Dr. Mohammad Gamal Rindarjono,M.

Si,

Urban Inequality: Reclamation, Inundation and

Social Impact in Central Java, Indonesia

Fire word:
Prof.Dr.H. Hadi Sabari Yunus, MA., DRS.
(Professor of Geography Faculty UGM Yogyakarta)
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SLUM
Urban Inequality: Reclamation, Inundation and
Social Impact in Central Java, Indonesia
Copyright © Mohammad Gamal Rindarjono
All Rights Reserved

First Published, November 2014

Author : Mohammad Gamal Rindarjono

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SLUM
Urban Inequality: Reclamation, Inundation and
Social Impact in Central Java, Indonesia
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 Dedication
As a sign of devotion to my father and mother
As a sign of love for the beloved wife
As memories for Efo if he can be independent in the future
As encouragement for Afu if he become academia in the future

v
vi
 Fireword

The rising of population of a region will result in the more

density of population and this will be followed by a more density of
buildings for residential. Uncontrolled compaction process of residential
building resulted in the loss of open space inside village. Open spaces
left and governance structures are very useful as a house plant growth
perindang that are beneficial for human life as well as certain animals.
Some of the benefits for humans, among others, become air conditioner,
provide space for community members to socialize, as well as a filter for
pollutants. The absence of green open spaces in residential areas, become
a contributor to the increasing heat of the daily and annual air temperature
and cumulatively for all parts of the city have triggered a heat island (heat
island). Continuous compaction of building will eventually come to the
culminating point, where there is no longer open space in residential areas.
This condition is referred to as a death point/saturated point in residential
areas where there is more open space, and every inch of land has been
occupied by buildings. As a result of this condition is, the more difficult
the installation of electricity, water, gas, sanitation, closer lines, hiran and
the like.
The number of residents who occupy resulted in ever increasing
demands for service capacity and it is extremely difficult to achieve on a
dense residential area that has reached saturation point, so in terms of
quality and quantity will lead to a gap between demand and capacity services

vii
increasingly wide service so that the part reached Over Carrying Capacity
(OCC). This condition will result in decreased quality of life itself, such as
the declining health of the environment and society. It is believed that it will
decrease productivity of society, namely the decrease in labor productivity.
Theoretically, it can be explained that the compaction of settlement will be
followed by a decrease in the quality of the physical environment, followed
by a decrease in the level of health of the population and followed by a
decline in productivity, which in turn followed by a decrease in welfare.
It impacts on the decrease in the ability to improve environmental
conditions, which resulted in increasingly slums settlements and so on as
a vicious circle of slums in the slums. It is known as a vicious circle of
poverty that is triggered by environmental degradation of settlement. In
the long term, this condition will involve the generation and the quality
of the nation as a whole. Therefore, efforts to improve the environmental
conditions of settlements should be implemented, especially slum areas
where population density and settlements already reached saturated
point. The emergence of slums in urban areas is a consequence of the
spatial density of continuously settlements building in a residential area
that is not controlled. Based on the research results of the dissertation
by the writer of this book and some experts, and also based on processes
that occur, slums can be divided into two types, namely instantaneous
or invasion, and infiltration. The first process run in a short time and
in large numbers, while the second process takes place slowly but occur
continuously. In general, the process takes place in the slums filtration,
which in turn can be differentiated into two types, namely because of
aging process and density process (Bourne, 1981). In Indonesia, it was
found a third type called inundation process. It is evident from the writer’s
study in the city, there is a rob process that triggered the slums. The third
process is the emergence of slums that is very distinctive and has never
been under consideration before. The study of the settlements in urban
areas is becoming increasingly important, because it involves the future

viii
generations. The condition of generation is determined by the condition
of settlements. Meanwhile, the residents tend to live in urban areas and
this has been proven by empirical facts. This is quite interesting from a
book compiled from the results of this dissertation. This research is a
discipline viewpoint of geography, which have different specialties with
other disciplines. Geographic standpoint in this study is very interesting
because it combines spatial and ecological approach that emphasizes
on the analysis of spatial processes, spatial patterns and analysis of the
interaction between the elements of the environment with the existence
of its slums. “Last but not least” contribute is expected to increase the
repertoire of thinking for readers in particular and can be as a reference for
decision making for policy makers of spatial and ecological perspective.
This is a bit of an idea about this book from me, hopefully this book
will be useful for the development of science and become useful input for
the government, that the urban population is growing bigger and bigger
in proportion.

Yogyakarta; May 2012

Prof.Dr.H. Hadi Sabari Yunus, MA., DRS.

(Professor of Geography Faculty,
Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta)

ix
x
 Acknowledgements
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful and the Most
Mastering Sciences. The writer wish to praise and thanks to Allah for his
guidance and aids so this book can be finished. The writer recognize that
there are limitations in this book, but with all his strength and mind, is
always trying to maximize the ideas in this book, so that the writer realize
that this book is not flawless, therefore the input and advice is accepted
gracefully to the completion of this book. Glory be to God, Prof. Dr.
Hadi Sabari Yunus, MA DRS has immense role in the preparation of this
book. His sincerity is not only lead the writer from scientific standpoint
but also from a variety of perspectives on society and religion. Finished
his guidance, he always ask about Efo’s health who is special according
to him. It makes an encouragement for the writer in working. Knowing
and close to him in the writer’s expression is splendor thing. May Allah
gives merit to him and be his perpetual charity. In addition, the writer also
express infinite gratitude to the honorable:
1. Rector of Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta, Prof. Dr. Ravik
Karsidi, M.S.
2. Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty, UNS, Prof. Dr. M.
Furqan Hidayatullah, M.Pd.
3. Head of Geography Faculty that have been given the opportunity
and encouragement to the writer to take science and received his
doctorate of geography science in the Faculty of Geography, Gadjah
Mada University.

xi
4. Lecturer of Geography Education Department of FKIP UNS which
has provided input in discussion about this book.
5. My beloved parent, Achmad Sodirin and Suwarti which has educated
the writer with their love although the writer could not reply their
services. In fact, their desire to watch one of their children graduated
with a Doctorate degree could not be realized, but their spirit and
love has always been an inspiration for the writer.
6. Friends in discussion during taking doctorate degree, Dr. Dina
Ruslanjari, Dr. Djalaludin Salamphesi, Dr. Sri Rum Giyarsih, Dr.
Hastuti, and Dr. Iwan.
7. Dra. Endang Kusmorowati and Fachri Reforma Mahardika, and
Ahmad Firqon Borneo that has filled day by day and give spirit when
the writer has no idea, provide motivation and create conducive
conditions, and pray when the writer taking effort.
8. All friends that can not be mentioned one by one. May Allah multiply
all the good deeds, jazakumullohkhoironkatsiro. Hopefully this book
will be useful and become pious charity, amen.

