The Effect of the Smartcity Policy on the Open Unemployment Rate in Java Bali in 2017-2021

Open unemployment remains a pressing economic issue, particularly amid the intensive implementation of smart city policies in Indonesia since 2017, which are expected to stimulate job creation through the digitalization of public services. This study aims to analyze the influence of gross regional domestic product per capita, gross fixed capital formation, population density, the number of Base Transceiver Station towers, the number of health facilities, and the number of schools on the open unemployment rate. This study employs a quantitative approach using panel data from regencies/cities across the Java-Bali region during the 2017-2021 period, analyzed through panel data regression with the Fixed Effect Model selected via the Chow Test and Hausman Test. The results indicate that gross regional domestic product per capita, population density, and the number of BTS towers exert a positive influence on open unemployment, while gross fixed capital formation and the number of health facilities exert a negative influence, whereas the number of schools shows no significant effect. These findings imply that the effectiveness of smart city policy in reducing unemployment strongly depends on the readiness of human resources and the equitable distribution of infrastructure benefits, meaning that physical development alone is insufficient without accompanying improvements in human capital quality.