Working Paper
October 2017
Urban
Keywords:
Urban planning, local government, humanitarian crises,
Indonesia, capacity building
Urban planning in
Banda Aceh: supporting
local actors after the
tsunami
Rahayu Yoseph-Paulus, Victoria Maynard, Elizabeth Parker,
David Garcia

About the authors
Rahayu Yoseph-Paulus is a researcher, planner and government
officer in the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda)
of Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Her
research focuses on current and emergent policy approaches
to address adaptation at the local government level, especially
through participatory approaches that foster effective and inclusive
participation of local government and civil society organisations.
[email protected]
Victoria Maynard trained as an architect and has worked for
organisations such as UN-Habitat and the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) since becoming
involved in post-disaster reconstruction following the Indian Ocean
tsunami. She is currently completing a PhD at University College
London, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Great Britain,
where her research focuses on decision-making by the Philippine
government and humanitarian organisations following Typhoon
Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013.
Elizabeth Parker’s work has focused on urban resilience, disaster
recovery and regeneration across a range of geographies since
completing her MA in development and emergency practice
at Oxford Brookes University. Originally trained as an architect,
Elizabeth spent five years working for Arup, including on the
Rockefeller Foundation-funded Asian Cities Climate Change
Resilience Network (ACCCRN).
David Garcia is an urban planner and geographer, formerly with
UN-Habitat. His work includes planning in Haiyan-affected areas
in Guiuan, Ormoc and Tacloban. Prior to his UN missions, he was
a faculty member of the University of the Philippines in Diliman.
Currently completing a master’s degree at University College
London, he writes and works on making maps, plans, decisions and
places, especially with cities and communities at the crossings of
climate change and crises.
Produced by IIED’s Human Settlements
Group
The Human Settlements Group works to reduce poverty and
improve health and housing conditions in the urban centres of
Africa, Asia and Latin America. It seeks to combine this with
promoting good governance and more ecologically sustainable
patterns of urban development and rural-urban linkages.
Acknowledgements
This paper was funded by the Urban Crises Learning Fund. Any
oversights or generalisations are entirely the responsibility of the
authors. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution
of Diane Archer and Bruno Dercon for their generous and
constructive feedback on earlier versions of this working paper.
This working paper is part of a wider research project. Please also
see: Parker, E et al. (2017) Urban planning following humanitarian
crises: supporting local government to take the lead in the
Philippines following super typhoon Haiyan. IIED, London. http://
pubs.iied.org/10813IIED and Maynard, V et al. (draft) Urban
planning following humanitarian crises: supporting local actors to
take the lead. Environment and Urbanization.
About the Urban Crises Learning Fund
Urban areas are increasingly the sites of humanitarian crises, from
natural disasters to conflict and displacement. IIED is leading
a three-year programme of research, documentation of past
experiences, development of tools and guidelines, and shared
learning across humanitarian actors and other urban stakeholders.
IIED is working to build the knowledge and capacity to respond of
humanitarian actors working in urban areas, and of urban actors
facing humanitarian crises. For more information, working papers
and policy briefings see: www.iied.org/urban-crises-learning-fund
Published by IIED, October 2017
Yoseph-Paulus, R, Maynard, V, Parker, E and Garcia, D (2017)
Urban planning in Banda Aceh: supporting local actors after the
tsunami. IIED, London.
http://pubs.iied.org/10844IIED
ISBN 978-1-78431-504-7
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.
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and in Scotland, OSCR Reg No.SC039864 and a company
limited by guarantee registered in England No.2188452.

www.iied.org 3
IIED WORKING PAPER
There is increasing awareness of the importance of
humanitarian agencies supporting and collaborating
with local actors in order to restore city functions
following humanitarian crises. This research aimed to
document learning from UN-Habitat’s experiences
of supporting communities and local government
to undertake urban planning after the Indian Ocean
earthquake and tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in
2004. Despite the challenges of urban planning after
a complex crisis, in areas devastated by the tsunami,
UN-Habitat successfully supported communities and
local government to develop village plans, a spatial
plan for Meuraxa sub-district, and update the wider
spatial plan for Banda Aceh City.

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
4 www.iied.org
Acronyms 6
Glossary 7
1 Introduction 8
1.1 Background 8
1.2 Aims, objectives and research questions 9
1.3 Methodology and limitations 9
1.4 Case study 10
2 UN-Habitat’s work in Meuraxa sub-district, Banda
Aceh City 13
3 The process, outputs and effects of UN-Habitat’s
work 15
3.1 Process: how was UN-Habitat’s work taking place? 15
3.2 What were the outputs of UN-Habitat’s process? 23
3.3 Effects: what happened next? 23
4 Analysis 24
4.1 Strategy: what were the advantages and disadvantages? 24
4.2 Programme: what worked well and what was not as effective? 24
4.3 Context: what helped or hindered interventions? 26
5 Conclusions and recommendations 28
5.1 Conclusions from this study 28
5.2 Implications for policy and practice 29
5.3 Suggestions for further research 30
References 31
Contents

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI IIED WORKING PAPER
Box 1. What is urban planning following humanitarian crises? 8
Box 2. Housing reconstruction policies and entitlements 12
Box 3. Coordination: Forum Korrexa and Decision-Makers’ Working Group 18
Box 4. Incorporating community and key stakeholder group views into the planning process 19
Table 1. Acehnese governance structure 10
Table 2. Banda Aceh and Meuraxa – before and after the earthquake and tsunami 14
Table 3. Key actors in Meuraxa community land mapping, action planning and spatial planning 16
Table 4. Integrating short-term relief with pre-crisis and longer-term planning in Banda Aceh 20
Table 5. Summary of the spatial planning process in Meuraxa 22
Table 6. UN-Habitat interventions under BRR in development and planning of Meuraxa district 29
Figure 1. Map of Banda Aceh City including the tsunami impact and Meuraxa Kecamatan 11
List of boxes, tables
and figures

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
6 www.iied.org
ADB Asian Development Bank
ANSSP Aceh Nias Settlements Support Programme
Bappeda Regional Development Planning Agency
Bappenas National Development Planning Agency
BNPB National Disaster Management Agency
BPBD Local Disaster Management Agency
BRR Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias
CAP Community action plan
CLM Community land mapping
DFID Department for International Development, UK
DRR Disaster risk reduction
FGD Focus group discussion
GTZ German Organisation for Technical Cooperation
GWP Government work plan
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
MDF Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias
NGOs Non-governmental organisations
RALAS Reconstruction of Aceh Land Administration System
RDTR Detailed spatial plans
RPJMN National medium-term development plan
RPJPN National long-term development plan
RTRW Regional spatial plans
SOP Standard operating procedure
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UN-Habitat United Nations Human Settlements Programme
UNJP UN Joint Programming initiative
UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
UNORC United Nations Office of the Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias
USAID US Agency for International Development
YIPD Centre for Local Government Innovation, Indonesia
Acronyms

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
Glossary
Bupati Head of rural district
Camat Head of sub-district
Gampong Ward or village in Aceh
Gubernur Governor
Imeum mukim Head of mukim
Kabupaten Rural district
Kecamatan Sub-district
Kepala desa Head of village
Kepala dusun Head of sub-village
Keuchik Head of village in Aceh
Kota City, urban district
Mufakat Consensus
Mukim A community encompassing a number of gampongs
Musrenbang Community-based planning
Propinsi Province
Rumah susun Apartment
Qanun Local regulation in Aceh
Tata kota Office of town planning
Walikota Mayor
IIED WORKING PAPER

1.1 Background
Displacement, conflict and natural disasters are
increasingly urban phenomena [...] generating a
fundamental shift in the nature, scale and impact of
humanitarian crises
Global Alliance for Urban Crises (2016: 1)
The urbanisation of human risk presents a significant
challenge for humanitarian agencies – both in the
complexity of responding to urban disasters and in
operating in an environment in which these agencies do
not have significant experience and expertise (Parker and
Maynard 2015). In responding to urban crises, experts
recommend that humanitarian agencies ‘work in support
of and in collaboration with municipal authorities’ (Global
Alliance for Urban Crises (2016: 1) and ‘concentrate on
restoring or bolstering existing city systems’ rather than
creating parallel services of provision (ibid). However,
while initiatives such as Making Cities Resilient
1
and 100
Resilient Cities
2
are working with municipal authorities in
advance of humanitarian crises, there are few examples
and little guidance on supporting local governments during
response, recovery and reconstruction.
Urban planning is one of the key responsibilities of local
government, particularly after humanitarian crises when
there are both urgent needs and opportunities to reduce
the risk of future disasters (Olshansky and Chang 2009;
see also Box 1). Local government, however, typically
‘has the least resources, weakest governance and lowest
capacity of all of the levels of government’ (King et al.
2013: 7). Crises are also infrequent, so ‘planners and
decision makers are unlikely to be able to draw on personal
experience and institutional memory’ (Olshansky and
Chang 2009: 206). While interest in urban planning after
crises is increasing, the literature has generally focused
on the role of planning in disaster mitigation rather than
recovery (ibid). Thus, there is ‘little guidance for planners
URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
8 www.iied.org
1
Introduction
BOX 1. WHAT IS URBAN
PLANNING FOLLOWING
HUMANITARIAN CRISES?
Urban planning is a political and technical process that
can be defined as ‘decision-making […] aimed at realizing
economic, social, cultural and environmental goals
through the development of spatial visions, strategies
and plans and the application of a set of policy principles,
tools, institutional and participatory mechanisms and
regulatory procedures’ (UN-Habitat 2015). Urban
planning can help local governments to create a
framework for collaboration between stakeholders, build
consensus and develop a collective vision, establish
medium- and long-term objectives, and identify the
resources needed to achieve them (ibid).
An Official Comprehensive Plan deals with the long-term
future of the whole city. It addresses all aspects (such
as housing, transportation, environment) and is officially
adopted by local government (Yin 2012). Specialised
plans may also be developed which focus in greater detail
on specific areas of the city (such as informal settlements
or the historic centre), thematic topics (for example,
hazard mitigation) or timeframes (such as post-disaster
recovery and reconstruction). A land-use plan defines the
type of development in each area of the city while zoning
regulations control how specific sites or properties can
be developed (ibid).
Urban planning after humanitarian crises is ‘fast-paced
[and] information-poor’ (Olshansky and Chang 2009:
206) while the ‘stakes are high, participants are under
stress, and political tensions are amplified’ (ibid: 207). It is
also ‘a microcosm of all the challenges of urban planning
– developing land use and economic development
strategies to improve lives, acting in the absence of
sufficient information, making trade-offs between
deliberation and expediency, navigating local politics,
engaging the public, and identifying funding sources to
supplement inadequate local resources’ (ibid: 201).
1
See www.unisdr.org/campaign/resilientcities
2
See www.100resilientcities.org

