Biography
Umar Al Faruq is a PhD researcher at the Department of Geography, interested in exploring how new forms of urbanisation are taking place in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Particularly, he is looking at how Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital city, came to be in the first place and by extension introduces new dynamics of urbanisation in the region.
He is a recipient of the London Arts & Humanities Partnership Doctoral Training Partnership (LAHP DTP) studentship, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Umar holds an MPhil in Human Geography from the University of Oslo and a BSc in Urban and Regional Planning from Bandung Institute of Technology.
Research
Thesis title: 'Nusantara in the Interregnum: Infrastructure-led Development and Technopolitics in the Production of Indonesia’s New Capital City'
In late 2019, Indonesia announced that it will build a new capital city in East Kalimantan. Named Nusantara, it has attracted both praise and criticism for a plethora of reasons. Official justifications for its construction range from Jakarta’s deterioration to a more even development towards eastern Indonesia. During a conjuncture in which new cities are being built alongside the development and urbanisation of technological capital in facilitating rentier practices i.e. smart urbanism, Nusantara is symptomatic of such broader processes while maintaining a front of developmentalist ambition. How, then, did Nusantara came to fruition?
The research aims to identify the co-constitutive processes involved in the production of Nusantara. This involves exploring how the megaproject is being imagined, driven, contested, or otherwise shaped by different actors and how certain urban imaginaries are produced and prioritised over others.
PhD supervision
- Principal supervisor: Dr Majed Akhter
- Secondary Supervisor: Professor Alex Loftus
Further details
Research
Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.
Contested Development research group
Exploring environmental, political and social questions in relation to contested and uneven processes of development.
Critical Global Capitalism Studies Collective
A collective bringing critical global capitalism research, teaching and activism at King's together under one umbrella to provide a forum for collaborations, events, and discussions, and to forge connections with the media, the policy world, and other like-minded groups.
Research
Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.
Contested Development research group
Exploring environmental, political and social questions in relation to contested and uneven processes of development.
Critical Global Capitalism Studies Collective
A collective bringing critical global capitalism research, teaching and activism at King's together under one umbrella to provide a forum for collaborations, events, and discussions, and to forge connections with the media, the policy world, and other like-minded groups.