Klodran, Mei 2012

Moh.GamalRindarjono

xii
 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION PUBLISHER............................................................ V
FIREWORD................................................................................................. vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................... xi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................... xiii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Study Framework.......................................................................... 1
1.2. Study Materials.............................................................................. 8
1.3. Fundamental Studies.................................................................... 9
1.4. Benefits of The Study.................................................................. 10
1.5. Objectivesof the Study................................................................ 11

CHAPTER 2 SLUMS
2.1. The Nature of Settlement and Dwelling Places...................... 13
2.2. The Nature of Slums................................................................... 17
2.3. Factors of Slum Expansion........................................................ 22
2.4. Slum Expansion Process.............................................................. 30
2.5. The Effect of Slum Expansion.................................................. 40
2.6. Remote Sensing in the Study of Slums..................................... 41
2.7. Underlying Theory of Slums...................................................... 45
2.8. Theoretical Framework of Slums............................................... 49

xiii
CHAPTER 3 GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION OF RESEARCH
LOCATION
3.1. Location, Area, and Boundaries................................................. 53
3.2. Population...................................................................................... 54
3.3. Settlement Area............................................................................. 56
3.4. Land Utilization............................................................................. 59
3.5. Reclamation and Inundation....................................................... 62

CHAPTER IV SLUMS IN THE RESEARCH LOCATION

4.1. Description of the Socioeconomic Condition
of Slum Residents......................................................................... 71
4.1.1. Characteristics of Slum Residents’ Behavior................. 72
4.1.2. Respondents’Age and Family Members........................ 75
4.1.3. Types of Works................................................................. 76
4.1.4. Income................................................................................ 82
4.1.5. Education Level................................................................. 85
4.2. Description of Physical Condition of the Slums
in Semarang.................................................................................... 89
4.2.1. Physical Condition of the Slums.................................... 89
4.2.2 Accessibility.......................................................................... 93
4.2.3 Sanitation in Slums.............................................................. 94

CHAPTER V THE CAUSES OF SLUM AREA

DEVELOPMENT IN SEMARANG
5.1 Economic Factor............................................................................ 98
5.1.1 Relation between Economic Condition
and Housings Needs........................................................... 98
5.1.2. The Residents’ Reason on House Location................... 102
5.2 Geographic Factor......................................................................... 105
5.2.1 Land Location and Availability.......................................... 105
5.2.2 Residential Mobility............................................................. 107
5.3 Psychological Factor...................................................................... 114
5.3.1 Extended Family System.................................................... 114
5.4 The Relation between Priority of House Location
and Proximity, the Land Cheap Price, Closeness

xiv
 to Kin, and Other Factors.................................................... 117
CHAPTER 6 PROCESS OF SLUM SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT
6.1 Process Analysis............................................................................. 119
6.1.1. Aging Process of Slum Areas in Semarang.................... 119
6.1.2. Densification Process of Slum Areas in Semarang....... 147
6.1.3. Inundation Process of Slum Areas
in Semarang City................................................................ 174

CHAPTER 7 THE IMPACT OF THE GROWTH OF SLUM

7.1 The Impact of Growth of Slum in the Spatial Context.......... 195
7.1.1 The Expansion of Slum..................................................... 195
7.1.2. The Deterioration of the Environment
in Slum Settlements........................................................... 202
7.2. The Impact of Slum Area Growth upon Social Factors........ 209
7.3. The Impact of Slum Settlement Growth
upon Economic Factors.............................................................. 215

CHAPTER 8 REFLECTION AND FOLLOW-UP

8.1. The Causes of the Slum Settlement Growth........................... 219
8.2 The Process of Slum Settlement Growth.................................. 220
8.3 The Impacts of the Slum Settlement Growth.......................... 222
8.4. Recommendations and Follow-up.............................................. 224

BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................... 225

xv
 Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1. Study Framework

A large population, if developed and well empowered, can be a
capital for effective development to achieve development goals. However,
in developing countries like Indonesia, a large population can become a
complex problem, either that of demography, economy, social and culture,
or other problems of providing life facilities.
World Population Data Sheet (2005) projected that in 2025, the
population of Indonesian will reach approximately 281.9 million with
Crude Birth Rate of 2.2%, Crude Death Rate of 0.6% and Crude Growth
Rate of 1.6%. Based on the result of inter-census population survey in
2005, Indonesian population in 2030 will be twice as much as that in
2005. This is possible because the population growth in Indonesia is
still relatively high, which is 1.35%. Therefore, the estimation of World
Population Data Sheet and the result of 2005 population census name
Indonesia the country with a rapid population growth (1.5%-2% per year).
Both give a warning that the growth rate is very high and needs serious
attention.

1
 This high population growth will give impacts to many aspects of
life, among which are the demands for basic human needs for food and
shelter. These demands cannot be separated from the availability of land,
both in rural and urban areas.
The increase of needs for land, especially in urban area, becomes
more apparent, particularly lands as a place for human activities
accommodation as well as a place for dwelling. The population growth in
urban area is caused not only by natural population growth, but also by
newcomers either from rural area or from the surrounding cities (Yunus:
2001).
City as a center of activities becomes a special attraction for people
in hinterland area to collectively migrate to urban area. This will cause
the population more concentrated around the core zone or around the
urban fringe. Along with the population growth caused by natural factors
or migration to urban area, the demand for land as a place for settlement
will also rise, while the area of urban land is administratively stagnant.
Economic consequence that should be faced is the increase of land prices.
A further effect that then emerges (particularly for migrants and citizens
with low economy) is the low capacity to own a house.
The subsequent impact is densification of buildings for settlement,
which results in the deterioration of settlement quality. Urban area will
have more settlement areas that are less habitable but densely populated,
resulting in a condition of poor settlement environment, hereinafter called
slums.
According to the UN’s 2005 record, about one billion of people in
the world live in slum areas. They are the people who do not get their rights
as citizens like the other people in general (http://www.citywithoutslum.
com, 2006). The number of population in slum areas around the world
increased 36% during the 90s. In the next three decades, the number of
population living in slums is predicted to reach two billion. In 2000, slum

2
areas in Indonesia reached approximately 47 thousand hectares and rose
to 58.7 hectares in 2005. In Jakarta, slum areas reached 4,481.6 hectares
in 2002 and widened to 5,382.9 hectares in 2005, inhabited by 2.4 million
people or about 20% of the total population. Bandung had 602 hectares
of slum area inhabited by 205.465 people (20%), while Surabaya had 2,196
hectares of slum area, inhabited by 900,870 people (25%). (http://www.
kimpraswil.go.id.humas/infoterkini/ppw091002.htm.th 2006).
The facts presented above show that there is an expansion of slum
area. From year to year, the area of slums has been widening. Physical
expansion will always be accompanied with the deterioration of settlement
quality. Slum areas become more and more slummy.
1.1.1 Formal Study
This study used spatial approach, which was one of the approaches
in geography. Discussion on approaches in geography is inseparable
from the discussion of the development of geographical thoughts. The
development of geographical thought is based on the development of
paradigm. Paradigm development in geography is categorized into two
main paradigms: traditional and contemporary paradigms (Herbert and
Thomas, 1982; Johnston, et al, 2000 in Yunus: 2004). Traditional paradigm
is identified with three kinds of paradigms: (1) exploration paradigm; (2)
environment paradigm; and (3) regionalism paradigm. Contemporary
paradigm is marked with two kinds of paradigms: (1) quantitative paradigm;
(2) qualitative and quantitative paradigm).
Some scholars called paradigm shift in geography a revolution.
Some others, however, saw the shift as an evolution. One of the scholars
that saw the paradigm shift as a revolution in geography is Thomas
Khun (Daldjoeni: 1992). According to Kuhn, seen methodologically, the
disciplines of geography have faced a revolution, because the previous
paradigm, which focused on the diversity of regions, shifted to focus
on spatial distribution with its positive-quantitative methodology. In

