The results of a 2011 SMERU study on urban spatial poverty and the relationship between city spatial planning and efforts to reduce poverty in Kota (the City of) Surakarta and Kota Makassar suggest that there is only a limited understanding by stakeholders, particularly the local government work units (SKPD), of the relationship between the elements of spatial planning and efforts to reduce poverty. In addition to this, efforts to reduce poverty in both Surakarta and Makassar still tend to focus on programmatic approaches and budget considerations and have yet to directly involve city spatial planning. Therefore, SMERU recommends that stakeholders (i) increase their awareness of the importance of spatially-based poverty information and the characteristics of spatial poverty as fundamental considerations in formulating urban spatial master plans and in designing poverty reduction efforts and (ii) create a social protection and poverty reduction system that is sensitive to the needs, livelihood conditions, and vulnerabilities of the poor according to the spatial context of the group