The self-help housing in Indonesia: The only option for the poor?

Self-help housing in Indonesia is related strongly to the kampong; being mostly a self-initiated and self-constructed urban settlement, with sometimes low housing qualities and always no security of tenure. In these low-cost self-management residential areas, the residents (must) rely mainly on their own efforts and their social networks. All known survival strategies of the urban underclass are practised here. Many kampongs were improved physically (especially with respect to their infrastructure) as a consequence of the huge Kampong Improvements Programmes (‘KIPs’), but home improvement was never a main issue. Other kampongs are informal and illegal as well, or even dangerous because of the badly chosen locations (locations ‘at risk’). Nevertheless, in a country where low-cost housing programmes are far from adequate, the kampongs are substantial and practical accommodation of the many urban low-income families. This paper explores the factors that led to the formation of kampongs in the first place and shows how kampongs benefit from or are adversely affected by the government housing policies. It ends with recommendations and suggestions for long-term strategic solutions.