During the Dutch East Indies period, Surabaya's city council was established on 1 April 1906 following a 1903 decentralization law.

The 1909 election had a registered electorate of just 1,398 Europeans (Surabaya's total population in 1905 was around 150,000[1]), with a turnout of around 25 percent.

[4] After Surabaya returned to Indonesian control after the handover of sovereignty, a Provisional Regional House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Sementara/DPRDS) was formed on 4 December 1950 and its appointed members sworn in on 7 December 1950.

[8] The legislature was based from the Resident's office until 1923, when it moved to a purpose-built city hall.

[10] The current speaker is Adi Sutarwijono [id] of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, holding the position since 24 August 2019.