Projects

Winongo River Redevelopment | Yogyakarta, Indonesia

This project explores the potential of an area facing multiple challenges with limited resources. The City of Yogyakarta is a well-known tourism destination as the site of the famous temple of Borobudur. It is also a significant government, education, and historic/cultural center. Having said that, the economy has failed to diversify into other sectors and has limited industrial and service sector employment. Tourism is still seen as a potential driver of development, although most of the infrastructure is relatively undeveloped.

Significant parts of the city are characterized by dense informal settlements, particularly along the rivers where there is occasional flooding. Some of these areas are heavily polluted and lack modern services (eg. clean water, sanitation, solid waste management). Nevertheless, these rivers are an amenity and provide an appealing open space network where residents mix daily life activities with leisure and recreation.

The World Bank hired the team to explore the pre-feasibility of various development options that would help improve the area and contribute to broader economic development. “Pre-feasibility” in this case meant determining: roughly where and what the project is, what it might cost, revenue it might generate, economic (and other) impacts it might have, ways to recoup the cost, and determining whether benefits exceed the cost.

The end recommendation was for a new "River Walk" attraction and some limited property development that would help fund various needed infrastructure improvements.

Planning for the project was a complex process that required economic research and analysis, examination of environmental and social impacts, assessments of technical and financial feasibility, and public consultation/community engagement.

Role: While employed at AECOM as a Director of Economics + Planning, Brian Jennett lead a team of economists, tourism specialists, and property professionals, as well as urban designers, environmental and transportation planners, civil engineers, sociologists, policy and legal experts, local academics, and community facilitators to complete this work.

Key Facts:

11 kilometers of river
3 square kilometers of land to be redeveloped in 11 adjacent neighborhoods (mostly informal settlements)
70,000 people potentially affected
Solution was a new River Walk attraction.

Elements included:

New pathways and landscaping, both along the river and through the adjacent neighborhoods
Flood management measures
Sanitation systems, solid waste management solutions
Improvement of existing and creation of new parks
Establishment of new markets and food and beverage destinations
Development of hotels
Limited resettlement of existing residents
Total Estimated Cost: $160 million
Total Estimated Economic Impact: $200-450 million
Project is justifiable if economic impacts included in the cost-benefit analysis

4 key steps:

Collecting data, analyzing the situation, and consulting with the community
Figuring out what the project should be (determining the criteria, ranking and prioritizing options, making a recommendation)
Making a preliminary assessment of feasibility (technical, economic, environmental, social)
Getting confirmation from the bank and the community on what has been proposed, and writing a terms of reference for follow-on work

Priority Projects after Scoring, Ranking, and Filtering:

Study Process

Data collection, situation analysis, and community consultation.
Project scoping: defining criteria, ranking options, and recommending solutions.
Preliminary feasibility review: technical, economic, environmental, and social.
Confirmation with the World Bank and community, plus drafting terms of reference for next steps.

Key Findings

The riverwalk should serve as the anchor project, tying into the city through beautification, infrastructure, and tourism.
The project is technically and economically feasible, though land acquisition, resettlement, and political/legal issues pose challenges.
Financing can work if phased over time with cost recovery mechanisms (e.g., commercial activities, taxes, or other benefit-capture strategies).

Anticipated Benefits

Boost in tourist visits, longer stays, and more spending.
Job creation in construction and long-term service sectors.
More tax revenue for local government (business, property, consumption).
Creation of high-quality open spaces and recreational amenities for residents.
Improved sanitation, solid waste management, and water quality.
Reduced flooding and better public health outcomes.
Stronger neighborhood identity, safety, and connectivity to existing attractions (Malioboro, Kraton).
More retail, dining, hotel, and cultural opportunities.

Potential Challenges and Risks

Household displacement and landowner conflicts.
Risk of gentrification, with rising taxes and property values pushing out residents.
Increased noise, traffic, and loss of neighborhood identity.
Social adjustment difficulties for resettled populations.
Benefits may flow to outsiders more than current residents.

Financial and Economic Feasibility

Estimated cost: $94–157M (about $100M bank-funded if excluding hotel and F&B development).
Financial feasibility depends on excluding major resettlement/infrastructure costs and optimistic tourism growth (+400% over 10 years, modeled after Malacca’s +600%).
Broader economic impacts projected at $30–70M annually, or $200–450M total in long-term gains, not counting health, flood prevention, and quality-of-life improvements.
Additional $24M in property value increases near the project.

Relocation & Resettlement

Estimated at $1–5M, or up to $17M in more intensive redevelopment scenarios (not considered politically viable).

Strategic Considerations

The project should be tied into a larger tourism and development strategy for Yogyakarta.
Commercial development should be carefully balanced to fund costs but maintain community acceptance.
Alternatives include broader infrastructure improvements instead of a riverwalk, though these may deliver fewer tourism-related benefits.
Tourism-driven development may be the most effective way to both preserve cultural heritage and attract private investment.

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