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI IIED WORKING PAPER
who suddenly find themselves with significant post-
disaster responsibilities’ (Olshansky and Chang 2009)
or for humanitarian agencies trying to provide them with
support (see Box 1).
1.2 Aims, objectives and
research questions
This study aimed to identify, document and disseminate
learning from the United Nations Human Settlements
Programme’s (UN-Habitat’s) experience providing urban
planning support to local communities and government in
Meuraxa sub-district of Banda Aceh City after the Indian
Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, in 2004.
3

It was a collaborative research project, rather than an
evaluation, with the intention of documenting lessons from
this experience that may be applicable in other contexts.
The objectives of this research were to:
• Examine the process, outputs and effects of the
collaboration between UN-Habitat and local actors with
regard to urban planning.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this
approach from the perspective of local actors and UN-
Habitat.
• Identify what worked well and what was not as effective.
• Analyse the contextual factors which helped or
hindered adoption and implementation of UN-Habitat’s
intervention.
It also investigated the following research questions
4
:
• How did short-term relief planning integrate with pre-
crisis planning and longer-term planning?
• How were the views of affected communities and key
stakeholder groups incorporated into the planning
process?
Following this introduction, Section 2 describes the
context to UN-Habitat’s intervention. Section 3 describes
the process, outputs and effects of the collaboration
between UN-Habitat and local communities and
government with regard to urban planning (the first
objective). Section 4 discusses the advantages and
disadvantages of UN-Habitat’s approach, what worked
well and what was not as effective, and the contextual
factors which helped or hindered implementation
(objectives 2, 3 and 4). The research questions are also
answered within boxes in Section 3. Section 5 summarises
the findings from this study, describes the implications
for future policy and practice, and makes suggestions for
further research.
1.3 Methodology and
limitations
The research followed a single exploratory case-study
design (Yin 2014). Case-study research ‘investigates
a contemporary phenomenon (the ‘case’) in depth and
within its real-world context’ (Yin 2014: 16). This case-
study methodology included triangulation of findings using
multiple sources of evidence, establishing a clear chain of
evidence linking data, analysis and findings, and having the
draft case study reviewed by key informants (ibid: 47).
A research team consisted of a researcher accompanied
by an assistant, both of whom were Indonesian local
government planners. The team undertook data collection
during a two-week period of fieldwork in August 2016. The
research team was supported by two resource persons
who assisted the researchers in identifying and contacting
key stakeholders for interviews and workshops. Fieldwork
included 29 key informant interviews,
5
two workshops
6
and
direct observation.
The research team sought to engage key informants from
a wide range of stakeholder groups to capture different
perspectives, including representatives from the local
government (seven representatives = GB1–GB7) and
the private sector (three = BB1–BB3). There were also
key informants from international NGOs (12), consisting
of UN-Habitat staff (eight = HB1–HB5; HJ1–HJ2 and
HF1) and others (four = NJ1–NJ3 and NB1), community
representatives (six = VB1–VB6) and academics (four =
RB1–RB3 and RJ1). These key informants were selected
through snowball sampling and previous contacts.
Data collected through direct observation included a
guided tour by the resource persons to the city. Data was
collected through digital recordings, comprehensive notes
and photos.
3
UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a ‘better urban future’; its mission is to ‘promote socially and environmentally sustainable human set-
tlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all’ (UN-Habitat undated c). Mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1978 to address the issues
of urban growth, for nearly 40 years UN-Habitat has been working in villages, towns and cities on a wide range of policy and technical urban issues. Since 1990, UN-
Habitat has supported Indonesia’s innovation and capacity building in urban policy reforms in the areas of human settlements. For the post-earthquake and tsunami
2004 responses in Aceh and Nias, it set up field offices in each affected district to facilitate its community-driven programmes (Asian Development Bank 2010). To
address the New Urban Agenda and the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, UN-Habitat works with national government, local governments and
other stakeholders (UN-Habitat 2016).
4
These research questions were derived from the recommendations for supporting governments made during the UK government’s Department for International De-
velopment’s (DFID’s) series of expert consultations on humanitarian response to urban crises. For further details see DFID (2014).
5
Later supplemented by three additional interviews via video-conferencing or telephone from September 2016 to January 2017. Therefore, in total there were 32
key informant interviews undertaken as part of this research, including three interviews in groups of two to three respondents.
6
Two workshops were undertaken, one with six UN-Habitat staff and one with the community with 18 attendees. The community workshop included several keuchik
(heads of villages) who actively served during the rehabilitation and reconstruction processes; this workshop aimed to identify additional potential key informants and to
clarify individual key informant recollections of events aside from secondary documents. The community workshop was conducted at a former Forum Korrexa meeting
venue.

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
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This research applied the 10 Department for International
Development (DFID) ethics principles for research and
evaluation to the research approach (DFID 2011). All
informants were provided with an information sheet prior
to the interviews and requested to sign a consent form
to indicate their understanding of the research and their
permission.
The diverse perspectives of key informants on UN-
Habitat’s work were analysed using logic models
7
(Yin
2014) alongside textual descriptions, tabulation, grouping
and clustering, and conceptual mapping (Popay et al .
2006). Each interview was given equal weight. In order to
verify personal accounts, interview data was triangulated
with direct observation and secondary documentation.
Finally, eight of the key informants reviewed the draft case
study to check the accuracy of the findings and to ensure
that no key data was missing.
The research was undertaken almost 12 years following
the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. It was
challenging to conduct interviews based on individual
recollections of events that happened more than a decade
ago. Though many reports, documents and scholarly
articles on recovery and reconstruction following the Indian
Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia are available,
there remains very limited documentation on urban and
development planning. Wherever possible the statements
of each interviewee have been triangulated with those of
other interviewees and available secondary data. However,
it has been a challenge to capture all the details and some
gaps remain.
1.4 Case study
Banda Aceh is the administrative, economic and cultural
centre of the province of Aceh (Takahashi et al. 2005).
Prior to the crisis, the population of the city was 263,668
(54,751 households) with a population growth rate of 2.1
per cent. The main economic activities were commerce
and fish cultivation (ibid). The kota (city) consists of nine
kecamatan (sub-districts) and 89 gampongs (wards or
villages) (Nurdin 2006; see also Table 1 and Figure 1).
Propinsi (province)
5 kota (urban districts)
18 kabupaten (rural districts)
Kecamatan (sub-district)
Mukim (a community
encompassing a number of
gampongs)
Gampong (urban or rural
village in Aceh)
• Kelurahan (urban village)
• Desa (rural village)
Dusun (sub-village)
Aceh
Banda Aceh (the capital city of Aceh Province),
Langsa, Lhokseumawe, Sabang, and Subulussalam
Aceh Barat, Aceh Barat Daya, Aceh Besar, Aceh
Jaya, Aceh Selatan, Aceh Singkil, Aceh Tamiang,
Aceh Tengah, Aceh Tenggara, Aceh Timur, Aceh
Utara, Bener Meriah, Bireuen, Gayo Lues, Nagan
Raya, Pidie, Pidie Jaya and Simeulue
Meuraxa, Kutaraja, Jaya Baru, Baiturrahman, Kuta
Alam, Syiah Kuala, Banda Raya, Lueng Bata, and
Ulee Kareng
Meuraxa, and Tgk. Chik Lamjabat
16 gampongs in Meuraxa sub-district: Punge Jurong,
Deah Glumpang, Lambung, Blang Oi, Gampong
Pie, Ulee Lheue, Lampaseh Aceh, Alue Deah
Tengoh, Deah Baro, Punge Ujong, Cot Lamkuweuh,
Gampong Blang, and Aso Nanggroe, Surien,
Lamjabat, Gampong Baro
4 dusuns per village (average)
Gubernur (governor)
Walikota (mayor)
Bupati (head of rural district)
Camat (head of sub-district)
Imeum mukim (head of mukim)
Kepala desa (head of village)
Keuchik (head of village in
Aceh)
Kepala dusun (head of sub-
village)
ADMINISTRATIVE
AREA
NAME REPRESENTATIVE
Table 1. Acehnese governance structure
7
See Section 3, Box 4 for the final version of the logic model developed as part of this research.

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI IIED WORKING PAPER
These include the historical city centre which is approximately
3km from the coast centred around the Baiturrahman Grand
Mosque, the Krueng Aceh River and coastal areas including
the port of Ulee Lheue in the kecamatan Meuraxa. The city’s
location and topography make it vulnerable to hazards such
as earthquakes, floods, typhoons and tsunamis (Sari 2015).
Almost 30 years of conflict in Aceh between the Indonesian
government and the Gerakan Acheh Merdeaka (the Free
Aceh Movement – known as GAM) had claimed between
15,000 and 20,000 lives and isolated both Banda Aceh from
rural areas and Aceh province from the rest of the country
(Miller and Bunnell 2010).
On 26 December 2004 a 9.0 Mw earthquake struck off
the coast of Aceh province, followed within 30 minutes by
a tsunami (Takahashi et al. 2005). In Banda Aceh, waves
approximately 10m high devastated an area between
2km and 4km wide along the coast and left large areas
of land submerged (ibid). More than 61,000 people lost
their lives in the city while 6,500 were reported missing
(Nurdin 2006; Takahashi et al . 2007). More than 17,000
houses were ‘totally damaged’ while 4,193 were ‘partially
damaged’ (Nurdin 2006). Water, drainage, electricity
and communication networks as well as administrative
buildings, health and educational facilities, roads, markets
and ports were also heavily damaged or destroyed
(Takahashi et al. 2005; Nurdin 2006). The kecamatan of
Meuraxa was one of the most severely affected. Prior to the
earthquake and tsunami, houses were closely packed, with
poor road access and sanitation and drainage systems
(Sendjaja 2007). This resulted from urbanisation and
displacement from conflict-affected areas further inland
(HF1 2017; Miller and Bunnell 2010). In Meuraxa alone,
19,702 people, or more than 63 per cent of the population,
lost their lives (Mahdi 2007).
The national government appointed the National
Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to coordinate the
Figure 1. Map of Banda Aceh City including the tsunami impact and Meuraxa Kecamatan
Source: Syamsidik et al. (undated)

