Zulfikar Putra

Zulfikar Putra

Research

Subject

The Development of Grassroots Simulation as a Planning Support System for Community-centred City Planning

First and second supervisors 

Abstract

Grassroots communities are increasingly dominant in intervening in urban issues with their small-scale projects, fulfilling gaps in urban issues where the local government are too slow to respond or not aware of it at all. However, because of the small-scale and non-government nature of these initiatives, not all of them can consistently survive and continue to contribute to cities. There is a lack of a planning method to allocate these initiatives to suitable urban neighbourhoods based on their socio-spatial characteristics. The current planning support system only focuses on supporting technocratic decisions of top-down government plans; little attention is drawn to detect space where grassroots communities can suitably grow, contributing to the city longer. 

My research seeks to formulate a grassroots simulation by investigating the survivability factors of grassroots initiatives, using  “waste banks” in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, as an empirical case. The central question in this research would be, “How to assess the location suitability for grassroots initiatives implementation in urban areas considering their survival factors and neighbourhood characteristics?” A combination of survival analysis and spatiotemporal scan statistics are utilised to unpack the key factors that are significantly associated with the grassroots’ survivability, given their spatial distribution across the city and different socio-spatial characteristics. In the end, a novel planning support system manifested as an interactive simulation dashboard is developed. The simulation is based on the findings of significant variables that are associated with grassroots survivability. These variables act as indicators and parameters for developing the “rule of the game” and scenario within the simulation. This simulation is expected to be used by planners and other stakeholders who want to adopt community-centred solutions for their urban intervention strategy. Overall, this research contributes to the underexplored theoretical debates on the community-centred planning support system in solving urban problems that are based on action rather than process.

Biography

Zulfikar is a lecturer in the Urban and Regional Planning program at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. He has several publications in international journals and books. He has more than seven years of experience working in academia, consulting firms, and UN agencies, which exposed him to the intersection of the theoretical and practical world of urban planning. His research interests are around topics related to planning support systems, spatiotemporal analysis, geographic information systems, community planning, people-centred smart cities, citizen engagement in the planning process, co-creation processes, urban innovation and technologies, online platforms, design thinking, sustainable development, and climate action research. He was appointed as a research assistant for the British Academy Innovation Fellowship and UKRI Policy Fellowship in 2023-2025.

Publications

  • Putra, Z.D.W. and Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2024) “Mind the gap: revitalizing action planning through social networks in Yogyakarta,” International Planning Studies, 29(1), pp. 34–53. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13563475.2023.2290469. 

  • Putra, Z.D.W. (2022) “The Sentiments of Indonesian Urban Citizens Regarding the Lockdown-Like Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” International Journal of E-Planning Research, 11(1), pp. 1–20. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEPR.297515. 

  • Putra, Z.D.W. (2021) “Are we facing complex problems or complex solutions? A reflection on urban slum planning through the lens of complexity: A case of Indonesia,” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 916(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/916/1/012014. 

  • Putra, Z.D.W. and van der Knaap, W.G.M. (2020) “Pasikola: A Co-Creation Process in Urban Transportation Innovation of Makassar City, Indonesia,” International Journal of E-Planning Research, 9(3), pp. 24–46. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEPR.2020070102. 

  • Putra, Z.D.W. and van der Knaap, W. (2019) “A smart city needs more than just technology: Amsterdam’s Energy Atlas project,” in L. Anthopoulos (ed.) Smart City Emergence. 1st edn. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 129–147. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816169-2.00006-7. 

  • Putra, Z.D.W. and van der Knaap, W.G.M. (2018) “Urban innovation system and the role of an open web-based platform: The case of Amsterdam smart city,” Journal of Regional and City Planning, 29(3), pp. 234–249. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5614/jrcp.2018.29.3.4.

Funding

  • Beasiswa Pendidikan Indonesia (BPI) Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, the Republic of Indonesia 

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