New Economic Hub proposal in West Java Based on Toll Road Connectivity Using Community Detection

A region's economic activity has a significant impact on the growth of its surroundings. Adequate connectivity (e.g., toll roads, railways, airlines and others) are essential to the inter-regional economy and encourage new economic hub. Indonesia is intensively constructing toll road infrastructure and West Java province has the highest number of planned/operating it. This study aims to identify new economic hubs in West Java based on connectivity between regencies/cities with toll roads. The new hubs are identified by using a community detection approach. To support the idea, this study illustrates cities/regencies as vertices and connectivity of cities/regencies with toll roads as edges, resulting in a graph. The community detection algorithm breaks down into several sub-graphs and is evaluated using modularity. This study also presents suggestions of potential economic sectors that can be developed collaboratively among intra-cluster members. Five new economic hubs have been identified with modularity value = +0.63. The new economic hub in the northwestern part of West Java has potential in the industrial and tourism sectors. New economic hubs in central-northern West Java have potential in the industry, agriculture and tourism sectors. New economic hubs in eastern West Java have potential in the fisheries and tourism sectors. New economic hubs in western and southern West Java have potential in the agriculture and tourism sectors.