3
contrast, Chisholm (1975) maintained what happened to geography is not
a revolution, but merely evolution, although the methods seem to be very
radically and rapidly change. Burton (1963) called the paradigm shift a
quantitative revolution, but in fact there is no significant change of the
geographical problems.
With the paradigm shift in the disciplines of geography, there are
three main approaches of geography that emerge: Spatial Approach,
Ecological Approach, and Regional Complex Approach.
Yunus (2004) stated that spatial approach is a method emphasizing
its analysis on the existence of spaces that function to accommodate
human activities. Because the study objects of Geography are geospheric
phenomena, everything related to objects in spaces can be seen from various
points of view, such as pattern, structure, interaction, organization within
the system, association, tendency or trends, comparison, and synergism.
Therefore, there are at least nine themes of analysis in spatial approach:
(1) spatial pattern analysis; (2) spatial structure analysis; (3) spatial process
analysis; (4) spatial interaction analysis; (5) spatial association analysis; (6)
spatial organization analysis; (7) spatial tendency or trends analysis; (8)
spatial comparison analysis; and (9) spatial synergism analysis.
The approach used in this study is Spatial Approach. This study
was emphasized more on the spatial pattern analysis and spatial process
analysis. The spatial pattern analysis was focused on the distribution of
space elements, especially to identify the development or the expansion of
slum areas in the city of Semarang.
Spatial process approach emphasizes on spatial change, in which
space elements can be identified qualitatively as well as quantitatively. In
this approach, temporal dimension serves as the most important thing
since it is able to identify the changing process. The expansion of slums
in Semarang is the result of interaction between both physical and
non-physical elements as parts of spatial expression. As a geospheric

4
phenomenon, the linkage analysis can be either space-based, time-based,
or time- and space-based (Yunus, 1989). In space-based analysis, the
phenomenon occurring in different spaces, but the same time, is analyzed.
Meanwhile, in time-based analysis, a geospheric phenomenon within the
same space, but not the same time, is analyzed. Lastly, in time- and space-
based analysis, a geospheric phenomenon is analyzed based on spatial and
time difference.

1.1.2 Material Study

From year to year, the slums in Semarang expand significantly,
growing along with the city settlement expansion. In this city, settlement
areas mostly located in coastal area, which is the area where land and
sea meet, thus the landward areas are still affected by sea breezes, tides,
and saltwater intrusions. Meanwhile, the seaward areas include part or
outer border of continental shelf, which are still affected by land natural
processes, such as sedimentation and freshwater flow as well as processes
caused by human in land, such as deforestation and pollution.
This study chronologically traced the expansion of settlement places
and the spread of inundation from 1968 to 2005. During the ten year
period since 1968, the expansion of dwelling places in Semarang had been
growing rapidly, occurring mostly in alluvial areas including delta wetlands,
lagoons, shallow freshwater marshes, and brackish tidal marshes. These
landforms were previously a land temporarily saturated by rainwater,
thus the new settlement areas established in these landforms and the
surrounding would be prone to inundation. This happened because the
rainwater that should have been saturated in these landforms flowed to
the surrounding areas.
The unorganized settlement pattern around the core area also plays
a significant role in inundation problem since drainage system cannot be
well built. Drainages are mostly built between the west canal area and east

5
canal inundation, thus the flow circuitously streams towards the delta and
natural levee, preventing it from flowing towards Laut Jawa, but towards
the twisting Kali Semarang. This results in the narrowing of canal gradient,
bringing unfavorable circumstance to the areas prone to inundation since
the water saturated will be stagnant for a longer period of time.
The growth of dwelling places in Semarang shows outward
expansion as well as concentration and infilling towards the existing
settlements. Therefore, along with the density increase in the dwelling
places, the house yards will also decrease in size. The aerial photographs
and field observations show that in every settlement area of 100-500 m of
land lot, 80-90% of the land was occupied by watertight buildings. Thus,
there is only 10-20% of land capable of absorbing water normally, and
in most cases, the water could not be absorbed by the soil and became
surfacewater runoff. In Semarang, this phenomenon was then aggravated
by inundation.
The existing record also shows that inundation, since 1968, has been
occurring in lower areas, such as delta wetlands, lagoons, and brackish
tidal marshes. In 1968, inundation area reached 944.60 ha (Public Work
Services of Semarang Municipality, 1990). The duration and depth of
inundation varied. For example, in Simpang Lima, the depth reached only
50 cm for 3-6 hours; in Kemijen, the depth reached approximately 40-70
cm for about 3-6 hours; in Karanganyu and Sekayu, the depth reached 50
cm for about 1-6 hours; and in Genuk, the depth reached 100 cm for more
than 24 hours.
In 1978, the area of inundation in Semarang rose to 1,446 ha (Public
Work Services of Semarang Municipality, 1990), flowing to the areas that
were previously delta wetlands, lagoons, and brackish tidal marshes. From
year to year, inundation in Semarang widened. The areas that initially were
not affected according to the 1978 record, started to be affected after a
decade (1988), thus added up to the areas of inundation in 1988, covering

6
2,188 ha (Public Work Services of Semarang Municipality, 1990).
During the period between 1978 and 1988, the expansion of
settlement areas reached 3.19% or 853.12 ha, covering lands previously
functioned as fishponds, paddy fields, and farms. These landforms mostly
are lower than the surrounding areas, thus it did not come as a surprise
that the inundation area covered 42.76% of the settlement areas (Public
Work Services of Semarang Municipality, 1990). The 2005 data projected
that inundation in Semarang had reached 1.346 hectares, covering 47.68%
of settlement areas (Department of Regional Planning and Development
of Semarang, 2006).
Hence, inundation in Semarang, especially in the rainy season,
was not only caused by relatively lower land, but also by the fully-filled
water pockets in settlement areas. This was also aggravated by the city
drainage system that was circuitously adjusted to Kali Semarang, thus
preventing normal absorbance by the soil. This had made 47.68% of the
settlement areas affected by inundation in Semarang, directly indicating
the deterioration in dwelling places.The settlement was initially not
slummy. However, the constant inundation for a long period of time
had deteriorated these places, gradually turning them into slums. This
phenomenon shows that the expansion of slums in Semarang is specific
and interesting to study.
Seen from the cause and process of slum expansion, there are
two kinds of expansion: the expansion of slums triggered by population
growth and the one caused by the rising inundation level from year to
year. The expansion of slums in 1980-2006 in Semarang seems specific
and interesting to study. In addition, the expansion of dwelling places with
limited land availability and rising inundation level result in the deterioration
of dwelling places and gradually turn the places into slums. This study
analyzed the phenomena occurring from 1980 to 2006. If seen from the
macro level, 1980 was a conducive starting point of research because at

7
the time, the development ran well and socio-economic aspect was also in
a good condition. The year 2008 was chosen as the ending point of this
study, because during this time, the macro level had improved, following
the post-reformation euphoria. Besides, macro level would affect meso
and micro levels. Therefore, this study examines the expansion of dwelling
places that leads to the expansion of slums in Semarang.

1.2. Study Materials

One of the problems faced in Semarang is the significantly rising
slums from year to year, indicated by the deterioration of dwelling places
caused by inundation. Data recorded show that 46.2% from dwelling places
in Semarang are slums, rising 13.4% during the last 25 years. In North
and Central Semarang particularly, these slums are located on land that
constantly suffers from inundation, covering 1,250 hectares (Department
of Regional Planning and Development of Semarang, 2006). Based on the
projection, the questions that then emerge are why there is an expansion
of slums, what triggers such an expansion, how is the process, and what
the effects are.
From the questions, three major questions were formulated:
[1] How is the expansion of slums during 1980 to 2006, and what are the
factors triggering such an expansion in Semarang?
[2] How is the process of slum expansion in Semarang from 1980 to
2006?
[3] What are the effects accompanying or emerging from the expansion
of slums towards the behavior of the population, as well as the other
aspects in Semarang?
Subsequently, there are three aspects that are emphasized: (1)
examining what cause such an expansion; (2) examining the process of
slum expansion; and, (3) examining the effects of slum expansion.

