‘Data Kota’ (‘Urban Data’) Banjarmasin: Improving evidence-based planning and development through technology, design, and collaboration

Abstraksi

In recent years, there have been growing interest in the opportunities of data-driven decision making in planning and development of Indonesian cities. Despite the multitude of data, many times they are inaccessible and do not translate well into a set of meaningful information that could help to inform inclusive planning. The data are scattered and they are not represented in such a way that could help to catalyze the necessary conversation about development issues and prioritization, between government officials, as well as, between the officials and citizens. Since 2017, City Government of Banjarmasin and a civil society organization partner, Kota Kita, have been working to establish and maintain an open and free, urban diagnostic platform, Data Kota (www.datakota.id/banjarmasin). It consolidates socio-demographic data and features an interactive map that geographically locates certain conditions, and allows users to create and print each of the city’s 52 neighborhood (Kelurahan) profiles. This paper examines the relationship between technology, geospatial design, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, and documents to what degree technological innovations contribute to local government’s fit-to-purpose development agenda and solutions. Using a mixed methodology of direct observation, interviews, and a survey, it analyses different users’ interactions with, and facilitated by, technology. Moreover, it explores the potential of spatial data innovation, seeking to better understand how such format of representation could serve as a common reference for everyone involved in the development, and encourage for local government’s improved capacity in formulating appropriate solutions.