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
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emergency relief effort (Batchelor and da Silva 2010) and
Bappenas (National Development Planning Agency) to
lead recovery and reconstruction planning in the first three
months of the response (Wolfgang et al. 2005; see also
Box 2). Both agencies handed over responsibility to the
newly created Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency
for Aceh and Nias (BRR) upon its establishment in April
2005. BRR had a four-year mandate and was responsible
for the coordination and implementation of recovery
activities following the Bappenas master plan for the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Aceh and Nias (known
as the master plan) (Pardede and Munandar 2016).
9
The
prolonged conflict meant that Acehnese communities
lacked trust in government and caused the Indonesian
government to be extra cautious in responding to the
tsunami (Miller and Bunnell 2010). Conflict continued in
rural areas in Aceh until the signing of a peace agreement
in August 2005 (ibid). This was followed by the Law
on Governing Aceh in July 2006 (which devolved
significant power and resources from national to provincial
government) and the first democratic elections in
December (Masyrafah and McKeon 2008: 27).
BOX 2. HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND
ENTITLEMENTS
Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, families
found shelter with host families or were provided with
tents or accommodation in ‘barracks’ (Wegelin 2006;
Batchelor 2010). Around 140,000 houses needed
to be repaired or rebuilt (Wegelin 2006). Bappenas’s
master plan indicated that households would be eligible
for funds of up to US$3,000 to rebuild completely
destroyed houses or US$1,000 for damaged houses
in need of repair (ibid). In June 2005, BRR announced
that families with completely damaged houses would
be eligible for a permanent house of 36m
3
and issued
pre-tsunami drawings and specifications of this design
(Batchelor and da Silva 2010). Where possible, houses
were to be rebuilt in-situ, after their legal entitlement for
the land was confirmed, usually through the community
land mapping (CLM) processes and the Reconstruction
of Aceh Land Administration System (RALAS) project
(MDF 2010).
Around 15,000 families had rented or ‘squatted’ on
government land prior to the earthquake and tsunami
8
while a further 10,000 households were unable to
rebuild in-situ as their land had been submerged (Oxfam
2006). The needs of these landless households (almost
20 per cent of those in need of housing assistance)
were overlooked in the first year of the response.
Following advocacy by humanitarian agencies to
address this landless issue, in June 2006 BRR
introduced a policy of free land and a 36m
3
house for
pre-tsunami landowners who had lost land, while renters
and squatters who could not return home were to be
provided with a cash grant (Fitzpatrick 2008).
Delays in implementation combined with inflation of 40
per cent meant the cash grant was not sufficient (Oxfam
2006). Frustration led to major demonstrations outside
BRR’s head office in September 2006 and in February
2007 BRR replaced the cash assistance programme
with a policy of free land and housing for renters and
squatters. Those who owned land would be provided
with a house, those who had been promised a house by
an NGO would be provided with land, and those without
land or a housing commitment would be provided with
both land and a 21m
3
house by BRR (Fitzpatrick 2008).
8
Up to 25 per cent of households in Banda Aceh had rented prior to the earthquake and tsunami (Bappenas 2005).
9
BRR’s mandate included rehabilitation and reconstruction after both the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004 and a second Mw 8.7 earth-
quake on 28 March 2005 which killed a further 1,000 people and destroyed more than 20,000 houses on the island of Nias (Oxfam 2006, Wegelin 2006).

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
From March 2005 to August 2010 UN-Habitat
supported the urban planning process in Meuraxa, Banda
Aceh, as part of the UN Joint Programming (UNJP)
initiative
10
in this kecamatan (HB5 2016; HF1 2017;
UNJP 2007). The organisation viewed the planning
process as both an opportunity to strengthen local
capacity and governance and link reconstruction with
long-term development goals. UN-Habitat aimed ‘to
facilitate consensus building on such issues as basic
spatial structure, major infrastructure reticulation and
general visions and scenarios’ (UN-Habitat 2009).
‘Reconstruction in Meuraxa was meant to be a milestone
of reconstruction efforts in Banda Aceh demonstrating
how the development of disaster preparedness would
lead to community and economic activities, and eventually
facilitate future investment and development in the areas’
(Government of Indonesia 2009a: 51).
UN-Habitat’s urban planning intervention included
supporting communities to undertake:
• Community land mapping (CLM)
• Community action planning (CAP)
• Village spatial planning
UN-Habitat undertook all of these activities in three
gampongs (Punge Jurong, Deah Glumpang and
Lampaseh Aceh) where they were also supporting
households to rebuild their houses as part of the
organisation’s Aceh Nias Settlements Support Programme
(ANSSP) (Huda et al. 2007; UN-Habitat undated a).
11

UN-Habitat also supported the 14 other gampongs in
Meuraxa to develop village plans and integrate these with
the wider plans for Meuraxa. Some of these gampongs had
already been provided with limited community mapping/
planning assistance from other agencies (see Table 3). The
organisation also supported local government to:
• Integrate village plans into the Vision for Green Meuraxa
strategic and spatial plan.
• Integrate the Meuraxa sub-district plan into the mid-term
development plan and subsequent regional spatial plan
(RTRW) for 2009–2029 for Banda Aceh City.
• Facilitate the Forum Korrexa and Decision-Makers’
Working Group (known as urban forums, both had
relatively different roles as further explained in Box 4).
UN-Habitat supported local government by providing
training on planning and mapping. However, the planning
works were undertaken by UN-Habitat on the behalf of
local government.
2
UN-Habitat’s work in
Meuraxa sub-district,
Banda Aceh City
IIED WORKING PAPER
10
A UN Joint Programming initiative (UNJP) was established to coordinate all donors and implementing agencies working in Meuraxa sub-district to become more
organised and planned and to reach the right beneficiaries (HJ1 2016).
11
UN-Habitat’s Aceh Nias Settlements Support Programme (ANSSP) began in January 2005 with the aim of supporting 3,450 affected families to rebuild their
houses in four districts in Aceh (Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, Pidie, Simeulue) and two districts in North Sumatra (Nias and Nias Selatan) (UN-Habitat 2006). Two gam-
pongs in Meuraxa were included in the programme: Punge Jurong (208 houses) and Deah Glumpang (74 houses) (HB4 2016).

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
14 www.iied.org
Administration
Population
Population growth
Number of households
Area
Density (people/km
2
)
Deaths
Missing persons
Totally damaged houses
Partially damaged houses
Submerged plots
9 kecamatan (90 gampongs)
239,146 (2004)
8.37% (2002–2004)
44,059 (2004)
61.36 km
2
3,897/km
2
61,065
approximately 6,500
17,219
4,193
–
1 kecamatan (16 gampongs)
31,218 (2004)
10.35% (2002–2004)
–
7.76 km
2
4,022/km
2

19,702
3,019
5,786
254
21.10 ha (Ulee Lheue)
BANDA ACEH MEURAXA
Table 2. Banda Aceh and Meuraxa – before and after the earthquake and tsunami
CONTEXT: PRE-CRISIS
IMPACT: POST-CRISIS
Sources: BPS Kota Banda Aceh (2006); Mahdi (2007); Takahashi et al. (2007); UNJP (2007); Ikhsan and Wali (2014); Ministry of
Public Works (undated).

www.iied.org 15
URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
3.1 Process: how was UN-
Habitat’s work taking place?
The whole process involved approximately 48 UN-Habitat
staff, including field facilitators (two per gampong) as
well as nine staff coordinating the two urban forums and
additional technical specialists (HB5 2016; HF1 2017;
UNJP 2007). UN-Habitat also partnered with local
universities, NGOs and research centres for assessments,
monitoring and technical expertise (RB3; RJ1 2016).
3.1.1 Step 1: Community land mapping
(CLM)
UN-Habitat partnered with the Centre for Local
Government Innovation (Yayasan Inovasi Pemerintahan
Daerah or YIPD), a foundation established by the US
Agency for International Development (USAID) in
Indonesia in 2002, to undertake pemetaan swadaya
or community land mapping (CLM) starting in March
2005. CLM aimed to identify land ownership boundaries
and village boundaries because the tsunami had totally
destroyed property boundaries (BRR 2006). CLM
involved identification and negotiation of land rights and
property boundaries with households and communities,
including displaced families living in ‘barracks’
12
(VB6;
BB3 2016).
Usually, land boundaries were determined through
consensus thus reducing the risk of conflict. The
approach was piloted in three sub-districts: Meuraxa,
Jaya Baru and Darussalam, and then rolled out to
other sub-districts
13
affected by the tsunami in Banda
Aceh and Aceh Besar (NJ2 2016). In Meuraxa, CLM
in all 14 gampongs were collaboratively conducted by
YIPD, UN-Habitat, USAID, Uplink, World Vision and
Oxfam (see Table 3). In August 2005, the Indonesian
government established the Reconstruction of Aceh
Land Administration System (RALAS) programme that
involved a process of ‘community-driven adjudication’
and land titling through the National Land Agency (BPN)
(MDF 2010). RALAS utilised maps produced by CLM as
the basis for registration and provision of land certification
(VB6; BB1 2016; ANSSP 2006; UN-Habitat 2006).
14

At the beginning it was very difficult to undertake CLM
with communities, since the residents were scattered
in many different places following the tsunami (Mahdi
2007; Syukrizal et al. 2009). In particular, it was very
difficult to talk about planning and the long-term impact
because many residents were displaced, for example
living remotely in barracks or commuting to jobs in other
cities (HJ2; NJ3; HF1; GB2 2016). However, ‘an indirect
result of these activities was that villagers who had been
traumatized by the tsunami found a collective activity that
helped revive their spirits and solidarity’ (Government of
IIED WORKING PAPER
3
The process, outputs
and effects of UN-
Habitat’s work
12
Barracks were timber military-style buildings accommodating 12–20 families in 20m
2
rooms with a connecting porch area under which meals could be cooked
(Batchelor 2010: 33).
13
They included Baiturrahman, Kuta Alam and Syiah Kuala sub-districts in Banda Aceh and Lhoknga and Leupung villages in Aceh Besar district (YIPD 2005; Gov-
ernment of Indonesia 2009a).
14
Land consolidation ‘refers to a participatory process in which a group of neighbouring land owners and occupants combine their land together for unified planning
and redevelopment in collaboration with the government or private developers’ (Winarso et al. 2016: 2).