8
1.3. Fundamental Studies
There are already a lot of studies covering the deterioration of
dwelling place quality, particularly concerning slums, conducted both in
developed and developing countries. However, most of those studies
only partially examined one single aspect on one particular area. Whereas,
deterioration of dwelling places are also affected by various aspects of
life: behavioral, mental, physical, as well as the city development itself, and
most importantly, the expansion of slums, specifically in each city having
different characteristics. Therefore, this study has distinct characteristics
wherein its authenticity lies.
Some of the studies examining the dwelling places, especially
slums, in the cities are: Clinord (1978), who conducted the study in big
cities in India, such as Calcuta, Bombay, New Delhi, Madras, Madurai,
and Ahmebadad. The study indicated that the existence slums in India
is related to the population growth, especially the density, as a result of
urbanization, poverty, cultural, and political agenda. Further, Babychen
Mathew (2005) revealed that slums in India, particularly in Mumbai, are
always located in the area of poverty, which is also influenced by the social
caste, high population growth, and dirty political agenda as well as the
game played by mafias seeking benefits from others’ poverty. (http://
www.unsrid.org)
Laquian (1971) conducted a study in Manila, which was focused
more on political aspects in handling slum problems in Manila (Gilberl
and Gugler, 1996), modeled after the research conducted in Latin America
and Africa, concentrating on the urbanization and poverty aspects.
Sutanto (1985) stated that slums can be identified from aerial
images based on physical factors: small size of house, high density, and
ununiformed hue of roof. Based on its morphology from above, slums can
be categorized into six types: (1) slums around old areas; (2) slums around
industrial areas; (3) slums alongside riverside, railroad, and roads; (4)

9
slums alongside ponds; (5) slums around agricultural areas; and, (6) slums
around real-estate project. Muhtadi (1992) conducted a dissertation study
about the role of community in Jakarta in the expansion of slums. This
study did not only identify slums physically, but also socioeconomically,
culturally, and politically. Hence, the community should actively participate
in handling problems concerning slums, not only based on the normative
measure of wealthy people.
Using ecological approach, Arap (1996) carried on a study on slums
in Sangkrah, Pasar Kliwon subdistrict of the city of Surakarta. Ecological
approach employs a number of parameters: abiotic component with the
parameter of water and soil quality; biotic component with the parameter
of quantity and variation of animals and plants; and socioeconomic
component with the parameter of the residents’ income level, workers,
education level, demographic, health, and social facility.
Djaka (2001) led a study focusing on the expansion of slums in
Yogyakarta during 1970 to 2000. This study used multi-temporal aerial
photography of black and white panchromatic images and overlaying
of terrestrial data. This study succeeded in identifying the expansion of
slums from 1970 to 2000.
Moh. Gamal R (2009) conducted a study in Semarang, focusing on
the expansion of slums from 1980 to 1006. This study employed multi-
temporal image analysis and terrestrial data survey. The result of the study
identified the factors causing the expansion of slums. The gap that is left
out by the aforementioned studies and existing theories is the inundation
process, which is dominant enough. Meanwhile, the emerging effect would
be spatial, social, political, and economic effects.

1.4. Benefits of The Study

This study contributes to two important benefits: scientific and
practical pragmatic benefits. Its scientific benefit lies in the discussion

10
about physical quality change and the process of quality development of
slums, as well as the effect of slum expansion in Semarang. These aspects
will be developed into a long discussion concerning the expansion of slums
within two decades, which is identified by remote sensing technology as
well as the overlaying of terrestrial data from geographic information
system. Thus, the depiction of slum expansion is acquired so that the
cause and the process can be identified, and the deteriorated areas can be
predicted. This, in turn, enables the formulation to obstruct the expansion
of dwelling places, particularly around the deteriorated areas.
The practical pragmatic benefit of this study is related to the
development program, generally, in Indonesia, and particularly, in
Semarang as a coastal city. The local government is currently facing a
complex problem related to the deterioration of dwelling places. On the
one hand, deterioration is spreading rapidly along with the population
growth in the urban areas, causing a complex problem. On the other hand,
the local governmentis “artificially” preparing the city development plan
to meet the residents’ need for lands.

1.5. Objectives of the Study

This study aims at examining the expansion of slums in Semarang
from 1980 to 2006. More specifically, this study aims at:
1. Examining the expansion of slums in Semarang during 1980-2006,
and the dominant factors underlying the expansion,
2. Examining the process of slum expansion and the factors influencing
the process, and
3. Examining the effects of slum expansion.

11
 Chapter 2
Slums

2.1. The Nature of Settlement and Dwelling Places

Shelter is a basic need of human being that is very important for
the physical, psychological, and socio-economical welfare of those both
in urban and rural areas. Housing is one of the indicators for the ability
of a country to fulfill its residents’ basic needs. Further, the condition of
facilities or housings that are insufficient or cannot fulfill the basic needs
can be considered as an indicator of economic and political turmoil faced
by the community. Another indicator is the insufficient of settlement place,
which in turn fails to provide security assurance and triggers economic
and political instability, obstructing economic development (http://www.
habitat.com. 2006). Housing is one of the three components of settlement.
The second component is the infrastructure to facilitate human activities,
transportation, and communication. The third component is public
service facilities, such as places of worship, education, vacation, sport, and
culture.
This implies two important points. First, settlement is an important
basic need, along with the need for food and clothing. Secondly, settlement

13
includes implicit problems of diversity of the place and the dynamic of the
inhabitants. Such complex problems will raise new settlement problems,
while the existing problems have yet to be solved. Therefore, it is common
that the governments of developed and developing countries pay special
attention towards settlement aspects (Yunus, 1989; Ritohardoyo, 1999).
In general, a study on settlement serves as an important part of
human geography. By examining the expansion of settlement, we can
observe the aspects of human adaptation towards their environment in
fulfilling their needs, concerning the claim pattern, form, location, as well
as the changes of the adaptation process. These aspects can be examined
in the macro, mezo, and micro contexts; by connecting them to other
geographical aspects such as location, relief, geology, soil, water, climate
and weather, socioeconomic conditions, as well as political and secuurity
factors. The study uses three analytical concepts: spatial analysis, ecological
analysis, and regional complex analysis.
Whyme-Hammond (in Ritohardoyo, 1999) suggested three types of
study in the geography of settlement:
1) Study of settlement units as a separate entity
2) Study of settlement groups as a unified parts of all physical
environments, and
3) Study of the settlers as a socioeconomic phenomenon.
The first study covers the topics of settlement size, location,
function, and morphology. The second study covers the hierarchy of
settlement, space, and its effects. Meanwhile, the third study covers the
history of public settlement and social cohesion.
Studies on settlement have been carried out widely in the forms
of research and reviews from various aspects. However, the confusion
towards the term settlement still occurs in day-to-day communication,
mass media, forums, as well as scientific discussions. This is caused by
the ambiguity of the terms settlement and housing, which are sometimes

