Policy Gaps in Urban Sustainability: Where Are the Holes?

According to DevelopmentAid, approximately 80% of global carbon emissions are directly linked to just 57 major companies and state-owned enterprises (Filipenco, 2024). Admittedly, these corporations are still heavily reliant on the use of fossil fuels. There are several contributing factors as to why major companies haven’t yet fully integrated or transitioned into renewable energy sources; the most apparent being that fossil fuels are considerably the cheapest source of fuel to extract and produce, therefore making it the most profitable and economically viable. Moreover, fossil fuels are greatly more energy-dense in comparison to renewables, this means that they contain more energy per unit of mass or volume. Essentially, this makes fossil fuels a very convenient power source and taking into account the availability of these resources, this makes fossil fuels a very ideal source of energy. This convenience has resulted in society’s dependence on fossil fuels, having used these resources for thousands of years throughout numerous civilizations globally, especially after the industrial revolution. Due to our history of reliance on these resources, it is blatant to say that fossil fuels have a very well-established infrastructure (Gross, n.d.).

However, fossil fuels are severely limited resources and considering their negative impact towards the environment, this is why they are considered “unsustainable”. Energy is considered renewable when it is derived from natural resources that are continuously and constantly being regenerated at a rate faster than they are consumed. In contrast, oils and coal are critically being consumed much faster than they are being produced, even a million times over. For fossil fuels to be made, they must first go through very specific geological processes with distinct climate conditions, under immense heat and pressure. These circumstances often take millions of years to undergo before finally producing fossil fuels, these power sources are gravely finite. Conversely, renewable energy sources produce output that can be replenished in a human timescale — something that fossil fuels aren’t able to do.

Urban sustainability can be defined as the development of urban areas, such as metropolitan zones, towns and cities, while meeting eco-friendly qualifications to preserve our environment and the future of our society. Oftentimes, sustainability efforts are characterized by their tendency to feature renewable energy technology and recyclable materials. The past several years has seen a major focus on more urban sustainability efforts as essentially, to build a future for our youth, there first needs to be a future for our youth.Though it is apparent that these endeavors have proven to not be as simple and straightforward as they may sound.

Evidently, while there have been a major increase in efforts on establishing more sustainable business-practices, there remains a large amount of policy gaps that prevent this objective from being furthered. A policy gap can be defined by inconsistencies or disparities between a policy’s intended goals and its actual implementation and outcomes. There are two distinct categories of policy gaps; adoption gaps, which refers to the failure, shortcomings or imperfections of the implementation and adoption of these policies at the local government level; and outcome gaps, which refers to the notion that policies already adopted can fail to meet expectations or set targets to deliver the desired outcomes. At its core, policy gaps remain very much political instead of the technocratic nature one might think they possess, which could prove to be one of the reasons why there remains a persistent struggle in achieving the needed outcomes.

Countries may suffer challenges ranging from financial burdens to a lack of qualified human resources to not only implement newly passed policies but to carry out the demands these policies may set. Undoubtedly, being sustainable isn’t a cheap option and therefore, developing countries may not see it as an economically viable choice. Weak institutional capacity and inadequate municipal financing restricts the further development of these approaches. Notably, the lack of coordination between the numerous stakeholders involved also hinders progress as these differing parties may possess contrasting needs and intentions. Hence, a conflict of interests. Effectively, this means that there is persistent discrepancy between local, national and international actors’ interests. When priorities aren’t aligned, it is difficult to establish proper collaboration; it is inevitable that each party and stakeholder would seek incentives or benefits before they are willing to cooperate. The political nature of these policy gaps essentially create competing precedents and political resistance from affected groups, which adds on to the overall inhibition of these efforts (Cairney, 2023).

Jakarta has always been a city facing severe urban sustainability challenges primarily due to flooding and land subsidence. The city is situated in a water basin with numerous rivers passing through it but the amount of vegetation and open spaces have significantly decreased over the course of the last few decades due to land use change (Hamasy, 2025). Subsequently, this has led to an increase in surface water runoff and even tidal flooding after severe and excessive extraction of deep groundwater. Moreover, the city’s constant use and dependence on fossil fuels, leading to severe pollution within every sector only adds onto the problem. The combination of these factors suggests that by 2025, as much as 95% of Jakarta’s coastal areas could be submerged (Raheela Mahomed, 2020).

As a response, there grew a spike in efforts for spatial planning which includes green open space conservation and reforestation. However, as always, there were major obstacles preventing the mission from being accomplished; ranging from land acquisition to a lack of systematic understanding of the natural hydrological systems which are integral to said spatial planning. This case highlights the crucial policy gaps in urban sustainability related to land use planning, integrated water management, governance coordination and climate adaptation. Recognizing these challenges, the Indonesian government took drastic measures and decided to relocate the nation’s capital away from Jakarta, aiming to reduce the burden of flood management and support sustainable development.

It is fundamentally inconceivable to use such drastic measures within every similar case but that is not to say that it is impossible to fight back against these threats. There are a wide range of mechanisms to close these gaps as an attempt to further our society into the sustainable utopia we all dream of. The most apparent may be enhanced governance and coordination, the strengthening of inter-agency collaboration at both local and national levels is paramount. With stronger coordination and broader education, more approaches such as the integration of green infrastructure are bound to happen. In Jakarta’s attempts to shift to a more sustainable future, it is dire that more people should be educated on the importance of renewable energy. Everyone has a part to play in the sustainable development of our society, we are not a one man army.

Works Cited

Filipenco, D. (2024, April 30). Just 57 companies accounted for 80% of the world's CO2 emissions in the last 6 years. DevelopmentAid. Retrieved September 1, 2025, from https://www.developmentaid.org/news-stream/post/178528/57-companies-companies-responsible-80-of-the-worlds-co2-emissions

Gross, S. (n.d.). Why are fossil fuels so hard to quit? | Brookings. Brookings Institution. Retrieved September 1, 2025, from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-are-fossil-fuels-so-hard-to-quit/

Cairney, P. (2023). The Politics of Policy analysis: Theoretical Insights on Real World Problems. Journal of European Public Policy, 30(9), 1–19.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2221282

Hamasy, A. (2025, July 23). Jakarta Targets Abandoned Land to Become Green Space. Kompas.id. https://www.kompas.id/artikel/en-jakarta-bidik-lahan-terbengkalai-untuk-jadi-ruang-hijau

Raheela Mahomed. (2020). Most of Jakarta’s coastal areas could be submerged by 2050. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/video/2020/1/11/most-of-jakartas-coastal-areas-could-be-submerged-by-2050