ABSTRACT
There was no more fundamental challenge facing Jakarta’s leadership in the
early years of the Indonesian republic than accommodating in decent shelter the
swelling population of the city. As evidenced in the construction of the satellite
city of Kebayoran Baru and large residential settlements like Pulo Mas, the
Sukarno government was aware of the importance of addressing the housing
needs of the city, but principally through a construction programme that added
new units at a fraction of the pace of overall metropolitan population growth. No
one government agency addressed housing and neighbourhood development
needs in Indonesian cities, although by default the Ministry of Public Works fi lled
that role. It was not surprising that this led to a greater emphasis on infrastructure
development rather than dwelling units per se. Various other ministries and
agencies, in particular the military, tried to meet their employees’ housing needs
to the extent that their meagre budgets allowed. However, their efforts met just
a fraction of the housing demand. As a consequence, new housing production in
Jakarta in the 1950s and 1960s came about almost exclusively through self-build or
spec building by small entrepreneurs. Newly constructed units were wedged into
the once relatively spacious native communities scattered along the periphery of
the old city. Subdividing the larger homes of former Dutch businessmen and civil
servants into multiple apartments was another strategy employed to expand the
housing supply.
