A review of an article on “The historical development of public housing in Indonesia”, with focus on the literature review done: for Housing Studies students

A review of an article on “The historical development of public housing in Indonesia”, with focus on the literature review done: for Housing Studies students

 

How to describe the reference of the article in Harvard reference format?

Vitriana, A., Özogul, S., Mawhorter, S. & Woltjer, J., 2026. The historical development of public housing in Indonesia: a path dependence analysis. International Journal of Housing Policy, 26(1), pp.99–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2025.2482233 [Accessed 02 April 2025].

 

What are the research objectives, research issues, research philosophy and research type of the study?

Based on the provided document, the research details are as follows:

Research Objectives:

• To examine the historical trajectory of public housing development in Indonesia.
• To understand how key socio-political moments influenced the trajectory of public housing regulation in Indonesia.
• To analyse how power-sharing among multiple government levels has affected the institutional arrangement of public housing. These objectives aim to clarify the dynamic changes in Indonesian public housing arrangements since independence in 1945, focusing on institutional changes and governance shifts.

Research Issues:

• The retreating role of the state in public housing provision due to financial constraints and neoliberal regulatory trends.
• The linkage between Indonesia’s dominant single-family, owner-occupied housing model and low-income housing provision, especially the limited development of multifamily public housing.
• The influence of political and governance system transformations on public housing institutions.
• The increasing involvement of the private sector in low-income housing provision amid these changes.
• Limited international discourse on the institutional trajectory of public housing in Indonesia, a developing country context. These issues highlight gaps and challenges in understanding Indonesia’s public housing policy development and institutional arrangements.

Research Philosophy:

• The study employs a qualitative research philosophy, focusing on understanding institutional arrangements and historical trajectories through qualitative data analysis.
• It applies a path dependence approach, which is rooted in historical institutionalism, to interpret how past events and critical junctures influence the current institutional state of public housing governance.
• The qualitative approach is supported by document analysis of regulations and interviews with key informants to gain in-depth insights.

Research Type:

• Qualitative longitudinal case study research.
• The study analyses secondary data from 98 regulatory documents at various government levels, complemented by 11 interviews with high-ranking former and current government officials.
• The research focuses on West Java province as a representative case of Indonesia's largest population to provide comprehensive understanding of public housing institutional development over time.
• The research segments the historical development into four regulatory periods according to political and governance regime changes.

In summary, the study is a qualitative, longitudinal, path dependence analysis focusing on the institutional historical development of public housing in Indonesia through regulatory and interview data to address socio-political influences and governance structures shaping policy and practice.

 

How do the research philosophy, research type and research objectives of the study influence the literature review approach and literature review focus of the study?

The research philosophy, research type, and research objectives of the study significantly shape both the literature review approach and the literature review focus as follows:

1.    Influence of Research Philosophy (Qualitative and Path Dependence / Historical Institutionalism):

• Because the study adopts a qualitative research philosophy grounded in historical institutionalism and path dependence theory, the literature review emphasizes works that provide a deep conceptual and theoretical understanding of institutional dynamics, historical trajectories, and policy evolution in public housing.
• The literature review therefore focuses on prior studies that explain how institutions develop over time through critical junctures and reinforcing sequences, as well as the role of governance, state involvement, and neoliberalisation in shaping housing policy (e.g., the shift from state-led to privatized models in the Global North and developing countries).
• This qualitative and theoretical orientation encourages the review of academic discussions that interpret the socio-political and institutional context, rather than predominantly quantitative or empirical outcome-focused housing studies.

2.    Influence of Research Type (Qualitative Longitudinal Case Study):

• The longitudinal case study nature of the research means the literature review must cover a broad temporal scope, incorporating historical studies and analyses of public housing development over several decades, both globally and within Indonesia or comparable contexts.
• Comparative literature on public housing regimes in the Global North and developing countries is reviewed to situate Indonesia’s institutional trajectory within global and regional patterns, particularly considering the evolution of governance systems and the complexity of multi-level government interactions.
• The literature selected also includes prior case studies employing path dependence or historical institutionalism to analyze housing systems, helping to frame the methodology and analytical approach compatibly.

