Governing sustainable corridor development: A case study of the Gilimanuk–Denpasar–Padang Bai corridor in Indonesia

In regional planning, and more specifically transport corridor development, sustainability is often overshadowed by economic ambitions and prospects. This contribution explores how the governance of corridor development processes can enhance sustainability. It presents findings from the planning process for the Gilimanuk–Denpasar–Padang Bai (GDP) Corridor in Bali, Indonesia. The analysis is guided by a theoretical framework that builds on literature on regional development, corridor development, sustainability and governance. Using process tracing, the analysis investigates the influence of five governance factors on the process of sustainable corridor development and its outcomes, notably the presence of a sustainability vision, the governance mode, the actor constellation, the available knowledge, and the institutional setting. Whereas literature on sustainable corridors suggests that governance structures and corridor management are needed, this contribution analysis how and under what conditions these structures in practice contribute to sustainable outcomes. The findings show how the original economic focus of the corridor gradually evolved into a more sustainable one, although not all potentials were realized. These illustrate that sustainable corridors require governance of interaction processes, involving a dynamic and contextualized constellation of governance factors, that co‐evolves during the planning process. Despite that the GDP corridor gradually developed into a more sustainable direction, the presence of a sustainability rather than an economic focus from the onset would have increased the potentials of realizing sustainability ambitions.