14
considered to be interchangeable; while etymologically, these terms are
closely related (Ritohardoyo, 1990). Therefore, education and research
institution should socialize the exact meanings of settlement and housing.
According to Finch (1957), settlement is a group of human dwellings
that also include buildings, roads, and other facilities to accommodate
human activities. The definition clearly shows that settlement does not
merely refer to a group of buildings, but also facilities and infrastructures
to support the lives of the inhabitants. Hudson (1970) classified settlement
into two different meanings, although related. The first refers to a process
of colonialization of a new area by migrating the people inside. The
second refers to a group of houses used for dwelling. According to
Barlow & Newton (1971), the term settlement refers to human shelters
that might be huts, foliage-roofed cottages having a single room, houses
in the fields, or even very large complex with thousands of buildings for
dwelling. Meanwhile, Zee (1979) stated that, “the word settlement means
the process whereby people become sedentary within an area; and the
result of this process.” In other words, settlement means the process and
the ways how people reside and the results of that process.
Both meanings of settlement are different but interrelated. The first
refers to the process how people reside, while the second refers to the
places as a result of the process. More specifically, Zee (1979) narrowly
defined settlement as housing, including single house building as well as
group house building. Thus, there are two important aspects of settlement.
Firstly, settlement refers to a building as a physical aspect. Secondly, it
refers to the distribution and location aspects, either single house building
or group house building, located in both rural and settlement areas.
The American Public Health Association (APHA, 1960) defined
settlement as a house building that pertains to the human need for shelter,
within which human fulfills physical and spiritual needs, and sheltered
from transmittable diseases as well as from safety threats and accidents.

15
Specifically, another definition that was proposed in the Guidelines for
Settlement Environmental Planning (1979) refers a place with some
houses of where people live or facilities that are closely related to the
residents’ system of life. This definition refers to a group of houses with
life facilities and housing facilities. Hence, housing is a place consisting of
single house buildings and the facilities.
For the Indonesia population census 1990 (Central Agency on
Statistics, 1990), the meaning of house is limited to a shelter having walls
and roof, whether it is used permanently or temporarily, for dwelling or
not. The guideline for the surveyors also mentioned the function of the
building as a protection building. In other words, a house is a physical
building that may function either for dwelling or for other purposes.
Emphasizing the difference between settlement as a process
and place, Yunus (1987; 1989; 1996) put an importance on the scope
difference, both in terms of the scale of the study and the scale of the
area. This emphasis is very influential to the depth of the meaning and
the simplicity of the geographic study. In its broadest meaning, human
settlement refers to all kinds of dwellings, both artificial and natural, with
all the accompanying facilities utilized by human either individually or
collectively, and either temporarily or permanently.
The definition above has a broad meaning that refers to the implicit
relation between settlement and housing. On the macro level, settlement is
viewed as single house building in a regional scale; meanwhile, meso level
sees it as a group house building in a local scale, while the micro level study
sees the housing individually.
Referring to the definition above, the scope of settlement in this
study is limited to a group of houses, with all facilities utilized for dwelling
either permanently or temporarily.

16
2.2. The Nature of Slums
High population growth, especially in urban areas will result in the
high population density, mostly in big cities. This will in turn cause the
availability of land for settlement exceeded. This triggers the expansion
towards land that is not originally for settlement. In such areas, small
dwelling places are built without an organized structure, having modest
quality and are less habitable.
The rapid development and activities in the urban areas become a
particular attraction to the residents of hinterland, thus they collectively
migrate to the urban areas. This will make the population more concentrated
around the core zone or around the urban fringe, along with the population
growth caused by natural factor or migration. While the demand for land
for settlement is rising, the area of urban land is administratively stagnant.
The economic consequence that subsequently rises is the increase of land
prices. A further effect that then emerges (particularly for migrants and
citizens with low economy) is the low capacity to own a house. The next
impact is densification of buildings for settlement, which results in the
deterioration of settlement quality. Urban spaces will have more settlement
areas that are less habitable but densely populated, resulting in a condition
of poor settlement environment, hereinafter called slums.
Physically, slums can be identified with small houses having
low quality of environment, unorganized settlement pattern, and low
availability of public facilities (Drakakis-Smith, 1980; Grimes, 1976).
Concerning the population problems, slums can also be identified by the
indicators of low life quality, such as high density, ranging from 350-1,250
people per hectare, within the settlement area of 15-120 hectares. Among
all houses located in slums, 60-70% are occupied by the owners, while 30-
40% being rented out: a single room is usually occupied by several people
or a family (Judohusodo, 1991).

17
 In Burgess’ concentric theory, slums are usually located in the
transition zone (Hadi Sabari, 2000). This is further strengthened by Homer
Hoyt with his sector theory and by Harris and Ullman with their multiple
nuclei theory, arguing that slums are commonly located around core areas
of industry and trade (Johara, 1983).
From year to year, slums in urban area have been expanding
significantly. Sumka (1987) stated that vast settlement areas around the
world have been occupied by homeless and slum-residents, which reached
30-50% from the number of urban residents. The number rises to two-
third of all urban residents in one decade. Judohusodo (1991) pointed out
that in 1987, there were approximately a billion of slum residents; and
during 1987-2000 in developing countries, the number would grow 750
million.
In 1989, slums in big cities in Indonesia were located in Jakarta
with 4,481.6 hectares, occupied by 2.4 million residents or about 20% of
the whole population; Bandung, with 402 hectares, occupied by 900,870
residents (25%); and Semarang, with 2,244 hectares, occupied by 438,688
residents (20%) (Judohusodo, 1991). During the period of 15 years, the
number slums rose significantly to more than 26%. During that period,
slum area in Jakarta had grown to 5,646.8 hectares , with more than three
million residents. In Bandung, the area had grown to 673 hectares with more
than 300,000 residents. Meanwhile in Semarang, the area had expanded
to 2,837 hectares with 743,645 residents (http://www.kimpraswil.go.id/
humas/infoterkini/. 2006).
One of the factors causing the emergence of new slums is the
uncontrolled urbanization, resulting in the crisis of land for settlement
(Drakakis-Smith, 1980). Without land expansion, the rising demand
for land in urban areas will result in the densification of buildings for
settlement and the deterioration of the settlement environment. These
two factors then lead to continuous taudification process.

18
 Based on the occurrence process, slums can be categorized into two
types: instantaneous or invasion, and infiltration. The former happens in a
short period of time, but with a huge quantity. Meanwhile, the latter refers
to a slow but constant process of slum emergence. Generally, the process
of settlements turning into slums in Indonesia occurs in infiltration
manner, the causes of which can be classified into two types: aging process
and densification process (Bourne, 1981).
The occurrence process of slums takes place continuously, both in
instantaneous and infiltration manners. This will result in the more number
of slums, the wider areas, and the worse environmental deterioration. If
not handled extensively, this will degrade the city aesthetic and bring other
negative effects, such as a high rate of crime, fire disaster risk, transmittable
diseases, and many other effects. There will also be a political price to pay
because such a social inequality often instigates inter-community conflicts.
So far, development indicates that cities have become the core of
national economic growth. Recent days have shown that there is a concern
towards the inability to control the vast rapid development of cities.
Uncontrolled development will cause various urban problems, ranging
from social to environmental defilement problems (Rahardjo, 1988).
A problem commonly faced by big cities is the emergence of
slums. The high population growth in urban areas may indicate the wider
slum areas. If this is not anticipated, slum areas will show the incapacity
of the city to play its role as a center of social, economic, and political
development.
These problems are often encountered in big cities and basically
represent the inability of the local governments in fulfilling the need for
land. This is a real challenge for the governments. The challenges in solving
the problems of settlement can be classified into two categories. The first
deals with the problems that come with the immigration from rural to
urban areas. The immigrants reside and even occupy urban lands without

