Managing Sustainable Industrial Urban Transformation: The Role of Transnational Education Facilities in Jababeka Industrial

Abstract

Urban industrial cities increasingly encounter complex challenges in steering sustainable transformation as they transition from manufacturing-oriented zones into multifunctional urban environments. Jababeka Industrial City (JIC), one of Indonesia’s foremost industrial estates, provides a compelling example of how Transnational Education Facilities (TEF) can operate as strategic actors in urban management during this transition. This study investigates the role of TEF in supporting sustainable industrial–urban transformation in JIC using a mixed-methods design that combines qualitative insights from literature review and field observations with quantitative evidence derived from questionnaires distributed to residents and TEF stakeholders. The findings indicate that TEF contribute not only to industry collaboration, workforce development, and the attraction of foreign investment but also to broader dimensions of urban management, including social cohesion, human capital enhancement, and sustainability-oriented initiatives such as eco-industrial cooperation. TEF function as knowledge-intensive
infrastructures that influence governance practices, facilitate multi-stakeholder coordination, and reinforce JIC’s progression toward a more resilient and inclusive industrial–urban ecosystem. The study concludes that TEF hold a pivotal role in advancing sustainable industrial urban transformation by integrating the interests of education, industry, and local communities that offering a transferable model for embedding higher education within the governance of rapidly developing industrial cities.