Assessing Stakeholder Collaboration and Participation in Spatial Planning: A Case Study of Talang Kelapa Urban Area, South Sumatera, Indonesia

Abstract

The comprehensive spatial planning is a complex long-term plan prepared to achieve sustainable urban growth. To strive for an optimal drafting process, the level of participation and collaboration of each stakeholder element must be measured to avoid potential problems among stakeholders in the future. The present study aims to assess the process of stakeholder collaboration and participation in spatial planning for the Talang Kelapa urban area, Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The research was conducted by qualitative interviews followed by the Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the main indicators of collaboration and the level of participation of the stakeholders involved. Furthermore, Confirmatory Factor Analysis is used to measure the level of validity and reliability of each indicator used. The results of the study show that nine indicators determine the success of the participation and collaboration during spatial planning, namely (1) the history of collaboration, (2) the existence of collaborative groups on the environmental dimension, (3) mutual understanding (in the dimension of member characteristics), (4) flexibility (in the dimensions of structure and process), (5) communication intensity (in the communication dimension), (6) goal achievement, (7) shared vision (in the goal dimension), (8) adequacy of funds, and (9) human resource improvement (in the resource dimension). The level of participation and collaboration of stakeholders in the studied area is in the medium category meaning that the relationship between each stakeholder is still formal and has not occurred optimally. The results could be a first step to figure out where the participation and collaboration between stakeholder and optimally conduct the suggested model to perform spatial planning. The aim is to make the best spatial planning and avoid the future problem in Talang Kelapa.