How do Public Policies impact Housing Provision? An empirical study of housing in Surabaya, Indonesia

Abstract

Effective instruments are important to implement planning so that resources remain efficient, and the environmental balance is maintained for sustainable urban development. It has been a global problem that housing provision is often delayed due to various significant factors, on the other hand, the housing backlog is increasing in many urbanizing countries, including Indonesia. Furthermore, it impacts the imbalance in the housing market. There have been many policies to solve this problem, but limited we know how those contributes. This article aims to examine the impact of public policies on housing provision by taking samples in Surabaya. We use content analysis as a qualitative approach to analyse how public policies are implemented and influenced the housing provision represented by seven related variables. The result shows that the current regulations of housing provision that are effectively implemented in Surabaya include housing mortgage, taxation, local government regulations1. Meanwhile, other regulations or programs that are exist but has limited impact in Surabaya are the subsidized down payment program, liquidity facility for housing finance, and one million housing program. These empirical findings illustrate how public policies, both from the central government and local government, empirically affect the dynamics of the housing market, especially from the supply side. Further, we hope that these findings contribute to the global knowledge of housing provision in emerging countries and local housing practices in Surabaya, Indonesia.