Securing “Standby” and Urban Space Making in Jakarta: Intensities in Search of Forms

When residents of Jakarta look out upon their situations and physical settings, what looks secure? What kinds of “looks” enable them to act with a sense of assuredness, while, at the same time, enabling them not to be stuck in particular positions or outcomes? What is security in uncertain environments, particularly when what passes as certainty is not only deceptive but also constraining, limiting what residents can do with the very uncertain conditions that they face and help constitute? What kinds of looks can navigate the supposedly countervailing needs for predictability and contingency? In this chapter I take up these