To ISDS or not to ISDS: A question of legitimacy in dispute resolution

Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) has gained prominence in recent years with an explosion in the number of investor claims against states. While the evolution of this type of arbitration was expected, its focus and context was not. Investors are currently bringing actions against developed states in unanticipated policy areas. Greece, facing actions from investors challenging its debt haircut and Spain, battling investor challenges to its revamped energy policy are examples of the use of arbitration as a political as well as a dispute resolution tool. It is for this reason why the proposal for the inclusion of ISDS in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has caused so much heated discussion. This paper examines the recent evolution and likely trajectory of investor state dispute settlement, reflecting on consequences for perceptions of arbitration and its links with politics and economics.

Industrial land development and manufacturing deconcentration in Greater Jakarta

Industrial land development has become a key feature of urbanization in Greater Jakarta, one of the largest metropolitan areas in Southeast Asia. Following Suharto’s marketoriented policy measures in the late 1980s, private developers have dominated the land development projects in Greater Jakarta. The article investigates the extent to which these private industrial centers have effectively reduced the domination of Jakarta in shaping the entire metropolitan structure. The analysis indicates that major suburban industrial centers have captured most of the manufacturing employment that has dispersed from Jakarta. The industrial centers have now increasingly specialized and diversified. It is likely that a polycentric metropolitan structure will emerge in the future.