Urban inter-referencing within and beyond a decentralized Indonesia

An analytical emphasis upon the trans-Atlantic mobility of neoliberal urban policies has existed to date in much of the contemporary literature. This emphasis is gradually being redressed in work which highlights the urban inter-referencing that now exists elsewhere in the world and notably among Asian cities. In this paper we seek to advance this latter agenda when highlighting the potential for the progressive character of urban inter-referencing in the global south, its orchestration by local governments and their associations and the role of political leaders as illustrated in patterns and processes of urban inter-referencing among Indonesian cities and districts in the era of decentralization. Indonesia represents a vast and diverse laboratory in and of itself but there is also some evidence of urban inter-referencing extending to cities elsewhere in the Asia–Pacific region and beyond.