Comparison of Hierarchical and Non-Hierarchical Methods in Clustering Cities in Java Island using the Human Development Index Indicators year 2018

Abstract

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index to assess the developmental level of life quality in a particular region. In 2018, Java Island, which geographically has the most regencies/ municipalities in Indonesia, achieved human development with “high” status and was followed by all its regencies which have also achieved human development with “high” status. Therefore, research was carried out on how the characteristics inherent in the high HDI have been achieved in regencies on Java Island and grouping them so that it is easy to interpret regencies/ municipalities with homogeneous characteristics. This study used the hierarchical cluster method (single linkage, average linkage, and ward) and non-hierarchical cluster methods (K-Means and FCM). The results show that the best hierarchical cluster method is the average linkage method which forms four clusters where the regencies/ municipalities with the best characteristics (dimensions of education, health, and high purchasing power) are Kepulauan Seribu, Bogor, and 78 other regencies/ municipalities. Then, the best non-hierarchical method is the FCM method which forms two clusters, with a prominent characteristic is those city areas have better characteristics than district areas.