This article investigates the way in which periurban politics have mediated foreign direct investment relocations and facilitated the spatial restructuring of the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA), one of the largest and fastest‐growing megaurban regions in Asia. We conducted a series of in‐depth interviews in Cikarang, the largest, most developed industrial estate corridor in the urban periphery of JMA. We identified institutional settings, power struggles and governance mechanisms underlying the industrial estate transitions in the past three decades. We found that periurban governance in JMA has resulted in poor infrastructure connectivity and tight interactor and inter‐regional competition. As global economic turbulence and decentralization policies restrict the effectiveness of privatization strategies, network strategies are trialled to promote sustainability and inclusiveness in JMA's industrial estates and towns.