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

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Rethinking the minimum space standard in Indonesia: tracing the social, culture and political view through public housing policies Dalhar Susanto1 · Elita Nuraeny1 · M. Nanda Widyarta1 Received: 3 January 2019 / Accepted: 16 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020

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. Keywords  Public housing · Housing policy · Minimum space standard · Historical timeframe · Indonesia’s sociocultural * Dalhar Susanto [email protected] Elita Nuraeny [email protected] M. Nanda Widyarta [email protected] 1



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

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D. Susanto et al.

1 Introduction After World War 2 ended in 1945, housing deficiency became a critical issue in urban cities across Europe. The unstable economy prevented people from buying or renting available houses, increasing the demand for affordable and immediate shelters across all European cities. One solution for providing decent houses with a minimum budget was public housing. However, to satisfy the efficiency, affordability and compatibility demands of mass-production, standardisation is necessary. Standardisation defines the ‘process of developing and implementing specifications based on the consensus of th