Inclusive Public Services in Elderly-Friendly City Governance in Yogyakarta

Abstract

The increase in the number of elderly people in urban areas requires a more inclusive, responsive, and integrated public service policy. The city of Yogyakarta is one of the cities with a high proportion of the elderly so that it requires urban governance that is able to ensure accessibility, social protection, participation, and quality of life for the elderly. This article aims to analyze inclusive public services as an elderly-friendly city governance strategy in Yogyakarta City. This study uses a descriptive-qualitative approach based on conceptual analysis to the dissertation research design, with reference to Edwards III's policy implementation theory, Dunn's public policy concept, Ansell and Gash's collaborative governance, Pierre and Peters' urban governance, Riggs' administrative ecology, and the WHO's age-friendly city framework. The results of the study show that although the city of Yogyakarta already has various elderly service programs, such as Posyandu for the Elderly, social services, and communication forums, their implementation still faces challenges in the form of policy fragmentation, weak coordination between actors, limited participation of the elderly, and the lack of optimal integration of local socio-cultural values in service governance. Therefore, an elderly-friendly city needs to be realized through a collaborative governance model involving local governments, senior communities, families, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. This article recommends strengthening the roadmap of an elderly-friendly city, an elderly participation forum, the integration of cross-sector services, and digital public service assistance so that the development of Yogyakarta City is more inclusive for the elderly.