Negotiation as part of Collaborative Planning
Basically, Collaborative Planning is not a new way in Indonesia since it inherits the noble value of Indonesia’s way of life, Pancasila. According to Margerum (2001), Collaborative Planning can be defined as an interactive process of consensus building and implementation using stake holder and public involvement. The definition shows the similarity between collaborative planning and discussion for a consensus (musyawarah untuk mufakat) in Indonesia Society. Moreover, it has the same essence as it also puts forward the spirit of consensus in decision making process.
Communication skill play important role in collaborative planning. It may occur in form of mediation or negotiation skill. According to Taylor (1998, in Brooks, 2002), for communicative action theorists, planning can be viewed as a process of practical deliberation involving dialogue, debate, and negotiation among planners, politicians, developers and the public.
There are several reasons of the emergence of collaborative planning as policy making strategy. One of those are the era of Information Age. We are now live in Information Age where Technological Change is breathtakingly rapid. Information flows around the globe in days or even hours. It makes people from different cultures are exposed to one another as never before. Moreover, Innes and Booher (2003) also stated that power is fragmented and even powerful agencies or individuals cannot produce the result they want when working alone.
Collaborative Planning may occur in various types of forms. It can be a collaborative dialogue which is time consuming and requires vast amount of fund, or may occur in form of Forester’s six-strategy of in mediating negotiation. However, there is one primary key in successful collaborative planning, the ability of a planner in negotiating his/her plan to the other parties. It is a truly combination of art and science in addressing the plan elegantly.
A Lesson from Solo
It is interesting to take a lesson from Solo City Government in addressing its street trader re-allocation plan (Republika, 2007). It is an example of collaborative planning implementation in Indonesia, a way which is actually derived from noble value of our culture. Negotiating Skill play important role in this case on how the decision maker is able to avoid the unnecessary physical conflict that may occur regarding the implementation of the plan itself. Seemingly, other mayors or decision makers in Indonesia should follow this way to minimize the unnecessary fund in implementing the plans.
Joko Widodo, the Mayor of Solo City, had implemented the collaborative planning through good negotiating skill. The way he executed the city plan has made him gain more popularity and respect from his citizens. Joko Widodo used a sympathetic and unique approach rather than used his power to force in re-allocating the street traders in his city.
Joko Widodo dreamed about the clean and harmonic spatial city planning in Solo. It wasn’t an easy task to do since Solo is crowded by street traders (pedagang kaki lima) in every corner of the city. There are more than 5,800 street traders sprawling in open space public facilities. Even in Banjarsari Monument, a monument to commemorate the Indonesia’s struggle against Dutch Colonization in 1945, street traders covered the area and left only the peak of the monument. Thousands of kiosks created a crowded and slummy condition in the area. Similar condition also happened in surrounding area of Manahan Stadium creating congestion by narrowing the streets.
As a Mayor, Joko Widodo may use his power to re-allocate the street traders in his city. Like many other mayors in Indonesia cities, he can easily clean up the street traders by using his paramilitary troops (pasukan pamong praja or pasukan trantib). He can easily ignore the minorities and the voiceless groups when forcing them to move from their work location, but he didn’t do it. Joko Widodo used another way which was more elegant than his colleagues did.
Joko Widodo invited groups of street traders for lunch in his office regularly. He just listened to the street traders complain. He did it over and over again by just listening or having informal conversation with them. Sometimes, he also invited them for dinner with similar activities. Basically, Joko Widodo had practiced the collaborative dialogue with the street traders. He created an informal meeting to encourage the street traders to speak openly about their needs. This informal meeting, eventually, had built an authentic dialogue which is one of primary keys in collaborative dialogue.
According to Isaac (1999, in Innes and Booher 2003), the dialogue must be authentic, not rhetorical or ritualistic to achieve collaboration among players with differing interest and a history of conflict. It is not easy to achieve this condition. Participants must feel comfortable and safe in saying what is on their minds even if they think others will not like it. Joko Widodo realized this condition. It is almost difficult for Javanese people, especially Solonesse, to speak up about their minds directly, especially to whom has the superior position like a mayor. It is the reason for him to arrange an informal meeting rather than the official one with the street traders in order to achieve the authentic dialogue.
Joko Widodo must be a very patient mayor, or a smart negotiator, since he had to attend 57 meetings before addressing his plan to the street traders. Joko Widodo wanted to remove the street traders into Pasar Klithikan, Notoharjo (Klithikan Market in Notoharjo). The Solo City Government provided almost free kiosks, the traders only have to pay Rp.2,500 per day for 10 years, for the street traders as a consequence to remove from their original locations. The street traders accepted the plan joyfully. It was a win-win solution for both sides.
Joko Widodo led the re-allocation event by himself. He made it as historical and cultural event for Solo City. 989 street traders and 1,000 tumpengs created a parade for the re-allocation event in July 2006. Indonesia Record Museum (MURI) recorded and enacted the parade as the longest parade of street traders in Indonesia. The first re-allocation was for the street traders who occupied the Banjarsari Monument’s area. Joko Widodo also did the same strategy for them who occupied Manahan Stadium and other traditional market such as Kembang Market and Nusukan Market. He had made Solo City a better place to live.
I believe that some people still underestimate Joko Widodo’s success in implementing his plan through negotiation like this. Eventually, Joko Widodo has used his power to apply a negotiating skill which is needed by a planner. Like other types of collaborative planning, this method was time consuming and took vast fund in its implementation. However, this method provides more benefit than the cost. Joko Widodo was success to avoid the unnecessary fund for re-allocating the street traders. He didn’t have to pay hundreds of paramilitary troops for removing the traders. Moreover, the physical conflict had been avoided successfully
