The slow zone : designing alternative paths for the future of North Bali

Abstract

On the surface, Bali's narrative is one of dualism between rural and urban, traditional and modern, local and foreign. However, flows of commodity and patterns of human migration reveal that these dichotomies are irrelevant, as all coexist in different intensities to balance its two main economies: agriculture and tourism. The inability to recognize this interdependence has resulted in development projects that are harmful for both sectors. The Slow Zone is an alternative model of development that favors and engages local growth instead of relying on outside actors devoid of context. Following the 1997 Asia Financial Crisis, fiscal decentralization in Indonesia distributed administrative power from the province to the district level, creating competition among districts. The high profitability of real estate over agricultural land created development schemes that favor outside capital instead of local needs. The 2014 Village Law is a decentralization mechanism that provides direct funding for infrastructural development and village-owned enterprises based on each village's human and natural resource. The Slow Zone proposes reterritorialization of village networks based on agriculture and social relationships. The project site in North Bali represents a broad range of agricultural diversity, which become the foundation for the development schemes. Three design proposals: a mixed-use development, an inter-village cooperative, and an institution, each respectively located in the lowland, midland, and highland areas, respond to the political history, cultural richness, and geographical challenges of the local context. The goal of the spatial design strategies is to retain local control of land and economy through coupling, and not separation of, tourism and agriculture.