The Industry–Settlement–Environment Nexus in a Nickel-Based Industrial Zone: DPSIR Analysis and Spatial Planning Policy Implications in Morowali Regency, Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36574/Keywords:
nickel industrial zone, , DPSIR, spatial planning, industry–settlement–environment nexus, downstream processing, Morowali, strategic issuesAbstract
The Morowali Industrial Park managed by PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) ranks among the world’s largest nickel-based industrial zones and has been designated as a National Strategic Project (NSP) within Indonesia’s mineral downstream processing policy framework. IMIP’s presence has triggered rapid spatial growth in Bahodopi District, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi, yet without adequate preparation in spatial planning, infrastructure provision, or environmental carrying capacity. This article analyses the causal dynamics among three interconnected ecosystems—industrial, settlement, and environmental—identifies strategic issues across spatial scales, and evaluates the existing spatial planning policy responses. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach that integrates the DPSIR (Driving Force–Pressure–State–Impact–Response) framework, a multi-level policy synthesis of 26 regulatory documents spanning national to local levels, environmental carrying capacity and assimilation analysis (ECC), and a SWOT matrix, this study finds that the dynamics of the three ecosystems in the IMIP zone are characterised by mutually reinforcing feedback loops between industrial growth and urbanisation, while the environmental ecosystem faces cumulative pressures that exceed the capacity of existing policy responses. Six strategic issues are identified across macro–meso–micro spatial scales: regulatory vacuum in spatial governance; urban settlement infrastructure deficits; environmental quality degradation; low accessibility and connectivity; weak human resource capacity and mono-economic dependency; and high disaster vulnerability. Policy synthesis reveals a significant implementation gap between the national downstream processing policy and local governance capacity. This article argues that extractive industrial zones in developing countries require anticipatory, ecosystem-integrated planning approaches rather than reactive and piecemeal responses. The IMIP case study offers policy lessons relevant to resource-based industrialisation in developing countries worldwide.
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