Turning over a new leaf: Post‐Covid infrastructure development planning and financing strategies in the organizational environment of Bandung City

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the organizational environment. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government forced to reduce investment in infrastructure development due to reallocation for handling Covid-19. On the other hand, infrastructure development is an essential thing that supports daily life for society and state administration. The research question is, “what are the priorities for infrastructure planning in Bandung City in the post-Covid-19 era, and what will be the scheme for financing?” With that, this study aims to discuss how the 2018–2023 Bandung City Local Government Medium Term Development Plans (RPJMD) are in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic particulary in infrastructure aspects also how to determine indicators and priority programs for infrastructure development after Covid-19 in the city of Bandung, as well as how the financing scheme to support the infrastructure. This study used Regulatory Gap Analysis (RGA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to rank the priorities of development programs in the city of Bandung. This method consists of several stages, namely criteria selection, program selection, hierarchical structure, pairwise comparison, and calculation and ranking. Based on the results of the AHP calculations, three major programs were obtained, namely programs to control air pollution and the impact of climate change; water resources facilities and infrastructure management programs; and road development facilities and infrastructure management programs. Apart from that, financing for infrastructure development is generally mostly covered by the APBD (Local Government Budget), but this can put significant pressure on the government. Therefore, there is an alternative to financing infrastructure development with a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme that shares risks between both parties, namely the government and the private sector. The government plays a role in the regulatory aspect, while the private sector plays a role in the financing and implementation aspects of infrastructure development. In Bandung City, there have been several infrastructure projects that use the PPP scheme, such as public street lighting, city parks, factory outlets, cafes, and recreation centers.