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
16 www.iied.org
Indonesia 2009a: 17). This was also emphasised by one
respondent, a former official of YIPD (NJ2 2016) who
recalled:
This community involvement made them tired [but]
then be able to sleep at night […] other than do nothing
and worrying about their horrible situation, loss of
property and family members [and] feeling satisfied of
helping other survivors while hoping that their lost family
members will be helped as well.
3.1.2 Step 2: Community action
planning (CAP)
Community action planning (CAP) was promoted by
the German Organisation for Technical Cooperation
(GTZ) to involve residents in the reconstruction of their
gampongs. CAP is a decision-making process leading
to a list of priorities the community see as important to
rebuild their gampong , which can then be incorporated
into the development of spatial plans (Goethert 2005;
Government of Indonesia 2009a). UN-Habitat already
had 20 years’ experience of implementing CAP at that
time, especially in Asia. But the approach was untested
after humanitarian crises (HF 2017).
In Meuraxa, CAP was carried out by UN-Habitat,
USAID, Uplink, Oxfam, World Vision and the Multi-Donor
Fund for Aceh and Nias (MDF)/Rekompak (see Table
3). To support the community with the CAP process,
UN-Habitat provided each gampong with two field
facilitators – a man and a woman – to accommodate
gender sensitivity. In this community-driven programme,
coordination started with social mobilisation, and resulted
in ownership of coordination functions by the community
itself. At the outset, it was the role of the facilitator to
identify the institutions or social groups in the gampong ,
the number of dusun , and the names of important
community figures, leaders and representatives. This
facilitated formal as well as informal consultations with
each beneficiary community (Asian Development Bank
2010).
Each gampong had a different approach to developing
the CAP. In one gampong, a committee was established
(including representatives from different dusuns) and
most planning and management activities were done
through this committee. In others, it was crucial that all
community members attended meetings (not just the
dusun representatives) because of the high potential for
disagreement, especially in a post-conflict situation like
Banda Aceh (HB2 2016). On average, CAP development
took 2–6 months per dusun and was then integrated with
other dusun CAPs to develop a village-level CAP (HB2
2016). Typically, there were four dusuns per gampong and
the integration process took up to a year. From 2007 there
were also efforts to integrate the lists of priorities identified
through the CAP process into the newly established
musrenbang community-based planning process.
15
15
‘Musrenbang is an annual process during which residents meet together to discuss the issues facing their communities and decide upon priorities for short-term
improvements. Once a list of priorities is made, it is submitted to the local government planning department, Bappeda, which will then assign resources to each neigh-
borhood depending upon the available funds and according to need [...] This participatory budgeting process makes it possible for residents to articulate their needs to
local government. There are also musrenbang processes at the district and city levels as well as at provincial and national levels.’ (Sola Kota Kita undated).
GAMPONG VILLAGE SPATIAL
PLANNING
Table 3. Key actors in Meuraxa community land mapping, action planning and spatial planning
Source: Workshop (2016); VB1, VB3 and VB6 (2016); Huda et al. (2007); USAID (2008); Syukrizal et al. (2009); Affan et al. (2014).
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
Punge Jurong
Deah Glumpang
Lampaseh Aceh
Lambung
Blang Oi
Gampong Pie
Ulee Lheue
Alue Deah Tengoh
Deah Baro
Punge Ujong
Cot Lamkuweuh
Gampong Blang
Aso Nanggroe
Surien
Lamjabat
Gampong Baro
YIPD/UN-Habitat
YIPD/UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat/World Vision
YIPD
YIPD/USAID
Uplink
Uplink
YIPD
Oxfam
YIPD/USAID
Uplink
USAID
USAID
YIPD
YIPD
USAID
COMMUNITY
ACTION PLANNING
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat/World Vision
MDF/Rekompak
USAID
Uplink
Uplink
Oxfam
Oxfam/Uplink
USAID
Uplink
USAID
USAID
Uplink
Uplink
USAID
COMMUNITY
LAND MAPPING

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
3.1.3 Step 3: Village spatial planning
Indonesian law states that spatial planning should be
undertaken from the top down
16
and a spatial plan for
Banda Aceh was included in the Bappenas master plan
for the entire response (Pardede and Munandar 2016).
However, the master plan had little involvement of local
stakeholders and was resisted by communities, local
government and NGOs. They felt they had been excluded
from the process, that the resulting plan was too macro
and too difficult to implement, and they were opposed to
the proposed ‘buffer’ (or no-building) zone extending 2km
from the coast (Jayasuriya and McCawley 2010; Pardede
and Munandar 2016). Conversely, from June 2005 BRR
promoted village planning:
17
rapid, community-driven
spatial planning at gampong level which was approved
by community leaders (Pardede and Munandar 2016).
Although many agencies involved in the rehabilitation
and reconstruction process applied their own standards/
guidelines, they typically used BRR guidelines as the
minimum standard required.
UN-Habitat supported communities to undertake village
spatial planning in all 16 gampongs of the Meuraxa
kecamatan. In some gampongs, there had been previous
efforts to develop village spatial plans, but these had not
been successful and UN-Habitat offered assistance to
support improvements (BRR 2006). For example in Deah
Baro and Alue Deah Tengoh, village spatial plans had been
developed by YIPD and the National Land Agency before
the issuance of the BRR guidelines (Huda et al . 2007).
Hence, they were developed with no or limited community
participation since the consultants never visited the villages
(VB6; HB2 2016). Also, in Punge Ujong and Blang Oi, the
poor quality of initial village planning had been caused by a
lack of ‘spirit’ and ‘patience’ of the community to participate
in the planning processes. This had affected the quality of
reconstruction in the villages (HJ1; VB6 2016).
In revising all 16 village spatial plans in Meuraxa, UN-
Habitat employed four urban planners who conducted
a series of meetings with the local communities. The
meetings were initially done through door-to-door visits,
followed by focus group discussions (FGDs) or weekly/
bi-weekly meetings and workshops supported by maps.
The meeting times were adjusted to suit the availability of
the community, which was mostly in the late afternoons or
weekend evenings. The urban planners were responsible
for actively involving residents in the development of the
village plan and encouraging landowners to make some
of their land available for public facilities if required (NJ2;
GB3; GB5 2016). The village spatial plan needed to be
signed by the keuchik (head of gampong) and several
community representatives confirming the community
involvement in the development of the plans (NJ3 2016;
UN-Habitat undated b). Village spatial plans could also
be used to avoid conflict among the community and avoid
land certificates getting stolen as well as bogus proposals
(HJ1 2016; Government of Indonesia 2009a).
3.1.4 Step 4: Integrating village plans into
the Vision for a Green Meuraxa
The spatial planning concept for Meuraxa was introduced
in June 2006, with the future vision of developing
a Green Meuraxa (UNDP Indonesia 2008), as an
environmentally friendly region with more spaces for road
access, parks, drainage and other public infrastructure
(HJ1; GB7; VB2 2016). Through the urban forums, the
vision aimed ‘to create a blueprint for a well-organized,
purposeful municipal layout in Banda Aceh, to help
ensure sustainable urban development in the province’
(UNJP 2007; UNDP Indonesia 2008: 47). The old city
plans and maps were used for reference along with the
available village spatial plans (GB6; HJ1 2016). There
were challenges with the integration of village maps and
the development of the sub-district map because there
were unmatched land parcels, un-aligned roads and
unconnected drainage (HJ1; HJ2 2016).
UN-Habitat’s planners held meetings in all 16 gampongs
in Meuraxa to verify the village maps (developed in Step
3) along with the identification of all the proposed objects
and development areas stated in the community action
plans (developed in Step 2), such as where markets,
stores, schools and other proposed public infrastructure
would be built. Initially facilitated by UN-Habitat, the
meetings were conducted one per village; further
meetings were then held for villages that shared similar
boundaries (HJ2 2016).
In order to support the integration of all the village-level
plans, UN-Habitat also conducted several workshops that
were attended by community representatives of the 16
gampongs, village and sub-district officials, government
departments and NGO representatives (HJ1; HJ2 2016).
Furthermore, UN-Habitat collaborated with YIPD to
assess environmental management and planning issues
(HJ1; HJ2; UNJP 2007). Coordination meetings with the
Forum Korrexa and the Decision-Makers’ Working Group
(see Box 3) provided a platform for active participation
of village officials, landowners and community
representatives/leaders, including representatives of
neighbouring villages (HB3; BB2 2016).
UN-Habitat also had frequent discussions with the
town planning and public works departments of Banda
Aceh city government as well as Bappeda (the National
Planning Agency) in developing the sub-district plan. For
example, it was necessary to coordinate the location of
16
In other words, that provincial-level spatial plans should inform the development of spatial plans for cities/districts, kecamatans and then finally gampongs (Pardede
and Munandar 2016).
17
Village planning was defined as ‘a community-driven process whereby community residents and representatives work with planning and engineering professionals to
develop [...] community plans that document past and future land ownership, land use, the location and general technical standards for community infrastructure, housing,
workspaces, and social and religious facilities [...] The resulting plan will be considered final and official when signed by community representatives’ (BRR 2006:1).
IIED WORKING PAPER

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
18 www.iied.org
public facilities (such as high schools and health centres)
which needed to be shared between several gampongs or
the entire sub-district (HJ2; BB2 2016). After six months,
a draft of the Meuraxa plan was produced while the village
maps of all 16 gampongs were officially registered at the
sub-district office. The Vision for a Green Meuraxa was
completed by UN-Habitat in late 2007, followed by the
detailed spatial plans of Meuraxa sub-district for inclusion
in the regional spatial plan (RTRW) of Banda Aceh City
(HJ1 2016; ANSSP 2006; UNJP 2007). Nowadays, the
sub-district is well known as the ‘emerald of Banda Aceh’
for successfully developing orderly built houses with more
parks and other open spaces, better road access and
drainage systems.
3.1.5 Step 5: Integrating Meuraxa
sub-district plan into Banda Aceh city
planning
At sub-district level, UN-Habitat had focused their efforts
in Meuraxa. Meanwhile, GTZ and BRR had undertaken
spatial planning in five other sub-districts of Banda Aceh
City (Kuta Raja, Jaya Baru, Baiturrahman, Kuta Alam and
Syiah Kuala) while the government of Banda Aceh City did
the three remaining sub-district spatial plans (in Banda
Raya, Lueng Bata and Ulee Kareng) as areas insignificantly
affected by the tsunami (Government of Indonesia
2009a).
18