19
permit. This illegal action then creates squatter settlements.. . The second
challenge comes from the legal poor settlement, because the number of
population increases due to the natural growth and the immigration. This
then reduces the land availability in urban areas, causing the emergence of
crowded, patchy, and unorganized settlement, which in turn degrades the
quality of facilities and infrastructures. This kind of settlement is called
slum.
Slum is defined a settlement considered indecent for human dwelling
(Watson, 1974). It is also defined as a settlement consisting of small
housing units with poor environment (Drakakis-Smith, 1980). Judohusodo
(1991) stated that slum refers to an unorganized settlement without decent
facilities and infrastructures provided, and an indecent building. Slums
can be identified from the physical form of the buildings, the settlement
environment, as well as from the socioeconomic and cultural aspects.
Among the physical characteristics of the slum building and environment
are: the population density (>1,250 people per hectare), small buildings (<
25 m2), and poor sanitation and quality of buildings. Slums are also often
associated with industrial areas, around water body, alongside railroads,
and around the core area of human activities (Socki, 1993).
Meanwhile, the nonphysical characteristics of slums are indicated
with the residents’ occupations, which are mostly in informal sectors with
low earnings, and relatively big families. Slum areas are often associated
with the residents’ period of stay in an area and their low education (Yeh,
1979; Turner, 1982). Judohusodo (1991) characterized slum with an area
with a relatively heterogenic society in terms of occupation, education, and
earning, which consists of low-earning families and, commonly, migrants.
Scholars often regard migration to urban areas as one of the reasons
slums to emerge. Such a migration to urban areas is often generalized
with the term urbanization. According to Herbert (1982), there are two
definitions of urbanization. The first definition deals with the process

20
of population growth and density in urban areas. The second refers
to the process of a life adjustment towards urbanity. The first view is
caused at least by eight factors: the development of agricultural aspects,
industrialization, market potential, service improvement, transportation
improvement, sociocultural trigger, education improvement, and natural
population growth. Accumulatively, these factors will cause urbanization
or migration to urban areas. According to Todaro (1979), however,
urbanization is more often caused by economic factors that swell because
of the economic inequality between rural and urban areas.
The high rate of unnatural population growth in settlement areas
immediately causes the rising demand of land for settlement. Since land
does not expand as vastly and rapidly as population growth, slums are
starting to emerge.
Yunus (2000) associated slums with areas of poverty, degradation,
and crime, that are caused by the deterioration of settlement environment,
which is in turn partly responsible for the emergence of slums. In
Semarang, it is apparent that the deterioration of settlement environment
as one of the factors creating slums can be indicated by the existence of
areas prone to salt water flooding. Such areas are not originally slummy,
but the constant flooding and stagnant pooled salt water gradually turn the
areas into slums.
Based on the occurrence process, slums can be divided into two
types: instantaneous or invasion, which happens in a short period of
time, but with a huge quantity; and infiltration, which refers to the slow
but continuous process of slum emergence (Drakakus-Smith: 1980).
According to Bourne (1981), the infiltration process can then be classified
into two types of cause: aging process and densification process. The
aging process of a building is a process of quality degradation because of
the old age of the building, turning it to be fragile and in a poor condition;
thus, creating a slummy area. This situation is often encountered in old

21
settlements, which attract newcomers because of the cheap rent. The
low-rents worsen the buildings’ condition, because there is no fund for
maintenance, making the areas even slummier.
The second process is related to the densification of buildings
because of the high population growth, which subsequently results in
the rising demand of land for settlement. The population then tends to
occupy the empty spaces. This process occurs constantly, thus resulting in
the high density of single house buildings and condition where no area is
left unoccupied. This problem is referred to by Yunus (2000) as infilling
process that will create a settlement involution, a condition where the
demand for land is rising, while the availability of land is stagnant. Even
though this process happens in legal areas, as Yunus explained further,
such areas will gradually turn into slums. Consequently, this process will
be going in the direction of death point, where there is no space left
for settlement and other facilities. Bhide et al. (in Socki, 1993) further
classified slums into three types: created slum settlement, generated slum
settlement, and in-project housing slum settlement.

2.3. Factors of Slum Expansion

Clinord (1978) indicated that the cause of slum expansion is
population growth, especially the density, as a result of urbanization,
cultural poverty, and political agenda. Meanwhile, Yunus (2000) associated
the emergence of slums with areas of poverty, degradation, and crime,
that are caused by the deterioration of settlement environment, which
is in turn partly responsible for the emergence of slums. Astuti (2004)
stated that the causes of slum emergence and expansion in cities are:
(a) economy factor such as poverty and crisis; and, (b) disaster factor.
Economy or poverty factor motivates newcomers to seek for better life
in cities without sufficient knowledge, skills, and savings in encountering
fierce competition with the other newcomers. Hence, these people can
only dwell and built houses in a very poor condition in the cities. In

22
addition, the high number of newcomers results in the government’s
inability to provide habitable settlement. Another factor triggering the
rapid expansion of slums is the disaster factor, including natural disaster
such as flood, earthquake, volcano eruption, landslide; as well as war or
inter-ethnic conflict. Therefore, the factors causing slum expansion can be
classified into three: economy, geography, and psychology factors.
a. Economy Factors
Based on the theoretical studies, there is an argument that city’s poor
residents will have a better economy when the economy of the country
gets better. Another argument says that those residents will not rise from
poverty if the capitalism is still there. According to Turner (1971), who
was referring to Maslow’s theory of human basic needs, there is a relation
between the economy of a person with the way they sort their priority of
life needs and needs for settlement.
The priority can be described in Figure 2.1. (Turner, 1972):

Figure 2.1. Relation between Life Needs and Needs for Settlement
with Individual’s Economy

23
 As shown in Figure 2.1, a low-earning individual or family prefers
building a house in a location close to a place providing a job opportunity.
Without such an opportunity, it would be hard for them to sustain their
life. Ownership status ranks the second in their priority, while settlement
quality ranks the last. What is more important is that they own a shelter to
sustain their lives.
Along with the increase of the income, this priority would also shift.
Ownership status of the house and land will be the first priority since
they need the validity of ownership of the house and the land. Thus, they
will not need to worry about displacement so that they can focus to work
hard and earn more. Without a clear ownership status, an individual or
family will not feel secure, which in turn prevents them from bettering,
maintaining, and improving the quality of their shelter.
In short, to an individual earning low and extremely low, distance
between shelter and workplace becomes the first priority. Ownership
status of land and shelter ranks second, while form and quality of shelter
ranks last.

b. Geography Factor
Geography factors in this context include the location and the
availability of land. Particularly in urban area, it is difficult to find a piece
of land and the land price is quite high and unaffordable for most people
with low income. This is caused by land speculation, redundant ownership
manipulated by some parties, legal aspects of the ownership, and the
obscure policy on land issues (Abrams, 1969).
Even though the need for land is highly pressing, especially for those
with the low income, the efforts to solve the problem from government
in developing countries have not been apparent. City designers, local
governments, and central government do not consider the importance
of land provision for low-earning individual’s settlement. They tend

