IDENTIFICATION OF THE IMPACT OF TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF CITY PARK DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON INFORMAL TRADE IN BANDUNG CITY (CASE STUDY IN REGOL SQUARE)

• Main Author: Ilham Anhari Awaludin, Muhammad
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/64061
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

When the Covid-19 pandemic was officially declared a pandemic, the Indonesian government imposed activity restrictions by issuing protocols to regulate people's movement in order to prevent the spread of infection, one of which was by temporarily closing public spaces. In the city of Bandung, the government sequentially released circular letters in 2020 and 2021 to close public spaces, including city parks. City parks have become a strategic place for informal traders who do their business in that area, so the temporary closure of city parks surely has an impact on them. With these unusual circumstances, traders eventually need to adjust their strategies to deal with the new conditions in order to survive while still meeting basic needs. The study was conducted to identify strategic adaptations implemented by informal traders, specifically in terms of resource management (HR) and sales methods (commodities, marketing and distribution, and target consumers). Under normal circumstances, Regol Square in Bandung is primarily used by informal traders. There are distinctive facilities such as a kid’s pool as an attraction, inviting a large number of people every day, which bodes well for the traders. In this case study in Regol Square, data was collected on all traders remaining at the time of park closure through the census method by conducting interviews, as well as the crosstab analysis method to show the significance of the adaptation strategy implemented by the traders. The results revealed that the adaptation strategy implemented by the traders was minimal or insignificant, resulting in a fall in turnover. Therefore, training is required to improve the capacity of informal traders to deal with unforeseen challeng