Along with the shift of direction in the development work of Yogyakarta, social and economic problems also develop. Despite its ability to increase the number of visiting tourists, the addition of new hotels, malls, and apartments in Yogyakarta has also caused a traffic problem. There is also conflict of interest among interest groups, investor and community, and other problems that indicate that the people of Yogyakarta is experiencing a change. The construction of New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) and toll roads will definitely affect the people. Statistics data of Yogyakarta showed that the city is the poorest in Java. The Gini Ratio Index of Yogyakarta is among the highest in Indonesia or above national average.
"In spite of these problems, Human Development Index of the city is good, life expectancy rate is longest, education level is the longest while the health and mortality rate of mother and child is also the lowest. This clearly showed that Yogyakarta is changing,” said Dr. soc.pol. Agus Heruanto Hadna, M.Si, at UGM Centre for Demography and Policy on Monday (15/5) ahead of the seminar titled Ayo mBangun Jogja (Let's Build Jogja) to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Centre at Universitas Gadjah Mada.
According to Agus Heruanto, Yogyakarta after the 2000s had experienced significant social changes due to the reforms that carried democracy issues with it which largely affected decentralisation. This brought a change, too, to the social and political maps of the community, in addition to the global economic change as well as information and technology development.
"This is one trigger that needs to responded to by us. The people of Jogja are seeking a social economic equilibrium due to those changes,” he said.
The problem in the slow decrease of poverty level and economic gap in the city, said
Agus Heruanto, necessitates the synergy of 5 components, which are Office (Kantor), Kampong (Kampung), Campus (Kampus), Palace (Kraton) and Conglomeration (Konglomerasi). He viewed that the synergy of those five parties have not yet produced maximum results.
The Ayo mBangun Jogja Seminar will run on Tuesday, 16 May 2017, at the Centre’s Auditorium inviting resource persons, Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X , Vice-Governor, Sri Paduka Paku Alam X, Rector elect of UGM, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng, and businessman and member of Regional Council, Drs. H. A. Hafid Asrom, M.M.
The Centre’s researcher, Dr. Umi Listyaningsih, added when development is only based on IT and economy, gaps will occur. It is better for Yogyakarta to do developments based on culture. "Culture is the key word for building Jogja. This seminar would see that the Palace will have important roles to build Yogyakarta in the spirit of working together,” she said.