It was then necessary to integrate these nine different
sub-district plans into the mid-term development plan
(2007–2012) and regional spatial plan (RTRW 2009–
2029) for Banda Aceh City (UNJP 2007; Government
of Indonesia 2009a). The final plan for Banda Aceh City
was completed in late 2008. Coordinated by BRR, UNJP
closely collaborated with UN-Habitat and GTZ to perform
sectoral government discussions in charge of planning for
vertical and horizontal coordination with the government of
Banda Aceh City. They included Bappeda, town planning
(tata kota), education, water resources and infrastructure,
microfinance and cooperatives, and commerce and trade,
in which UN-Habitat facilitated these coordination and
consultation meetings (UNJP 2007).
BOX 3. COORDINATION: FORUM KORREXA AND THE DECISION-
MAKERS’ WORKING GROUP
The UNJP in Meuraxa included UN-Habitat, UNDP,
United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), United Nations
Office of the Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias
(UNORC), Asian Development Bank (ADB) other
donors and implementing agencies, 16 keuchik (heads
of gampongs) and their secretaries and community
representatives (such as teungku imeum and imeum
mukim), as well as the camat (head of Meuraxa
Kecamatan) and representatives from BRR. In order
to coordinate this array of stakeholders, UN-Habitat
established the Komite Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi
Meuraxa or ‘Forum Korrexa’ in June 2006. The role of
Forum Korrexa was to support the local government (the
keuchik and camat ) to coordinate post-tsunami efforts
(HJ1 2016).
The forum had a membership of around 55 people, of
which nine were UN-Habitat staff, including teams of
field facilitators for spatial planning providing advice and
support (HJ1; HB5 2016; Government of Indonesia
2009a). Initially, the meetings were conducted in the
evening and attended by around 20 people because
the room could not accommodate additional people
(VB3; VB4 2016). In September 2006, a community
centre was built, in the same compound as the Meuraxa
sub-district office; almost all the meetings were then
conducted in this venue and attended by about 30–40
people (GB6; VB6; BB3 2016).
Additionally, UN-Habitat together with UNORC
developed a working group to facilitate community
issues and needs that could not be fully addressed
in Forum Korrexa and needed the attention of the city
government (UNJP 2007). The Decision-Makers’
Working Group was a more formal urban forum
conducted in the city hall of Banda Aceh city government
that was attended by around 100 people, especially
Meuraxa officials and sectoral government officials
responsible for planning and infrastructure development
facilitated by UNORC and UN-Habitat (GB3; GB4;
HJ1 2016). The working group would be divided into
several smaller groups according to the issues raised,
mostly regarding facilities and utilities. They included
government facilities of gampongs and sub-district
offices, housing, education, worship, health, tourism
and recreation, and livelihoods/economic facilities. Also,
utilities included electricity, clean water, wastewater,
drainage, landline telephones and transportation (UNJP
2007). Every Wednesday, the coordination meetings
for Forum Korrexa were conducted. Meanwhile, every
Saturday UN-Habitat, as the coordinator, conducted
half-day internal coordination meetings. This included
the coordination of the working group meetings, which
were conducted not as often as the Forum Korrexa. This
was to make sure that there were no significant overlaps
and tensions between these urban forums (HJ1; HB1;
HB5 2016).
18
One key informant noted that the sub-district plans developed by GTZ and the government had adopted a less participatory approach (HF1 2017).

www.iied.org 19
URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI IIED WORKING PAPER
BOX 4. INCORPORATING COMMUNITY AND KEY STAKEHOLDER
GROUP VIEWS INTO THE PLANNING PROCESS
UN-Habitat’s initial engagement with the residents
was through meetings to collect data as part of the
CLM process (Step 1). Once the CLM started to take
shape in some gampongs , CAP was introduced (Step
2). The CAP process was more participatory because
UN-Habitat encouraged the involvement of the entire
community.
Later on, in mid-2006 UN-Habitat promoted community
participation in developing village plans (Step 3)
through door-to-door visits. This was followed by a
series of community meetings and FGDs that led to the
establishment of a community centre and urban and
coordination forums to produce the Meuraxa sub-district
spatial plan. Decisions were made based on mufakat
or consensus among the community members at the
dusun level and for the village level the decision made by
their representatives, which included heads of dusun,
customary/religious leaders, the elderly, and heads
of youth and women’s groups as well as respected
members of the community (Mahdi 2012).
The results of all these meetings were disseminated
through a bulletin published by UN-Habitat and
distributed to the community as a Meuraxa newsletter so
that people who did not attend the meetings were also
kept updated. Launched in June 2006, the four-page
Korrexa Newsletter was published every Friday morning
before Friday prayers and was placed at mosque doors
(HB5; NJ1; BB2 2016). Information dissemination
was also developed through a radio station that was
operated by the community under the supervision of UN-
Habitat along with telephone calls, text messages and
by displaying draft versions of gampong and Kecamatan
plans in the local government office (ibid).
In developing the Meuraxa Plan (Step 4) and its
integration into city planning (Step 5), community
involvement was limited only to informing and
consultation (Arnstein 1969) with more involvement of
representatives of donors and implementing agencies
and government. This was because community attention
was more focused on their more immediate needs and
priorities and also the utilisation of land was decided
mostly through consensus and based on the willingness
of people in Meuraxa sub-district to voluntarily let go of
part of their land or consolidate with other community
members to be used for sewer systems, telephone
network, and public and social facilities (NJ2; VB5 2016;
Mahdi 2007).
Coordination
Coordination
Coordination,
instructions,
resources
and expertise
Coordination,
instructions,
resources
and expertise
Coordination,
instructions,
resources
and expertise
PLANNING PROCESS
Technical
expertise
UN-Habitat
Regional Office
for Asia and the
Pacific
Local
governmentUN-Habitat
Banda Aceh office
UNJP
Local university
NGOs, research
centres
United Nations,
BRR & NGOs:
Meuraxa Joint
Programme
Community
leaders and
representatives
Sub-district and
gampong officials
Rehabilitation
and
Reconstruction
Agency (BRR)

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
20 www.iied.org
PRE-TSUNAMI
PLANS: 2004
DEVELOPMENT
CURRENT PLANS
& DEVELOPMENT:
2012 ONWARD
POST-TSUNAMI:
2005–2007
RELIEF-RECOVERY
CITY/MEURAXA SUB-DISCTRICT PROVINCE
Table 4. Integrating short-term relief with pre-crisis and longer-term planning in Banda Aceh
District coordinating unit
(SATLAK) for disaster
management
Annual government work
plan (GWP): 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009
Local medium-term
development plan
(RPJMK) 2004–2009
Provincial coordinating
unit for disaster
management
(SATKORLAK) for
disaster management
Spatial plans 2000, never
ratified
Annual government work
plan (GWP): 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009
Aceh regional medium-
term development plan
(RPJMA) 2004–2009
Spatial plans 2009–2029JICA’s spatial plans 2006
City long-term development plans (RPJPK)
2007–2029
Aceh long-term development plan (RPJMA)
2012–2032
Regional spatial plans 2009-?/
Plan draft for spatial structure of Aceh Province
2010–2029
Local action plan on DRR 2015–2019
Annual community-
based planning
(Musrenbang)
Annual government
work plan (GWP):
2013, 2014, 2015,
2016, 2017
RPJMK 2012–2017
Local action plan on
DRR 2010–2012
Completion and
continuation of
rehabilitation and
reconstruction action
plan (2010–2012)
Annual government
work plan (GWP):
2008, 2009, 2010,
2011, 2012
RPJMK 2007–2012
Toward Green Meuraxa
Forum Korrexa
Working groups
Meuraxa newsletter
CLM/CAP/village planning
UN Joint Programming
(UNJP)
UN-Habitat’s Aceh Nias
Settlements Support
Programme
Masterplan/blueprint of
Banda Aceh City: 2005–
2009
Completion and continuation of rehabilitation and reconstruction action plan (2010–2012)
Regional action plan on
DRR 2010–2012
Annual government
work plan (GWP):
2008, 2009, 2010,
2011, 2012
Aceh regional medium-
term development plan
(RPJMA) 2007–2012
Standard operating
procedure of major/
frequent disasters:
tsunami, flood, landslide,
earthquake
Regional action plan on
DRR 2014–217
Annual government work
plan (GWP): 2013,
2014, 2015, 2016,
2017
Aceh regional medium-
term development plan
(RPJMA) 2012–2017Masterplan/blueprint of
Aceh Province: 2005–
2009
UN-Habitat’s Aceh Nias
Settlements Support
Programme
Spatial plans 2006 by
BRR/JICA
TRANSITION:
2008–2011

www.iied.org 21
URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
Table 4 shows the integration of short-term relief with
pre-crisis planning and longer-term planning in Banda
Aceh City. The BNPB is responsible for coordinating
disaster management (called ‘satkorlak ’ at provincial
level and ‘satlak ’ at district/city level (Willitts-King 2009).
The National Disaster Management Coordinating Board
(Bakornas) was replaced by BRR during the tsunami
responses. In 2007, to strengthen national disaster
management capacity, the BNPB was established. There
is a clear strategic integration of disaster-management
plans with longer-term planning and pre-crisis plans. In
2014, BNPB published the National Plan for Disaster
Management (or Rencana Nasional Penanggulangan
Bencana) for disaster-risk assessment based on locations
and disaster types. The plan is expected to feed into
the five-year national medium-term development plan
(RPJMN) 2015–2019 and as a reference for sectoral
ministries and other government institutions in developing
their own strategic plans and implementation with regard
to disaster risk reduction (DRR) (BNPB 2014). BNPB’s
local counterparts, local disaster management agencies or
BPBDs, act as the lead agencies for DRR coordination at
local, provincial and district levels.
The current key national long-term development plan
(RPJPN) 2005–2025 that will guide the mid-term national
development plan (RPJMN) 2015–2019 consists of a
development policy, strategy and programme for the next
five years and RPJMN will be subsequently elaborated in the
annual government work plan (GWP). GWP will become
a guideline for drafting the national budget (Zen 2013)
including financing the programmes and activities stated in
the national action plans for disaster management 2015–
2019. Furthermore, among significant guidelines published
by the BNPB to be followed by its local counterparts the
BPBDs, are the needs-assessment guidelines for post-
disaster and the guidelines for contingency planning in
disaster mitigation. From the latter, standard operating
procedures (SOP) of emergency situations for major/
frequent disasters were produced by BPBDs according to
their local situations and disaster types. Banda Aceh City
has compiled its SOP for tsunamis. Starting from 2015,
IIED WORKING PAPER
Sources: Willitts-King (2009); BNPB (2016); Pardede and Munandar (2016).
PRE-TSUNAMI
PLANS: 2004
DEVELOPMENT
CURRENT PLANS
& DEVELOPMENT:
2012 ONWARD
POST-TSUNAMI:
2005-2007
RELIEF-RECOVERY
NATIONAL
INTER­
NATIONAL
Table 4. continued
National action
plans for disaster
management 2006-
2009
Disaster
Management Law
No. 24/2007Annual
Annual government
work plan (GWP):
2010, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014
RPJMN 2010–
2014
Bakornas PBP replaced
by BRR
Coordinating board
for national disaster
management & internally
displaced people
(Bakornas PBP)
Annual government work
plan (GWP): 2003, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008/2009
National medium-term
development plan
(RPJMN) 2004–2009
National long-term development plan (RPJMN) 2005–2025
Spatial Plans Law
No. 24/1992
Spatial plans 2008–2028
Various humanitarian
agency programmes &
projects
keyPolicy/strategy & implementation
Policy/strategy Implementation
TRANSITION:
2008-2011
Emergency fund/on call
Guideline for contingency
planning in disaster
mitigation
Needs assessment
guidelines for post-disaster
National action plans for
disaster management
2015–2019
Annual government work
plan (GWP): 2015, 2016,
2017, 2018, 2019
RPJMN 2015–2019