24
to disagree that low-earning individuals need land in urban areas for
settlement and activities accommodation (Angle, 1983). This will lead
to the emergence of slums in big cities. Particularly in Indonesia, such
an emergence of slum is closely related to people mobility, due to the
centrifugal and centripetal movements as suggested in dynamic forces
theory by Colby (1933).
Colby argued that a dynamic force influences the shift of land
use, particularly in urban areas. This theory argued that there are two
movements that influence the use of land in an urban area, especially for
settlement. This force is categorized into two: centripetal and centrifugal
movements. These are the results of centripetal and centrifugal forces
that work simultaneously. The centripetal and centrifugal movements in
the dynamic force theory are emphasized more in monocentric cities, and
urban periphery therefore is not taken as the focus of analysis. Therefore,
Yunus (2001) argued that the theory overlooked several forces and had
some weaknesses.
Yunus (2001) listed a number of weaknesses of dynamic forces
theory. The first weakness is about the inward and outward forces, which
are represented by centrifugal and centripetal forces respectively. This
theory is unable to anticipate urban development and narrowly-oriented,
because this theory only sees the inner part of the city as the origin of the
newcomers at the periphery of the city, while there are many newcomers
coming from other parts of the city. Besides, there are also newcomers
from other cities. In addition, people may also leave the urban periphery
to the core zone, following the centrifugal movement. The concept of
centripetal movement is also problematic. Urban periphery is only referred
as the source of the movement, representing the inward force. Meanwhile,
in Colby’s theory, the outward force exerted by centripetal force is not
mentioned at all.

25
 The second weakness is about the assumption that urban periphery
has homogenous spatial characteristics. This is indicated with the absence
of more information that categorizes urban periphery into several zones
with different characteristics. In fact, urban periphery is a junction where
rural and urban characteristics overlap.
According to Yunus (2001), movement has more complexity than
what Colby (1933) found. Yunus’ finding shows that centrifugal movement
alone has several variations: (1) movement from the core zone towards
urban periphery; (2) movement from urban fringe towards urban periphery;
(3) movement from urban periphery near the downtown towards farther
location; and (4) movement from urban periphery towards rural area.
There are five main factors of the centrifugal force: (1) availability of wide
land; (2) availability of land with low prices; (3) availability of land with
investment opportunity; (4) availability of land with pleasant atmosphere
of life; and (5) proximity with workplace.
Meanwhile, in Colby’s dynamic forces theory, the centrifugal
force concept takes only the core zone or the downtown as the area of
destination or the area of interest; while urban periphery is viewed as the
area of origin and never becomes the area of interest. In fact, however,
urban periphery is a junction where urban and rural characteristics mix,
thus generating an attractive factors in the centripetal movement towards
the urban area itself; but this is not mentioned at all by Colby (1933).
Centripetal movement has several main attractive forces that are
related to more functional forces. Functional forces occur as a result of
the economy functions their location that is closed to the concentration
of the activities and associated with the facilities of economy activities.
According to Yunus (2001), there are three main forces that attract
newcomers from the outer city: (1) proximity to workplace; (2) investment,
and (3) proximity to facilities.

26
 Yunus (2001) also found several kinds of centripetal movements: (1)
movement from rural towards urban areas; (2) movement from rural area
towards urban periphery; (3) movement from urban periphery towards
urban area; and, (4) movement from rural fringe towards urban fringe
(Russwurm; 1977). Meanwhile, centrifugal movements are categorized
into: (1) movement from urban towards rural areas; (2) movement from
urban area towards urban periphery; (3) movement from urban periphery
towards rural area; and (4) movement from urban fringe towards rural
fringe.
In order to discuss the factors causing slums in downtown as well
as urban periphery, this study will first examine the forces generating
centripetal and centrifugal movements of residents. Centripetal movement
is a movement of residents and all their activities towards urban area: urban
periphery, urban fringe, and downtown. There is something interesting
presented by Yunus (2001) that complement Colby’s dynamic forces
theory about the attractive force in urban periphery where centripetal
movement gains its momentum. Dynamic forces theory is focused on
the attractive forces inside the urban area. This is very common because
people will always see cities as a phenomenon that is in contrast to rural
areas. Besides, dynamic forces theory, which influences the utilization of
land for settlement in urban area, was introduced by a scholar from the
West. The theory was modeled after Western cities where there was no
gradual shift from urbanity in one side, to rurality in the other. Meanwhile,
the space manifestation of urban areas in developing countries is
commonly different than that of Western cities, particularly in the physical
characteristics shift from urban to rural areas. The absence of consistent
and consequent policy governing land convention in urban areas makes
the development of the areas uncontrolled.
Dynamic force theory always perceives rural areas and urban
peripheries as a place where the centripetal movement emerges, while not

27
all centripetal movement flows into the inner parts of a city. According
to Yunus (2001) and field studies, the attractive force for centripetal
movement in urban periphery is similar to that inside the inner parts of the
city, as stated by Colby (1993). This indicates a perception that an urban
periphery with mixed morphology of urban and rural areas may have an
urban spatial force. This is quite possible because urban peripheries, even
rural areas, will morph to urban areas as the urban population with all
of the activities grows. Hence, it is common that urban peripheries are
referred to as pre-urban.
Theories that develop in Western countries point out that centripetal
movement indicates urban attractions that are spatially associated with: (1)
job availability in the downtown; (2) proximity with downtown, leading
to cost saving for transportation (Turner, 1970). Likewise, developing
countries are encountering the same tendency (Yunus, 2001; Desai, A and
Smita Sen Gupta, 1987). Even though the land rents are more expensive in
urban fringe than those in urban periphery, newcomers with low income
tend to reside in urban fringe. In the surface, there is a contraposition
between the affordability to rent land and the expensive rents; while in
fact, pleasant settlement might often be traded-off with proximity with
workplace. The expensive rents can be pressed down by means of sharing
the cost with group members, making the rents less pricey. However, it
might cost an individual comfortable rest and privacy.
Dynamic forces of centripetal movement in urban periphery have
different characteristics with the pulling force in the inside of urban area,
although the pulling force generally can be regarded as functional urban
forces. Research shows that the reasons newcomers decide to reside in
urban periphery are: (1) proximity with workplace; (2) land availability; (3)
proximity with facilities of activities; (4) proximity with relatives. These
reasons can be depicted as the pulling forces of urban periphery for
centripetal movement.

28
 The pulling force of centripetal movement in the downtown
remains dominated by the factor of proximity with workplace, while the
most important factors acting as the force of urban periphery are land
availability, facility availability, and proximity with relatives, or psychology
factor.

c. Psychology Factor
Natural environment and human are united as an inseparable
interacting entity. The interaction might be realized in an effort to help
each other or dominate the other, for instance nature dominates human
by natural disasters; or, human manipulates the environment. For the
sake of life harmony, human should adapt to the natural environment.
The primitive way might include living in a cave. However, human’s
development of way of thinking makes it possible for them to develop
and build shelter, which then is called house or shelter.
Human as social being always lives with other humans, thus a group
house building called settlement emerges, in which not only humans
seek shelter, but also socialize. This is a learning process where an
individual is introduced to the cultural value and custom of their society.
Settlement provides all kinds of human life needs, not only physical, but
also psychological needs such as needs for a sense of safety, for self-
actualization, and for love from other human beings. The most basic
psychological need is the need for a sense of safety: if not fulfilled, one
would not feel comfortable.
In case of slums, the need for a sense of safety is prominent among
the residents. Even though their shelters are not in a permanent state,
they still feel at home because of that sense of safety and protecting each
other. In the research areas, the residents live in houses built in plots, or
big shelters occupied by a number of families. Most of these houses do
not have toilet or bathroom, putting significance in the existence of public
toilets. Some families even use shared kitchen. This condition tightens

