Articles

Penulis: Yana Kinasih,Programme Officer

Reviewer: Wiwik Mahdayani
Desain Grafis: Ganyos Paryama Sidik

An area has a certain carrying capacity. If it exceeds the limit, it will cause the region's environment to be unable to support human activities. 

One example is the carrying capacity and capacity of the Jakarta region which faces the challenge of accommodating the human population and its activities now and in the future. This includes the northern area of ​​Jakarta which is starting to be submerged in sea water. This condition is caused by subsidence of land levels and rising sea levels. 

Land subsidence is caused by excessive use of groundwater, massive development activities, and intense motor vehicle activity. Meanwhile, sea level rise is one of the impacts of climate change. These two conditions are a manifestation of the environment's inability to support and accommodate human activities in certain areas.  

Space/land on the face of the earth is limited, carrying capacity is limited, while the population continues to increase and human activities become more diverse. Therefore, it is important for the government to carry out spatial planning and encourage stakeholders to make it happen. Spatial planning is a system of spatial planning, space utilization and control of space utilization (Law No. 11 of 2020). Spatial planning is a form of spatial structure and spatial pattern. 

Spatial pattern is a form of distribution of spatial use in an area. This includes allocating space for protective functions and allocating space for cultivation functions. The distribution of space allocation is based on the Land Capability Unit (SKL) value. This SKL value describes activities or activities that can be carried out based on the characteristics of the existing area. Land use information is contained in the RTRW and RDTR documents. Development planning and implementation should ideally refer to this document; so that the land use that is designed is in line with the type of development that will be carried out. 

This spatial arrangement also applies to tourism activities. The Maj Collection Bandung, West Java abandoned and then auctioned off; is also an important study attract public attention. The development area is in the North Bandung area, which is a water catchment area whose use is directed towards parks or urban forests, with one of the functions expected to be to prevent landslides or floods. This case study illustrates that knowledge of spatial planning is very important in tourism activities. The lesson that can be taken is that hotel construction which was expected to foster new economic activities could not be realized. Of course, this is very detrimental to many parties such as investors, contractors, financing providers, communities around the development and even the government.  

Another concept to consider is externalities. This aspect is a cost or benefit that arises due to some activity or transaction that is imposed on another party outside that activity or transaction. Sometimes called spillover or environmental effects (Cash E Karl dan Ray C Fair, 2007). This concept helps explain in a simple way how tourism activities greatly influence the activities of the surrounding community. 

For example, Lembang in West Bandung Regency has a variety of tourist attractions, encouraging high tourist visits every weekend. This causes roads to and from Lembang to become congested. This congestion has an impact on local communities who carry out activities outside the tourism sector, and do not receive compensation for this condition. This is called a negative externality. 

However, apart from negative externalities, there are also positive externalities. This aspect can be seen in the emergence of economic opportunities, such as traders serving motorists who experience traffic jams, even though this economic activity is not transferred to the tourism managers. 

Spatial planning is important in minimizing negative externalities and optimizing positive externalities. So that tourism activities provide many benefits to a wider area.

Spatial planning also supports tourism activities to have resilience and anticipate natural disasters that occur around tourism loci. Learning from the tsunamis in Pangandaran in 2006 and Tanjung Lesung in 2018, which claimed many victims and material losses, shows that spatial planning should ideally take into account disaster risks, disaster mitigation pathways and the direction of adaptive physical development. This includes provisions for coastal boundaries, characteristics of earthquake-resistant buildings, and other aspects. By understanding spatial planning, it really helps tourism actors minimize the risk of disasters that result in loss of life or material. This consideration can support tourism activities to continue to get up and running after a disaster occurs.

The role of spatial planning is very vital in realizing sustainable tourism. Tourism is an activity that utilizes space. Therefore, it is important for relevant stakeholders to understand regional spatial planning in tourism planning and development implementation. Sustainable use of space by considering environmental, social, cultural and economic aspects is a crucial part of planning and implementing tourism development so that tourism activities continue; thus contributing to nature and environmental conservation, positive social and economic impacts for tourism actors, communities and the government.