusion 

Jakarta's approach to mitigating urban heat faces significant challenges but also shows promise through progressive initiatives. Efforts such as expanding green spaces, improving urban tree management, and integrating ecological and economic priorities into city planning demonstrate the city's commitment to addressing the impact of extreme heat. However, more needs to be done to close the "implementation gap" and ensure that policies translate into tangible action, particularly for vulnerable populations. An increased focus on environmental justice, driven by fostering collaboration, and prioritising extreme heat as a genuine threat can help Jakarta make meaningful strides in mitigating urban heat and improving public health and livability.

As climate change increases the threat of extreme heat across Southeast Asia and in Jakarta, this will only become more important.