3.    Influence of Research Objectives:

• Since the objectives are to analyze historical trajectories, institutional change, and power-sharing arrangements in public housing governance, the literature review focuses on identifying relevant institutional theories, governance concepts, and empirical examples of state intervention and neoliberalisation in housing provision.
• The review attends to scholarship that clarifies how political and governance changes impact housing policy and provision, emphasizing institutional continuity and change across different socio-political contexts.
• It also covers housing policy frameworks emphasizing the state’s role, market involvement, and the challenges unique to developing countries, addressing the gap in understanding Indonesia’s housing development.

Summary: The qualitative, path dependence-oriented philosophy and longitudinal case study approach steer the literature review toward institutional and governance theories related to public housing history and policy evolution, with an emphasis on critical socio-political junctures and multi-level governmental roles. The objectives drive a focus on historical institutionalism, neoliberalisation trends, and comparative public housing contexts to construct a theoretical foundation aligning with the study’s empirical, regulatory, and interview data analysis.

 

Does the literature review examine any major academic theories?

Yes, the literature review in the study examines major academic theories, particularly focusing on path dependence and historical institutionalism frameworks.

·        Path Dependence Theory: The literature review discusses path dependence as a key concept to understand the longitudinal development of public housing institutions in Indonesia. It highlights how historical chains of events and critical junctures influence the current form of institutions, leading to institutional continuity or constrained change over time. This theory explains the tendency for housing policies and regulations to follow a reinforcing sequence, making alternative policy paths difficult to access once a certain trajectory is established.

·        Historical Institutionalism (HI): Historical institutionalism is used as a social science research method that focuses on how institutions — in this case, norms, rules, and public housing regulations — are created, maintained, or changed over time. This theory provides insight into the social and political processes behind institutional development. The concept of critical junctures within HI is discussed as moments in history when policy directions become path dependent or are susceptible to change.

·        Neoliberalism / Neoliberalisation Trends: The literature review also addresses neoliberal regulatory trends affecting public housing globally and in developing countries. It explores how state roles have shifted toward empowering market mechanisms and private sector involvement in low-income housing provision, with varying impacts in different contexts. This theoretical framing helps interpret Indonesia's gradual regulatory engagement of private actors in public housing provision.

The study integrates these major theories to analyze the historical trajectory of public housing governance in Indonesia, conceptualizing institutional development as a product of both reinforcing historical pathways and socio-political influences shaped by neoliberalisation trends.

In summary, the literature review grounds its analysis in established academic theories of path dependence and historical institutionalism, enriched by discussions on neoliberalism’s influence on housing policy.

 

Describe 2 research limitations and 2 literature review limitations of the study.

·        The study acknowledges several limitations related to both its research methodology and literature review:

Research Limitations:

1.    Uneven Distribution of Interviewees Across Historical Periods: The authors note an imbalance in the representation of interviewees with experience from the different historical phases of Indonesian public housing development. Particularly, it was challenging to find individuals with direct experience from the earlier periods, which may limit the depth and comprehensiveness of insights into those phases.

2.    Potential Bias or Inaccuracy in Interview Data: While the study conducted semi-structured interviews with high-ranking current and former government officials to verify regulatory analysis, the authors acknowledge the possibility of encountering inaccurate or biased information from participants, given their positions and perspectives. The researchers mitigated this by using a systematic approach aiming for data saturation but recognize it as a limitation.

Literature Review Limitations:

3.    Limited Existing Research on Developing Countries’ Public Housing Institutional Trajectories: The literature review points out that institutional trajectories of public housing in developing countries, including Indonesia, remain largely underexplored compared to the well-researched contexts in the Global North. This gap constrains comparative insights and theoretical framing based on extensive cases, limiting the depth of the literature review.

4.    Scarcity of Indonesia-Specific Public Housing Studies in Global Discourse: The study highlights the limited international discourse and academic literature focusing specifically on Indonesia’s public housing history and institutional arrangements. This restricts the ability to ground their analysis in a broad range of prior studies and theoretical debates centered on Indonesia’s unique context.

These limitations suggest opportunities for further research to deepen understanding of Indonesia's public housing policy development and to integrate a broader range of perspectives and contexts in future studies.