ABSTRACT
Numerous informal settlements in Indonesian cities are built on state lands, thus making them illegal and susceptible to eviction. This chapter examines how two informal settlements, namely Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan and Kampung Tridi, transformed from uninviting informal settlements to popular tourist destinations in Malang City in East Java Province. Although both informal settlements are considered illegal and not entitled to state funding, the Malang municipality claimed that the existence of both settlements is the product of their policies in settlement upgrading and local economic development. This chapter analyses power dynamics between urban political actors to explain why and how some informal settlements can resist eviction and/or relocation to remain in inner-city locations. To better understand the dynamics, this chapter examines informality at the community level and identity formations, as well as informality as flexible practices within state structures. This chapter identifies that state legibility to the informal settlement resistance movements is caused by complex interactions between informal settlements, the state, and influential non-state actors. Informal settlements used the state’s regulatory uncertainty and bureaucratic informality to their advantage, resulting in covert resistance that is not radical and alarming to the state.