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
22 www.iied.org
2005–
2006
2006–
2007
2007–
2008
• Tsunami: early recovery
• Bappenas master plan
• 4 spatial and urban planners
• Door-to-door visits
• Per-village FGDs or weekly/
bi-weekly meetings in late
afternoons or weekends/
evenings
• 4 spatial and urban planners
• Banda Aceh spatial plans
(2001–2010)
• Banda Aceh blueprint
• Banda Aceh spatial plans, JICA
revision (2006)
• Clarification of village plans
• Per village and per 3 village
FGDs that share:
o Borders
o Public facilities: schools, health
services, roads, drainage,
waste, sanitation, environment
• Workshops with community
representatives of 16 gampongs
• Coordination: Forum Korrexa
and Decision-Makers’ Working
Group
• 8 other sub-district spatial plans:
o 5 developed by GTZ and BRR
o 3 by Banda Aceh City
Administration
• Sectoral government
discussions in charge of planning
and development:
o Vertical coordination
o Horizontal coordination
• YIPD
• UN-Habitat
• AUSAID
• Uplink
• Oxfam
• World Vision
• UN-Habitat
• USAID
• Uplink
• Oxfam
• World Vision
• MDF/Rekompak
• UN-Habitat
• USAID
• JICA
• Uplink
• Oxfam
• GTZ
• BRR
• Government of Banda Aceh City:
Bappeda, town planning and
public works department
• Meuraxa joint programme:
o UN-Habitat
o UNOCHA/UNORCH
o UNDP
o BRR
o ADB
o Other donors and implementing
agencies
• Village officials: keuchik, secretary
• Meuraxa sub-district officials
• Community representatives
• Landowners
• UN-Habitat
• BRR
• GTZ
• Meuraxa Joint Programme
• Sectoral government of Banda
Aceh City, especially Bappeda,
town planning (tata kota),
education, water resources and
infrastructure, microfinance and
cooperatives, commerce and trade
Community land mapping
• UN-Habitat: three gampongs
• Other agencies worked in
gampongs, to a total 14
gampongs (including UN-H)
• UN-Habitat locations: Punge
Jurong, Deah Glumpang and
Lampaseh Aceh
Community action plan
• UN-Habitat: three gampongs
• Other agencies worked in
gampongs, to a total 10
gampongs (including UN-H)
• UN-Habitat locations: Punge
Jurong, Deah Glumpang and
Lampaseh Aceh
Village spatial planning
UN-Habitat locations: all 16
gampongs
Integrating village plans into
the Vision for Green Meuraxa
strategic and spatial plan
Integration of Meuraxa
sub-district spatial plan into
Banda Aceh city planning
YEAR ACTORSINPUTS/PROCESSES INTERVENTIONS
Table 5. Summary of the spatial planning process in Meuraxa
Sources: Authors; Huda et al. (2007); UNJP (2007); Government of Indonesia (2009a).

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
the Indonesian government allocated an on-call fund for its
annual national budget (Jefriando 2016).
3.2 What were the outputs of
UN-Habitat’s process?
There were several outputs from UN-Habitat’s planning
support to communities and local government in Meuraxa.
These included community land maps, community action
plans, 16 village spatial plans and the Meuraxa sub-district
spatial plan, as well as radio programmes and newsletters
to disseminate information and raise awareness on
disaster preparedness and environmental issues (see also
Table 5).
The Meuraxa sub-district spatial plan proposed spatial
development, a development agenda and a strategy for
multi-functional use of space in the sub-district as a more
environmentally friendly region with many green open
spaces, better road access, sanitation and drainage
systems. A UN-Habitat official affirmed that ‘[T]he result we
are looking on today would not have been possible without
the active support and participation of all stakeholders at all
stages of the planning process’ (UNJP 2007: xix).
3.3 Effects: what happened
next?
Meuraxa sub-district is now known as the ‘emerald of
Banda Aceh’ (GB3; GB6 2016). Due to the successful
implementation of rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts,
especially through the village and sub-district plans, most
of the houses in Meuraxa sub-district were built in an
orderly manner, influenced by the village spatial plans. It has
6–15m-wide roads with good drainage systems and rebuilt
bridges hence it takes only 10 minutes to drive 6 kilometres
from Ulee Lheue Boulevard to the ferry terminal via the
Laguna Bridge (Government of Indonesia 2009b). Almost
all of the developments proposed in the Vision for a Green
Meuraxa have been realised and only a few low-priority
items such as the tsunami heritage site have not been
delivered (a direct observation made in 2016). Meuraxa also
has an integrated school compound for its kindergarten to
senior high schools, escape buildings
19
and escape roads
(GB; VB5 2016). As proposed in the Meuraxa plan, the city
government keeps upgrading the development of escape
roads in the area while the existence of four evacuation
centres (although receiving minimal care) have served as
multi-purpose buildings for Meuraxa residents (HB5).
20

The successful implementation of village planning and
the sub-district plan of Meuraxa is also shown by the
high increase in land registration and certification in the
region, in which 100 per cent of the land in Ulee Lheue and
Lambung gampongs has been certified (Fitzpatrick 2012).
However, while there were significant achievements in
housing and other physical developments, less attention
was given to social and economic development (Klouvas
2014; Oxfam 2014). Also, residents note there are still
concerns about livelihoods opportunities, and especially
the high level of youth unemployment (Workshop 2016).
Most of the survivors and their heirs as well as most of
those who lost land to the tsunami in Meuraxa sub-district
were able to rebuild their houses on their original land or
by moving to a new location within the sub-district (VB1;
VB3 2016). Up to 100 people in Ulee Lheue who lost
their land, along with pre-tsunami renters and ‘squatters’,
were relocated outside Meuraxa sub-district (VB6; HB5
2016). These key informants stated that some families
moved to government-subsidised houses or rumah susun
(apartments) in other parts of the city. Others moved to
new-build relocation settlements such as the Indonesia-
China Friendship Village (Vale et al. 2014) in the gampong
of Neuheun, 20km from Meuraxa, and other relocation sites
in the neighbouring districts of Banda Aceh City. These
included the relocation of 24 families from two dusuns
in gampong Ulee Lheue whose land was completely
submerged by the tsunami and became a recreation area
(HB5; VB6 2016). These households were some of the
last to be relocated, after living in two barracks located on
the shore of Ulee Lheue beach for 10 years and became
among the most challenging tasks for the local government
after BRR left (HB5 2016).
In late 2014, eight families were placed in rented flats in
Peulanggahan gampong in the neighbouring kecamatan
to Meuraxa (Acehkita 2014). The city government waived
the rent for a year only and the families needed to pay
for electricity and cleaning costs (ibid). Meanwhile,
the remaining 16 families were placed in government-
subsidised houses spread over several places on the
outskirt of Aceh Besar district, about 17–22 km from
Meuraxa (HB5 2016; Acehkita 2014). The houses were
provided by a housing project for poor families financed
under the special autonomy fund scheme (HB5 2016).
21
This is because Aceh province has been granted with a
special autonomous status for having greater power in
local decision-making regarding local customs, education,
religion and local development policy (Nasution 2016). The
Aceh province will receive this autonomy fund for 20 years
(2006–2027) from central government with an estimated
US$7.9 billion in total (World Bank 2009).
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19 ‘
An escape building is essentially a form of man-made high ground – a series of landings connected by a reinforced-concrete ramp designed for vertical evacuation
of about 15 meters.’ The buildings also serve as community centres (Vale et al. 2014).
20
Communities in Meuraxa have used the escape buildings for indoor, social and sport activities since their rebuilt houses cannot accommodate more than 80 people
(VB5).
21
Aceh province receives extra transfer funds from central government called a special autonomy fund between 2006 and 2027 with an estimated US$7.9 billion in
total (World Bank 2009).

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
24 www.iied.org
4.1 Strategy: what were
the advantages and
disadvantages?
According to the stakeholders interviewed as part of this
research there were three main advantages of UN-
Habitat’s strategic approach.
4.1.1 Improved government capacity
Through this UN-Habitat-supported process, government
agencies – as stated by local government officials who
participated in this study, especially those in Bappeda
and public works – have improved their coordination and
communication capacity (GB1; GB3; GB6; GB7 2016).
These officials also add that such experiences have made
government jobs easier in developing and facilitating
the regular development planning of the city, such as the
musrenbang and regional spatial plan. Moreover, the
experience of working with many different international
humanitarian and development agencies has enhanced
the capacity of most government officers and communities,
especially the ability to cooperate with other local
governments domestically and internationally (GB6; GB7
2016).
4.1.2 Enhancement of community
capacity
Almost all community representatives participated in this
study affirm that communities in Meuraxa used to have
very limited capacity regarding planning and mapping
because they had never done it before (VB4; VB6; NJ1;
NJ2; GB5 2016). However, since being actively involved in
the development of their village they are able to apply these
skills to the musrenbang (VB4; BB1; GB7 2016).
4.1.3 Wider influence
According to the research respondents and local
government officials, in addition to being used by the city
government to develop the area, the Meuraxa sub-district
plan has been used in research centres, universities
and development agencies as an example of becoming
a disaster-resistant area and community (RB1; RJ1;
GB6; GB7 2016). The CLM and CAP processes have
been documented in handbooks and adopted by various
organisations carrying out similar activities in other
disaster-affected areas in the provinces of Aceh and North
Sumatra (USAID 2006; Steinberg 2007; Government of
Indonesia 2009a; UN-Habitat 2009). They include:
• Manual on community action planning (CAP) to support
implementation of community-driven development for
reconstruction in Aceh and Nias, Support for Local
Governance and Sustainable Reconstruction (SLGSR)
Project (draft manuscript), Banda Aceh, GTZ, 2006.
• A CAP handbook developed by GTZ in 2006.
• Villager agreement regarding land boundaries, land
ownership and demarcation of land boundaries – a
manual developed under the collaboration of BRR and
YIPD, 2006.
4.1.4 Additional pressure on stakeholders
Stakeholders interviewed as part of this research
identified one disadvantage of UN-Habitat’s approach.
The planning process placed extra time and resource
pressures on local government and key stakeholders
at a difficult time as they were required to do service
delivery and planning simultaneously in a post-disaster
and post-conflict situation (see factors that hindered,
Section 4.3). However, and argued mostly by the local
government officials themselves, their need to develop a
plan outweighed this extra burden (GB3; GB5; VB4; NJ2
2016).
4.2 Programme: what
worked well and what was
not as effective?
Stakeholders interviewed as part of this research noted
that the following aspects of UN-Habitat’s intervention
providing urban planning support to local actors in Banda
Aceh City worked well.
4
Analysis

