Planning of local road development in Indonesia

While relatively sophisticated planning systems are now in use for Indonesia's arterial and collector road network, these cannot yet be applied to the much larger local road network because of the significant differences in the condition and management of the two networks. A simpler planning system has been developed and introduced for all local roads which is more suited to decentralised decision-making and the often rudimentary planning skills available at local level. This seeks to harmonise rational, economic and technical criteria for works selection with traditional, less formal, consensus-based methods. Application of the planning system in practice has encountered many problems, some of which may be unique to Indonesia, and the lessons learnt are being used to refine and develop the procedures, but in general the system provides appropriate planning tools that can give both government and donors confidence that rational decisions are being made.