Influence of Project and Affected Local Community Interests Level on Social Conflicts in Indonesian Infrastructure Projects

Poor economic growth due to Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years has resulted in a decline in indicators of public welfare. The construction industry sector also experienced a severe decline in productivity; thus, adjustments had to be made to survive the crisis situation. In addition, environmental problems due to development activities also threaten the lives and incomes of people who depend on natural products. These conditions encourage the escalation of interests that affect infrastructure projects in Indonesia. This study aimed to predict the influence of project and affected local community's interests on infrastructure projects social conflicts. Data were obtained by questionnaire from 68 project managers as respondents and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The findings of this study are that the influence of affected community is more dominant than that of project interests on project social conflicts. This shows the important role of communities in the concept of sustainable development with environmental and social perspectives. The results of this study will be useful in drafting the concept of an integrated and standardized environmental and social safeguard framework. To achieve an appropriate framework, further research is needed to examine the framework concept as a moderation of the relationship between interests and project social conflicts.