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
4.2.1 Establishing Forum Korrexa and
the Decision-Makers’ Working Group
The two forums coordinated activities to directly support
local government in the promotion and accommodation
of community participation during the rehabilitation and
reconstruction effort. Both local government officials
and UN-Habitat staff argued that the forums became
the platforms to accommodate and coordinate all
information gatherings and meetings for post-tsunami
efforts in Meuraxa (GB7; GB2; HJ1; HB5 2016) to
promote good governance, knowledge sharing and
participatory planning between all stakeholders (UNDP
Indonesia 2008). As also emphasised by UN-Habitat
officials, the achievement of Forum Korrexa in information
dissemination and experience sharing prompted BRR to
initiate the establishment of urban and community forums
in all 23 districts of Aceh Province in late 2006 (HF1
2017; UN-Habitat 2009).
4.2.2 Using local knowledge and
resources
The recruitment policy of UN-Habitat for managerial staff
was 50 per cent Indonesian and 50 per cent international
staff (HB1 2016). Mainly felt by NGOs, especially UN-
Habitat staff, it was important that most field facilitators
who worked directly with communities were Acehnese,
even from families severely affected by the disaster (Asian
Development Bank 2010), and thus very familiar with
the local context and culture (HJ1; HJ2; NB1, 2016;
Daly 2016). According to former facilitators of UN-
Habitat, the potential for conflict was high in Meuraxa,
a heterogeneous community near the centre of Banda
Aceh (HB2; HB4 2016) including families displaced
by the conflict inland. As also affirmed by mainly local
government officials, UN-Habitat staff managed this
risk by talking to residents about issues and collectively
identifying their problems and needs (GB3; GB5;
NJ2 2016). The facilitators also knew that the tsunami
survivors could not be treated as ‘victims’ and sought to
actively engage them in the post-tsunami planning efforts
(NJ2; HB2 2016).
4.2.3 Employing specialists when
needed
Former facilitators of UN-Habitat argued that during
UN-Habitat’s early engagement in Banda Aceh
there were few staff with adequate understanding or
experience of practical approaches for community
participation, resulting in tension between field officers
and management (HB1; HB2 2016). However, within six
months this was addressed by hiring an anthropologist
with expertise in gampong development and experience
in the development of village law (ibid). They also affirmed
that the anthropologist was responsible for addressing
the issues faced by the field facilitators and for enhancing
participatory approaches adopted by UN-Habitat on
the ground (ibid). Regarding monitoring and evaluation
of its works on housing development, it was mainly the
researchers who participated in this study who affirmed
that UN-Habitat employed third-party institutions such
as the Universitas Syiah Kuala based in Banda Aceh City
and allocated grants to several local NGOs and research
centres to conduct studies on housing and development
in areas affected by the tsunami in Banda Aceh (RB3; RJ1;
HB1 2016).
Stakeholders interviewed as part of this research identified
the following aspects of UN-Habitat’s work which were
not as effective.
4.2.4 Lack of institutional capacity and
guidelines
Most UN-Habitat representatives participating in this
study believed that almost all UN-Habitat officers and field
facilitators were young architects and urban planners,
often recent graduates hence lacking experience (HJ2;
HB1; HB2; HB5 2016; Vebry et al. 2007). UN-Habitat
was also yet to establish an urban planning and design
team in its head office while its International guidelines
on urban and territorial planning were only published in
2015. As one key informant of UN-Habitat noted – if UN-
Habitat’s intervention in Banda Aceh would be undertaken
in 2017 ‘it would [be] much easier for the agency to call in
occasionally more experts’ (HF1 2017).
4.2.5 Underestimating the challenges of
urban planning after complex crises
In the absence of international guidance on planning
after a complex disaster that needs to be more rapid,
UN-Habitat simply decided to put the limited funds to
maximum benefit: close to the people, bottom up. Planning,
especially in post-conflict contexts, is a very slow process
if participation and sustainability are to be achieved.
22

Planning and response needed to be more rapid given the
context. Banda Aceh’s case was ultimately a post-conflict
process in a post-disaster setting although this was not
fully understood at the time (HF1 2017).
4.2.6 Absence of exit strategy
As with many international organisations responding to the
tsunami, UN-Habitat did not develop an exit strategy as
part of its project design (HJ1; HB5 2016). An exit strategy
aims to ensure the continuation of impacts and activities
after the programme ends (Crum et al . 2011), for example
the duplication of the development sub-district planning
like the participatory approach adopted in Meuraxa.
IIED WORKING PAPER
22
As a comparison, UN-Habitat’s spatial project in Kosovo lasted seven years and spatial planning interventions in Somalia have been ongoing for 10 years (HF1 2017).

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
26 www.iied.org
4.3 Context: what helped or
hindered interventions?
Stakeholders interviewed as part of this research identified
the following factors that helped UN-Habitat’s intervention
providing urban planning support to Banda Aceh City.
4.3.1 Supportive policy environment for
community-based planning
From the outset of the response, Bappenas stated that the
reconstruction of Aceh would be ‘a people-centred and
participative process’ (World Bank 2005) – a principle
which was later incorporated into the master plan, the
RALAS land-titling programme and BRR’s support for
village planning: rapid, community-driven spatial planning
at gampong level which was approved by community
leaders (Pardede and Munandar 2016). Although many
agencies involved in the rehabilitation and reconstruction
process applied their own standards/guidelines, they
typically used BRR guidelines as the minimum standard
required.
4.3.2 The existence of BRR to provide
coordination and leadership
The establishment of BRR in March 2005 brought with it
public legitimacy and flexibility to coordinate responses
and reconstruction with direct authority from the president
(Scheper et al. 2006). This was imperative to make and
deliver relatively fast and useful decisions. Although
there were still challenges, mostly NGOs felt that BRR
was important in providing coordination and leadership
for the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts (NJ2,
HJ1; GB2 2016). BRR involved skilled and resourceful
people in planning the development of Green Meuraxa
(HB5 2016) and with its supervisory function it also had
a planning division (Krauze 2012). For example, donors
and implementing agencies, including UN-Habitat, would
coordinate with this planning division regarding which
gampongs needed to have spatial plans to be developed to
avoid overlapping works (NJ3, 2016; Asian Development
Bank 2010).
4.3.3 Practical support from local
government
Most respondents argued that heads of villages and
Meuraxa sub-district worked closely with UN-Habitat
to encourage community participation and consensus
building (HJ1; VB2; VB4; GB1; GB2; BB1; HB5;
NJ1 2016; Scheper et al. 2006). Additionally, when
local government agencies (such as Bappeda) were
not yet recovered, key local leaders such as the newly
appointed mayor of Banda Aceh and the governor
of Aceh Province had significant involvement in the
recovery and rehabilitation efforts, especially during the
implementation of the Decision-Makers’ Working Group
and other coordination and consultation meetings involving
government sectors and institutions (NJ3; HJ1 2016;
Steinberg 2007; Takahashi et al. 2007).
23

There were, however, factors that hindered UN-Habitat’s
intervention providing urban planning support to Banda
Aceh City.
4.3.4 Post-conflict contexts
The existence of the armed separatist rebellion in Aceh
that started in 1976 and ended during the first period of
the rehabilitation and the reconstruction effort created the
conflict that not only led to isolation but also lack of trust of
government and the community. Most NGOs believed that
there was a peace agreement when the Meuraxa spatial
plan was developed but it was still fragile (HJ1; HJ2 2016;
HF1 2017). Planning, especially in post-conflict contexts,
is a very slow process if participation and sustainability
are to be achieved, which was exacerbated by the lack of
guidance for planning in this post-conflict process in a post-
disaster setting. It is only in the last 2–3 years that a growing
consensus has emerged that there is scope for evidence-
based learning for planning in humanitarian contexts, and
for a need for planning after disasters (HF1 2017).
4.3.5 Lack of policy for renters and
squatters
The renters alone comprised almost 25 per cent of
residents in Banda Aceh (Bappenas 2005). The lack
of and delayed BRR policy on renters and squatters
meant that some families had to wait more than 10 years
for housing assistance and had to be relocated outside
Meuraxa (HB5; GB7 2016). In general, throughout
the response the needs of renters and squatters were
overlooked.
4.3.6 Local capacity and belief
The level of community capacity varied, as did resource
availability and the aspiration to rebuild their gampongs
(Syukrizal et al. 2009). Such variety resulted in 16 different
approaches to rebuilding the gampongs in Meuraxa (NJ3;
HB5 2016). In addition, most NGO respondents felt that
the community perception was that if an NGO approached
them, the NGO would offer direct assistance – such as
building houses or cash support – rather than talking about
planning issues (NJ3; HB2 2016; HF1 2017). Initially,
many people had little faith that the plans developed by the
government and development agencies would reflect their
needs (Christoplos 2006); but over time the community
accepted the importance of planning (RB1; NJ3; HB1;
HB2 2016). However, this impacted on UN-Habitat’s
work because more time and resources were needed at
the beginning for community mobilisation (Syukrizal et al.
2009).
23
Over 5,000 public servants of Aceh and Nias died, among them the mayor of Banda Aceh City and his predecessor (Takahashi et al. 2007).

