Palimpsests of power: reading the heritage landscape ofVillapark in Surakarta from New Order regime to the Reformera of Indonesia

Villapark, established as a residential area for the Dutch elite in theearly twentieth century, has undergone significant transformationsreflects the shifted in ways tied to broader political changes acrossSurakarta. This study examines how local elites appropriated theVillapark landscape as a political instrument to construct and sus-tain legitimacy from the New Order period to the Reform era. Theconcept of Palimpsests of Power explains how Villapark functions asa layered space of meanings, where colonial, national, and localsymbols are continuously rewritten by ruling regimes. In relation tothe palimpsest of power in Villapark, the combination of Peirce’striadic semiotics, Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power, andLefebvre’s theory of the production of space, and landscape archae-ology provide an integrated framework for reading layered inscrip-tions of authority. Data were collected through fieldwork includedwalking sites, and spatial analyses of historical maps and photo-graphs. The findings demonstrate that Villapark became an arena ofcontestation between colonial heritage and postcolonial authority,where spatial symbols were mobilised to shape new narratives ofpolitical legitimacy. Thus, Villapark can be understood as a site inwhich shifting regimes continuously produce, regulate, and re-signify space as a strategic medium for constructing and sustainingpolitical authority.