Indonesia is an increasingly urban society. In 2011, for the first time, the number of people living in Indonesia's towns and cities exceeded those living in rural areas. That number is steadily increasing. By 2020, 56 per cent of Indonesians were urban dwellers (Malamassam and Katherina, this volume). In 2045, when Indonesia will celebrate 100 years of independence, it is estimated that 220 million people, or 70 per cent of the population, will live in towns and cities (Roberts et al. 2019: 2).

Recognising this reality requires a shift in perception. For much of the past century, Indonesians have viewed their national identity as reflecting the overwhelmingly rural composition of Indonesian society. The country's political movements have mostly competed for support in the villages. National governments have focused on servicing and securing the country's vast rural population. Back in the 1920s, when the young nationalist leader Sukarno imagined an archetypal Indonesian, he thought of ‘Marhaen’, a small farmer living in West Java (Soekarno 1960). Two decades later, when Sukarno proclaimed independence in 1945, only 12.5 per cent of the population lived in urban areas (Roberts et al. 2019: 1), more than 70 per cent were peasant farmers and 75 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) was derived from agriculture (Metcalf 1952: 7). Indonesia's national revolution played out mostly in the countryside and, over the subsequent two decades, the political parties that fought for control of Indonesia's government did so mostly by mobilising rural supporters. When Suharto assumed power in 1966, initiating his 32-year authoritarian New Order regime, still only 16 per cent of the population lived in towns and cities, a figure that had risen to 40 per cent by the time he resigned in 1998. Even so, Suharto's regime focused single-mindedly on securing its rural base, promoting agricultural and infrastructure development in the villages while celebrating achievements such as selfsufficiency in rice production. Even during the post-Suharto reformasi era, as Indonesia has become an increasingly urban society, its presidents have practised forms of ‘agro nationalism’ that emphasise ‘Indonesia's agrarian identity in policy and propaganda’ (Graham 2020).