ABSTRACT
The development of cities leads to conditions that are not suitable for habitation because they are far from sustainable; therefore, the strategy is to improve this by maximizing the role of all stakeholders. The influencing parties that play a role are not only the government, but also the communities. Their participation is not only as citizens, but also local knowledge systems to achieve city goals. Unfortunately, so far, the study of local knowledge has stopped at the description, and identification examines the social meanings behind the knowledge system. Consequently, there is still little explanation of the strategy to involve local knowledge in realizing a sustainable city. For this reason, the focus of this research is to include local knowledge. With a phenomenological approach, three findings are explained, namely first, Batu city as the research location is an agricultural society where local knowledge is practiced in villages or wards which have been inherited from generation to generation. Second, the types of local knowledge are: (1) expressions of Wah, Weh and Woh, (2) The expressions of guyub (togetherness), rukun (harmony) and seduluran (brotherhood); (3) Slametan; (4) respect for sacred sites; (5) Yasin tahlil; and (6) the curse of the Sangguran inscription. Meanwhile, strategies to involve local knowledge are: (1) flexible regulation: village regulations that do not reach city regulations; and (2) bureaucratic creativity as a determinant and incorporating local knowledge into city government regulations.
