Spatial Justice and Urban Mobility Governance: Reconstructing the Policy Framework for Resolving Fatal Traffic Accidents in Indonesian Metropolitan Areas

Abstract

This study examines the intersection between spatial justice, urban mobility governance, and criminal justice policy in the context of fatal traffic accidents in Indonesian metropolitan areas. Deaths resulting from road accidents represent a critical failure of the built environment management system. Yet, the applicable regulatory framework treats them solely as criminal matters without considering spatial, infrastructural, and community dimensions. Using a post-positivist normative legal research approach supplemented by empirical data from four metropolitan police jurisdictions (Polda Metro Jaya, Polres Brebes, Polres Blora, and Polres Semarang), this study analyzes how the retributive orientation of Indonesian traffic accident regulations creates spatial injustice by severing the link between case resolution and the urban communities where the harm occurred. The findings reveal three critical governance gaps: (1) the absolute prohibition of restorative resolution in Article 235 of the Road Traffic Law contradicts the urban governance paradigm that prioritizes community-based conflict resolution; (2) institutional fragmentation between the police, prosecutors, courts, and transportation agencies results in spatially uneven justice; and (3) transactional legal culture reduces the restorative process to financial compensation that is detached from the spatial and social context of the affected community. This study proposes a regulatory reconstruction that integrates the principles of restorative justice into the framework of urban mobility governance. These findings contribute to the interdisciplinary discourse on spatial justice, urban governance, and the social dimensions of mobility infrastructure.