Commercial gentrification and the marginalisation of prostitution in Indonesian metropolitan areas

Prostitution is a spatial phenomenon. It is typically concentrated in marginalised parts of a city due to commercial gentrification, which can alter an area’s social, cultural and physical characteristics. The evidence of a relationship between gentrification and prostitution is limited and largely built on qualitative studies focused on specific cases in specific areas. The objective of the current study is to examine direct and spillover effects of commercial gentrification on the likelihood of prostitution presence at the village/urban village level in Indonesia. Drawing on prostitution location and gentrification measures from Indonesia’s Village Potential Survey (PODES) dataset, these effects are examined at the highly granular and spatially accurate level of villages and urban villages within Indonesia’s metropolitan areas. Employing the general spatial model (GSM) based on spatial econometrics model selection testing, the study reveals that densities of hotels and inns have negative direct effects and positive spillover effects on the likelihood of prostitution presence in a village/urban village. The densities of other economic facilities, such as minimarkets or restaurants, exhibit significant negative direct effects but insignificant spillover effects on prostitution. These results hint at the process of touristification, and the prevalence of this phenomenon in Indonesia’s metropolitan areas.