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Rethinking the minimum space standard in Indonesia: tracing the social, culture and political view through public housing policies

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Abstract

According to the Constitutional Decree (Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Article 27, 1945), living in a healthy and comfortable space is a basic human right. In modern times, proper dwellings for all citizens are continually acknowledged, in most government regulations on public housing. To provide affordable accommodation to all Indonesians, the Dutch colonial government standardised the living space of Indonesian houses. However, the minimum space standard created by the Dutch government attracted many objections, mainly from local Indonesians. Discrimination and inferiority-complex promotion were among the factors triggering its rejection by locals. This paper investigates the sociocultural and political implications of imposing the minimum space standard on public housing in Indonesia. This paper follows the timeframe from the beginning of Woningvraagstuk (Housing Question) in 1901, which started the first recorded standardised housing plan for Indonesians by the Dutch government, to the Kongres Perumahan Rakjat Sehat (Congress on Healthy Public Housing) in 1950, conducted by Indonesian patriots endorsing the ‘from locals to locals, by locals’ spirit. With current research and development on public housing standards focusing on land-use, human anthropometry and health issues, this paper develops a fresh perspective on the discourse of public housing in Indonesia. To this end, it traces the social, political and cultural aspects at significant turning points in Indonesia’s history. The discussion relates to major events in social housing to the housing policies released by Indonesian governments. Finally, it argues that any newly proposed minimum space standards cannot be separated from the current sociocultural conditions.

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Fig. 1

(source: Departemen Tjipta Karya dan Konstruksi Lembaga Penjelidikan Masalah Bangunan 1964)

Fig. 2

(source: Departemen Tjipta Karya dan Konstruksi Lembaga Penjelidikan Masalah Bangunan 1964)

Fig. 3

(source: The Decree of Minister of Housing and Regional Infrastructure, 403/KPTS/M/2002)

Fig. 4

(source: authors, 2019)

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Notes

  1. According to research conducted by Richard Sendi (2013), Slovenia stipulated the smallest minimum space per person as 27.4 m2. However, the UK government focussed more on the sustainability of dwellings than their size, classifying the existing houses by their quality: (1) non-decent, (2) potentially non-decent, and (3) decent and sustainable for years of use (Department for Communities and Local Government 2006). Later in 2013, following new research on public housing in the UK, the standard in the Housing Standard Review was updated ‘to the technical or functional performance of the building, or to the surrounding environment of the building’ (Department for Communities and Local Government 2013).

  2. In South Korea, the housing plan was divided into four levels based on income and housing area. Then minimum standard ranges from 20 to 85 m2 per unit (Yoshino and Helble 2016).

  3. See Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Article 27, 1945; Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia tentang Penetapan Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang No. 6 Tahun 1962 tentang Pokok-Pokok Perumahan (Lembaran Negara Tahun 1962 No. 40) menjadi Undang-Undang, No. 1, 1964; Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia tentang Perumahan dan Permukiman, No. 4, 1992; and Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Undang-Undang Republik Indoneisa tentang Perumahan dna Kawasan Permukiman, No. 1, 2011.

  4. See Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia tentang Penetapan Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang No. 6 Tahun 1962 tentang Pokok-Pokok Perumahan (Lembaran Negara Tahun 1962 No. 40) menjadi Undang-Undang, No. 1, 1964. The quote is translated from Bahasa Indonesia: ‘(1) Tiap-tiap warga negara berhak memperoleh dan menikmati perumahan yang layak, sesuai dengan norma-norma sosial, teknik, keamanan, kesehatan, dan kesusilaan; (2) Tiap-tiap warga negara berkewajiban ikut serta dalam usaha mencapai tujuan dalam ayat (1) sesuai dengan kemampuannya; dan (3) dalam membangun perumahan lebih diutamakan penggunaan bahan-bahan yang terkandung dalam bumi dan kekayaan alam Indonesia.’.

  5. See Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia tentang Pokok-Pokok Pelaksanaan Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang Perumahan, No. 17, 1963; Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia tentang Penetapan Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang No. 6 Tahun 1962 tentang Pokok-Pokok Perumahan (Lembaran Negara Tahun 1962 No. 40) menjadi Undang-Undang, No. 1, 1964; and Departemen Tjipta Karya dan Konstruksi Lembaga Penjelidikan Masalah Bangunan, Retjana Rumah Sederhana, 1964.

  6. The population in Jakarta continued to increase from 533,000 (1931), to 2,907,000 (1961), to 4,576,000 (1971) (Silver 2008). The increase continues today, and according to census data 2018, the population the number had reached to 10,467,630 (Latif 2019).

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia for their financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok, West Java, 16424, Indonesia

    Dalhar Susanto, Elita Nuraeny & M. Nanda Widyarta

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  1. Dalhar Susanto
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  3. M. Nanda Widyarta
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Correspondence to Dalhar Susanto.

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Susanto, D., Nuraeny, E. & Widyarta, M.N. Rethinking the minimum space standard in Indonesia: tracing the social, culture and political view through public housing policies. J Hous and the Built Environ 35, 983–1000 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-020-09770-4

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