Appendix N
Resource Cities Program: Case Study
Strategic Planning For New Town
Development and Management Information
Systems in Kabupaten Bandung
Background
Ringing the City of Bandung, Kabupaten Bandung is like a ‘giant belt’ around the Bandung Metropolitan Area. Kabupaten Bandung covers a large rural area with varying growth rates throughout. Traffic in the city and kabupaten is heavily influenced by a high population growth rate. Congested roadways, heavy air pollution, flooding and high volumes of solid waste are several of the problems that Kabupaten Bandung is facing.
In addition to the physical problems, Kabupaten Bandung’s seventeen information systems are not integrated. This leads to problems with development planning and monitoring and overall communication within and between local government departments.
In order to relieve some of the pressure on the high growth areas in the kabupaten, as well as explore opportunities to attract green industry. Bandung is working on developing a new town in Tegalluar, which is located in an area near the City of Bandung that is prone to flooding. To help alleviate some of the traffic and congestion problems of the kabupaten, Bandung with its partner, the City of Santa Clarita, California has decided to work on designing a strategic plan for the development of the new town and to look for ways to resolve the flooding problem in the area. They are further interested in integrating the management systems of the local government to support the development of Tegalluar.
The City of Santa Clarita is itself a new town, having been built only fifteen years ago. As such, they share a unique expertise in the physical, political, and financial processes of new town development that they agreed to share with Kabupaten Bandung through a Resource Cities Partnership.
Problem Statement
The first step in the strategic planning process for the new town and the integrated information system was to identify the constraints and the opportunities presented by the project and to then determine the desired outcomes.
In terms of strategic planning for new town development and information management systems, the initial exercise resulted in the need for:
Project Description
Kabupaten Bandung established a planning team with representatives from different departments and institutions from the local government as well as the community. It was determined that it is important to include representatives from each of the key areas that are involved with developing the concept for a new town. Information, as well as the process, is shared to help each team member to understand and support the entire process, as well as understand how their individual component fits into the larger plan. For this project, Santa Clarita is involving Newhall Land to work with Kabupaten Bandung and provide master planning guidance. Newhall Land is a major landowner/developer in the City of Santa Clarita and offers valuable insight regarding long range strategic planning and master planning development. Santa Clarita also will facilitate discussions with other agencies to develop insight regarding the development of a marketing plan to attract an international investor to partner with the Kabupaten on the development of the new town.
Bandung has a critical need for data and integrated information systems to manage remote facilities. The team decided to incorporate a technology pilot program into the new town development process as a catalyst for developing integrated information systems. The creation of a technology pilot will seek to integrate data and systems from the following agencies: Planning Department, Central IT/KPDE, Human Settlement Department, and Statistical Office. Information management planning for Bandung is attached to the new town development in Tegalluar, as strong integrated information systems will support the implementation and monitoring of the plan. The concept for the pilot is to use the experience of planning for the new town, and the necessary data development and integration, to develop a model for the Kabupaten to apply organizationally. Significant issues to address include hardware/equipment, development of application technologies, development of internal business practices on data development and maintenance, and training. Steps to develop the pilot include:
Implementation Timeline
Trip #1: January 2002 in Bandung
During this trip, the partners determined the areas of focus for the partnership and developed the work plan. The key elements of the work plan include:
Trip #2: May 2002 in Santa Clarita
The purpose of this visit was for the Bandung delegation to have an introduction to the strategic planning methodology and information systems used in Santa Clarita. The Santa Clarita team prepared a comprehensive how-to manual for the strategic planning process and gave a short training to the Bandung delegation. Following this introductory training, the Bandung team requested a more comprehensive training for the new town development team in the kabupaten to take place on the third exchange.
Trip #3: August 2002 in Bandung
Following up on the request from Bandung, on the third exchange, the Santa Clarita team conducted a “train-the-trainers” session on strategic planning for the Tegalluar new town development team. The three-day session focused on breaking down the key elements of the plan and devising a strategy for working on each element. The training was attended by over twenty staff members from the kabupaten.
Trip #4: February 2003 in Santa Clarita
The fourth trip focused on obtaining the buy-in for the strategic planning process from key decision makers in the Bandung government. Santa Clarita worked with the high-level delegation to help them understand their roles and responsibilities related to moving the development of the new town forward. Santa Clarita facilitated meetings between the Bandung delegation and agencies that could offer significant input on the draft marketing plan for the new town. Meetings included discussions with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (to obtain input from a business/investor attraction perspective), Los Angeles County Regional Planning (to obtain input on infrastructure development as it relates to the new town), and Newhall Land (to obtain input from the developer’s perspective).
Trip #5: July 2003 in Bandung
The focus of the fifth exchange visit will be on refinement of the marketing plan and on conducting stakeholder meetings with critical agencies. The purpose of these meetings is to preview the marketing plan and concept for the new town, develop support and cooperation for the project, and then use this support to bolster the new town concept in the marketing plan. In addition, this visit will further explore public/private partnerships for the new town, specifically regarding infrastructure and land assemblage, to enhance the attractiveness of the new town concept.
Trip # 6: August/September 2003 in Santa Clarita
The sixth visit will focus on revising and evaluating the steps that need to be carried out by Kabupaten Bandung to continue the strategic planning process after the formal relationship with Santa Clarita ends.
Trip #7: Time to be determined, in Bandung
On the final visit, the partners will present an overview and summary of their partnership at an innovative practices seminar for local government officials and other stakeholders from the West Java region.
Solutions Overview and Specific Results
The program is still in progress. Nevertheless, the program has come up with some promising and challenging results on the working areas of strategic planning for new town development and management information system:
Benefits
Conclusion - Sustainability and Transfer
For the remaining exchanges, the partners will continue to build on the progress they have made in the areas of strategic planning and information management. The focus of the future exchanges will be on the sustainability of the initiatives beyond the duration of the formal partnership relationship. Through their forum and through informal e-mails, the partners hope to continue working together into the future.
Sustainability: In order to achieve true sustainability, the strategic planning process will need to have support of the leadership. The partners have worked through their exchanges to introduce the leadership to the process and support has been forthcoming, which is a strong indicator for the long term viability of the process.
A further consideration for sustainability of both the strategic planning process and the integrated information system is the dedication of local government funds. Without a budget, the team will not be empowered to act on decisions, purchase equipment, or hire outside experts needed to complete the work.
Transfer: More inclusive planning and decision-making is something that could benefit all local governments in Indonesia by helping them to make more informed decisions and policies, and to create a sense of trust within the local community.
Contact
H. Obar Sobarna SIp., Bupati
Cakra Amiyana, staff of BAPEDA
Address: Jalan Raya Soreang KM. 17
Bandung
Phone/Fax: 62-22-5894900
E-Mail: fis-pra@rat.net.id