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
4.3.7 The death of many community
leaders
In Meuraxa, only two out of 16 keuchik survived the
tsunami (VB6 2016; Telford et al. 2006). This situation
led to the loss of social structure because community
members tended to become more focused on their
individual needs because they no longer had the guidance
of community leaders to bring them together (VB1; HB2,
RB2 2016; Takahashi et al . 2007). It took time for new
community leaders to gain the respect of their communities
thus causing delays in the rehabilitation and reconstruction
effort (HB2; RB3, GB7; VB3; VB6 2016).
4.3.8 Residents relocated immediately
after the tsunami
At the beginning it was very difficult to engage residents
in the CLM and the CAP processes because many of
the homeowners had either lost their lives, had moved
inland to stay with their families (VB1; VB2; VB6; GB1
2016; Scheper et al. 2006) or were looking for jobs in
other cities (HF1 2017; Mahdi 2007). Also, the grieving
community members were also occupied with searching
for their lost family members and survivors were reluctant
to immediately return to their gampongs (HJ1; HB4 2016).
Communities residing in coastal zones and staying in
temporary barracks that had poor sanitation and water
problems (Mahdi 2007) were less patient to wait for
the finalisation of BRR’s master plan required for the
reconstruction of their houses (HB2; NJ2; GB5; GB6
2016). The development of village planning took at least
one year or even up to a year and a half to finalise the land
ownership/title clearance (GB6 2016), and did not start
until June 2005 (BRR 2006). These factors slowed down
the commencement of transition from the recovery phase
to reconstruction efforts (Scheper et al. 2006).
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28 www.iied.org
5.1 Conclusions from this
study
Urban planning – before and after humanitarian crises
– is one of the key responsibilities of local government.
However, municipal planning departments are likely to
have limited resources and capacity, and urban planners
are unlikely to have previous experience of humanitarian
response. Experts recommend that humanitarian agencies
‘work in support of and in collaboration with municipal
authorities’ (Global Alliance for Urban Crises 2016) when
responding to urban humanitarian crises, but there are
few examples and little guidance on how to put this into
practice. This research aimed to identify and document
learning from UN-Habitat’s experience providing urban
planning support to local communities and government
in Banda Aceh following the Indian Ocean earthquake
and tsunami in 2004. Table 6 summarises UN-Habitat’s
intervention.
5.1.1 Intervention: what did UN-Habitat
do?
From March 2005 to August 2010 UN-Habitat supported
the urban planning process in Meuraxa sub-district
of Banda Aceh City. UN-Habitat’s urban planning
intervention included supporting communities to
undertake:
• Community land mapping (CLM)
• Community action planning (CAP)
• Village spatial planning
The organisation also supported local government to:
• Integrate village plans into the Vision for a Green Meuraxa
strategic and spatial plan.
• Integrate the Meuraxa sub-district plan into the mid-term
development plan and subsequent regional spatial plan
(RTRW 2009–2029) for Banda Aceh City.
• Facilitate the Forum Korrexa and Decision-Makers’
Working Group.
The whole process involved approximately 48 UN-Habitat
staff – including field facilitators (two per gampong) as well
as nine staff coordinating the urban forum and additional
technical specialists. UN-Habitat also partnered with local
universities, NGOs and research centres for assessments,
monitoring and technical expertise.
5.1.2 Effects: what happened next?
Meuraxa sub-district is now known as the ‘emerald of
Banda Aceh’. Housing, roads, infrastructure, schools and
escape buildings have been rebuilt following the Vision for
a Green Meuraxa while only a few low-priority items have
not been delivered. However, while there are significant
achievements in terms of physical reconstruction, residents
still express concerns about livelihood opportunities.
Additionally, while the majority of residents were able to
rebuild on or nearby their pre-tsunami locations, a small
number of renters, squatters and households made
landless by the tsunami were relocated to apartments
or new-build settlements outside the sub-district. Some
of these families had to wait up to 10 years for housing
assistance which met their needs.
5.1.3 Strategy: what were the advantages
and disadvantages of UN-Habitat’s
approach?
Stakeholders highlighted three key advantages of UN-
Habitat’s programme. Local planning officials particularly
appreciated the organisation’s effort for building the
capacity of local government and increasing community
5
Conclusions and
recommendations

www.iied.org 29
URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
capacity. Meanwhile, for researchers the significant benefit
was the documentation of UN-Habitat’s process to
influence the reconstruction effort. Only one disadvantage
was identified – that the planning process placed an extra
burden on local communities and government at a difficult
time. However, this disadvantage was outweighed by the
usefulness of the process.
5.1.4 Programme: what worked well and
what was not as effective?
Stakeholders highlighted three aspects of UN-Habitat’s
intervention that worked particularly well. These were
establishing Forum Korrexa and the Decision-Makers’
Working Group to coordinate recovery activities; the
utilisation of local knowledge and resources; and that UN-
Habitat hired additional technical specialists as required.
Conversely, three aspects of UN-Habitat’s intervention
were felt to be less effective. These were that the
organisation lacked institutional capacity and guidelines
regarding urban planning; underestimated the challenge
posed by post-conflict planning; and that the programme
lacked an exit strategy.
5.1.5 Context: what helped or hindered
UN-Habitat’s intervention?
Three contextual factors were identified by stakeholders
interviewed as part of this research as helping UN-
Habitat’s intervention. These were the policy environment
which supported community-based planning; the
existence of BRR to provide coordination and leadership;
and the practical support from local government.
Contextual factors which were identified as hindering
UN-Habitat’s work included the challenges of operating
in post-conflict contexts; the lack of policy on housing
assistance for renters and squatters; variations in local
capacity and belief of local communities; the loss of
community leaders; and the challenges of working with
households while they were displaced.
In conclusion, with the hard work of its committed urban
planners and field facilitators, UN-Habitat successfully
supported communities and local government to develop
village plans, a spatial plan for Meuraxa sub-district, and to
integrate the plan for Meuraxa into the wider spatial plan for
Banda Aceh City. Despite the challenges of urban planning
after a complex crisis in areas devastated by the tsunami,
communities and local government were highly engaged
throughout the process – which was replicated in other
parts of the response.
5.2 Implications for policy
and practice
Land mapping, action planning and spatial planning after
humanitarian crises can empower urban communities
and governments to identify their needs and priorities and
manage their own recovery process. However, they may
lack the knowledge, experience, time, tools or technology
needed to lead this challenging process – particularly
given that their families, communities or workplaces are
likely to have been affected by the crisis and that carrying
IIED WORKING PAPER
• UN-Habitat and
YIPD funded by
USAID (started
March 2005)
• UN-Habitat and
other NGOs =
Meuraxa Joint
Programme (started
June 2005)
• Community land
mapping (CLM)
• Community action
plans (CAP)
• Village spatial
planning
• Integrating village
plans into Vision for
Green Meuraxa
• Verification of
gampongs plans
• Integration of 16
gampongs plans
• Establishment of
community centre
• Urban forum known
as Forum Korrexa
• Decision-Makers’
Working Group
• Radio broadcasting
• Publication of
Korrexa newsletter
• Integration of the
sub-district plan
into regional spatial
plan (RTRW 2009–
2029) and mid-term
development plan
(2007–2012) of
Banda Aceh City
in which tsunami
structural mitigation
has been adopted
• Maps: legal
documents showing
landownership
• Documents:
community action
plans
• 16 village plans
• Document: Vision
for Green Meuraxa
(draft detailed
master plan)
• Detailed spatial
plans of Meuraxa
• Development of
green paths, tourism
areas, seaports,
community and
business centres,
conservation areas,
escape roads and
buildings and other
disaster-mitigation
infrastructures
• Inputs to
development of
qanun on RDTR
or detailed spatial
plans of Banda
Aceh City
• Inputs to annual
development plans:
Musrenbang
INPUTS IMPACTS
(2010–2016)
ACTIVITIES
2004–2007)
OUTPUTS OUTCOMES
(2008–2009)
Table 6. UN-Habitat interventions under BRR in development and planning of Meuraxa district

URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
30 www.iied.org
out immediate activities may leave them little capacity to
plan for the future.
This research suggests that organisations – including
government, humanitarian donors and implementing
agencies – providing urban planning support to
communities and governments following humanitarian
crises should:
• Work closely with communities and local governments to
ensure plans meet their needs, develop an exit strategy,
and build their capacity to improve future development
planning in the city. This can be done through household
interviews followed by focus groups and community
meetings. When working with government, it worked
best when doing coordination and consultation meetings
involving government sectors and institutions. This is
likely to take time, however, given the potential loss of
community leaders and government personnel, the need
to work with families who are displaced, the variations in
motivation and capacity between communities, and the
numerous other demands on their time.
• Establish an urban forum or task force to coordinate
recovery planning activities. The task force should include
community representatives and leaders, donors and
implementing agencies, as well as the government. The
activities of the task force should be disseminated via
bulletins, community radio, telephone and text messages.
• Document the urban planning process in one or more
pilot locations so that it can inform government policy and
be replicated in other areas.
• Hire local staff to work with communities and local
governments as they will know the local culture and
context.
• Provide guidelines and additional technical expertise
to support local staff in incorporating international best
practice approaches.
• Allow sufficient time and resources for the planning
process – particularly after complex crises and to allow
for the lengthy process of incorporating community-level
planning into city-level development and spatial plans.
For example, in developing a village-level community
action plan (CAP) in Meuraxa sub-district derived from
sub-village CAPs took up to a year for the development
and integration process.
• Work closely with city, provincial and national
governments to generate political, practical, and
legislative support around key planning issues such as the
recovery planning, funding and implementation process;
and policies on community engagement, land titling,
disaster risk reduction and resettlement.
It is also recommended that humanitarian donors provide
long-term funding to support urban planning processes
after humanitarian crises. Ideally, this would span from
immediate action planning during the relief period until after
the city has incorporated specialised plans developed in
response to the crisis into its mainstream development and
spatial planning documents – this is likely to take a number
of years.
Prior to humanitarian crises occurring, city governments
should also:
• Develop a disaster management plan – including a draft
recovery plan, such as Naga City’s disaster mitigation
plan in the Philippines developed more than a decade
ago (ALNAP 2001) and the Brisbane city disaster
management plan (Brisbane City Council 2016).
• Identify key members of a recovery planning task force.
• Ensure that crucial data for recovery planning (such as
land-ownership records) will remain accessible after a
crisis.
5.3 Suggestions for further
research
Based on this research, the authors suggest that
investigation of the following topics would be beneficial in
developing the evidence base regarding urban planning
processes after humanitarian crises:
• This study shows that the development of village planning
and Meuraxa spatial plans inspired the entire city, hence
follow-up studies could focus for example on whether
Meuraxa scores higher eg on the relevant Sustainable
Development Goals or the City Prosperity Index of UN-
Habitat, compared to other disaster-affected districts.
• It also recommends reviewing documentation of the
Yogyakarta post-earthquake urban planning response
to provide an additional Indonesian perspective, as well
as documentation of other international case studies of
urban planning after humanitarian crises – particularly
those where an international organisation provided
support for communities and local government to take the
lead.

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URBAN PLANNING IN BANDA ACEH: SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTORS AFTER THE TSUNAMI
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Funded by:
There is increasing awareness of the importance of humanitarian
agencies supporting and collaborating with local actors in
order to restore city functions following humanitarian crises.
This research aimed to document learning from UN-Habitat’s
experiences of supporting communities and local government
to undertake urban planning after the Indian Ocean earthquake
and tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in 2004. Despite the
challenges of urban planning after a complex crisis, in areas
devastated by the tsunami, UN-Habitat successfully supported
communities and local government to develop village plans, a
spatial plan for Meuraxa sub-district, and update the wider spatial
plan for Banda Aceh City.