DEALING WITH SOCIAL

PROBLEMS: CAN URBAN AND

REGIONAL PLANNING HELP?
Part 1: On Social Systems

Lecture #2
Social Systems (Sistem Sosial)
by Agung Sugiri

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 The Organisation
 Social systems and social development
(brief review)
 What is Social Problem?
 How this happens?
 Tradition:heritage? always OK?
 Anything wrong with social system/s?
 Any relationship with other problems?

 Why this matters?

 Will impede development (esp. U&R Development)?
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 Social Systems
 What is a system?
 Elements
 Goal/s
 Dynamics
 Rules
…

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 Social System
 Parsons (1951) defines a social system as
consisting in a plurality of individual actors
interacting with each other in a situation which
has at least a physical or environmental aspect;
actors, who are motivated in terms of a tendency
to the optimization of gratification and whose
relations to their situations, including each other,
is defined and mediated in terms of a system of
culturally structured and shared symbols.

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 Social System
 The major units of a social system are said to
be collectivities and roles (i.e. not individuals as
such); and the major patterns or relationships
linking these units are values (ends or broad
guides to action) and norms (rules governing
role performance in the context of system
values).

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 Group Discussion

 Pick one story from “Mata Tertutup” (e.g., the

story of Jabir).
 Discuss why the main conflict happened.
 Propose how to solve the social problem.

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 More on Social System:
Important Questions
1. How many Social Systems are there in this
globe?
A. Many
B. One
2. (If the answer is A) Are those systems always in
accordance?
A. Yes
B. No
3. (If the answer is B) How to make those systems
always in harmony?
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The Importance of Social Development

Economic Development*)

THE ENVIRONMENT:
• Natural
• Human-made

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

*) Some would argue that economic development is a part of social

development (see e.g. Asokan 2001)
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 Social Problem: What is?
Social Inequality (most dealt with in U&R Planning)
 A phenomenon of human diversity:
ethnics, races, opportunities, group
affiliations, social attainment, etc.
 Unequal treatments in social life due to the
aforementioned diversity
 Uneven access to facilities (discrimination)
 Gender inequity
 Social hatred
 Relates to economic inequality?
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 Social Inequality: How this happens?
 Fee will? Due to ideologies,
traditions, religions?
 Sufism/religious cleric systems – deprived
voluntarily from worldly enjoyment
 Caste system
 Gender inequality
 Social constructivism?  inequality is just
OK for certain social situations
 Follow up the economic inequality?
 Structural?  Policy failures?
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 Social Inequality: Why matters?
 Notgood for development?
Why?
 Something is not right?
What?

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 Pro-growth Policy
 Maximisingeconomic growth
 The consequences are:
Pro capital-intensive
Pro highest segment of income in the
society
Elite-making mechanism: socially
privileged actors; spatially privileged
growth-poles
 Socially non-optimal  Pareto
criterion
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DEALING WITH SOCIAL
PROBLEMS: CAN URBAN AND
REGIONAL PLANNING HELP?
(to be continued)

TERIMAKASIH

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