Strategies to De-Escalate the Conflict of Yogyakarta International Airport Construction

Abstract

The policy on the construction of Yogyakarta International Airport was responded with a rejection by the public that ended in quite a prolonged conflict. The conflict occurred because of the competing interests between the interests of the government to build an airport and the interests of the residents to stay in that location. In seven years since 2011, the conflict had de-escalated quite significantly from 2018 to 2019. This research analyzes strategies for conflict de-escalation, in which negotiation and mediation become its operating method. Researchers used a qualitative approach to extract data from actors involved in the conflict, namely the community living in the three villages most affected by the airport construction, representatives from Angkasa Pura I as the airport management authority, and representatives from the Local Government. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten key informants determined by purposive technique. The result of this research shows that the de-escalation of the conflict was managed to achieve through a persuasive approach that involved all of those concerned.