29
the bond among residents: doing laundry and washing together, cooking
together, monitoring children while chatting together, entrusting their
children to neighbors if there is something to attend to for a long time,
helping each other without being asked to.
Small and crowded houses tend to have family members gather
only during bedtime. Most of the activities of parents and children are
carried out outside the house. Immediately after getting home from work,
heads of the families usually gather together along the village sidewalk,
while since morning, the mothers do the laundry and cook outside the
house, and the children play together outdoor. Outdoor personality that
tends to prefer outdoor activities is one of the customs carried out by
slum residents in the research area. The typical characteristics apparent
specifically in the research areas is extended family system, a custom of
taking in people outside their families having the same informal jobs with
them, then considered a part of families. This characteristic makes them
used to help and protect each other; there is a strong bond between each
family member. Each member of a family also helps each other in the
effort to earn money. Inside the house, they appreciate and respect the
house owner, without impairing their feeling of being-at-home. This very
strong bond prevents outsiders even merely from knowing who the head
of the family is, let alone digging out other information.

2.4. Slum Expansion Process

Based on the occurrence process, slums can be categorized into two
types: instantaneous or invasion, and infiltration. The former happens in a
short period of time, but with a huge quantity. Meanwhile, the latter refers
to a slow but constant process of slum emergence. Generally, the process of
settlements turning into slums in Indonesia occurs in infiltration manner,
the causes of which can be classified into two types: aging process and
densification process (Bourne, 1981). Based on the research conducted
in Semarang, there is another process contributing to the expansion of

30
slums: the instantaneous or invasion caused by inundation process.
[a] Aging Process. Commonly, taudification process in Indonesia occurs
in infiltration manner for a long period of time, hereafter called
aging process. This process frequently occurs as a building gets old,
causing damage to the building. In this study, the damage level was
identified from the structure of building elements: floor, walls, doors
and windows, and roof.
The most apparent damages are those on the structure of
building elements such as floor, walls, doors, windows, and roof. This
study also examined the overall building performance due to the
aging process and building damage level, and parts of the building
that are most frequently restored. At the end of this chapter, the
spatial distribution of single house buildings with damage from aging
process is discussed. The aging process happens as a building is getting
old with time, thus the process is seen from different periods of time.
T0 symbolizes the time when a building is built; T1 symbolizing the
point of time in the middle between the first construction and when
this study is carried out; and, T2 representing the building’s age when
this study is conducted.
[b] Densification Process. Urbanization process in Indonesia commonly
occurs due to the lack of job opportunities in urban area. Job seekers
automatically set to cities to look for employment, both formal and
informal. Meanwhile, Semarang municipality has yet to be able to
provide employment for all newcomers seeking for a job. As a result,
only some of them are employed, while most of them who are still
unemployed are forced to get informal jobs with low income. Hence,
Semarang is overrun by low-earning residents, called poor residents.
The provision of habitable and affordable settlement for all
residents has failed to happen since those in need have low income.
This is due to the increasing house prices as a result of building
materials that are getting expensive as well. Low-income residents

31
 would not be able to afford habitable houses for themselves. The local
government of Semarang, private enterprises, housing developers,
and the residents themselves have yet to be able to provide habitable
and affordable houses for poor residents.
As the development of a city in general, the direction of
land utilization will be dominated more and more by urban areas.
The activities in urban areas are the kind of those in the center of
government, service, trade, economy, social, and center of settlement,
which gradually narrow down the availability of urban land and cause
the price rise. In the provision of affordable houses, residents will be
faced with the expensive price of shelters. The other factors include
low-income residents in need of settlement, high interest rate of
settlement, and insufficient fund for the construction of modest
houses. Moreover, the way housing developers are managing available
lands is financially-oriented. Hence, the provision of affordable
houses for low-income population fails to be realized; instead, only
middle and high class residents can afford settlement.
The aforementioned factors cause the emergence of
overcrowded settlement areas whose benefits towards environment
have degraded, gradually raising the number of slums in Semarang.
This poverty forces low-income residents to remain staying in slums
or illegal settlement in the city, lacking of facilities and infrastructures
such as those provided in habitable settlement.
In its early development, Semarang municipality had vast
availability of lands, which were mostly residential settlements.
However, along with the urban economy growth, these settlement
areas had narrowed down, and replaced by land expansion for trade
and service enterprises, such as industries, factories, shops, offices, et
cetera.
The high population growth stirs the significance of demand
for settlement. However, the settlement areas are getting smaller,

32
indicating Semarang’s incapability to provide habitable settlement for
the whole residents. The imbalance between the increasing number
of population and need for settlement, combined with the limited
urban space will result in high density of residents and settlements,
which will in turn reduce the level of comfort in a settlement area.
The densification process of slums in the research area employs
centripetal spatial development pattern, which is an addition process
of urban buildings in the inner parts of the city (Yunus, 2005).
Generally, there are two types of centripetal spatial development
in the research area; they are horizontal and vertical development.
Horizontal development is a space addition process in order to
accommodate activities by means of horizontally constructing
one-story buildings in available space in the inner parts of the city.
Meanwhile, vertical development is a space addition process in the
inner part of the city by means of constructing rise buildings in order
to spare wider land for activities accommodation (Yunus, 2005).
Centripetal spatial development with horizontal strategy occurred
around the whole research areas, while Pekunden and Bandaharjo
applied vertical strategy by constructing residential flats.
The centripetal spatial development applied in these research
areas was carried out using the spatial infilling process. There are
two types of this process: the first can be identified in Pekunden,
Jatingaleh, and Bandarharjo, which was conducted on the already
established settlements. This kind of process is small-scaled and done
by filling the space in the already established settlements, generally
carried out to build single house buildings.
The established settlements that already exist are commonly
owned legally by individuals, with clear allotment and legal status. In
such established settlements, houses are built on the available space
between the already constructed houses. Because the construction
is carried out inside a settlement, this construction pattern produces

33
 mostly one-story buildings.
In Pekunden and Bandarharjo, the construction of flats by
the government along the roadside contributes in the falling prices
of lands behind the buildings, bringing on the most intensive spatial
infilling process in this area following the establishment of flats.
Likewise, Yunus (2005) regarded the area behind these flats as the
shadow zone, which refers to a track or settlement area located behind
the row of buildings alongside the main road. These buildings block
the access to the settlement area behind them, nullifying the area’s
economic opportunities of being merely meters away from the main
road. The market price of lands within the shadow zone is extremely
low compared to those located alongside the main road, although
physically they are only separated less than a hundred meters. This
opportunity will be seized by the owners of buildings ahead in hopes
to annex both lands alongside and behind the main road. These
owners can expand their land, raise the price as if the land within
the shadow zone is located alongside the main road, and control the
price. This way, the land owners in the shadow zone will be willing
to sell their lands for a bit higher offer compared to the market
price. The vast expansion of slums due to densification shows the
spatial pattern during the densification process in the research area.
The pattern that occurs is centripetal spatial development, which is a
process of the addition of urban buildings in the inner parts of the
city (Yunus, 2005).
There are two types of centripetal spatial development process
occurring in the research area by infilling the spaces: One of them
happened in Bandarharjo where the infilling process was carried out in
the already established settlements. This type employs mostly a small-
scaled development constructing single house buildings. Besides,
the established settlements are commonly individually owned with
clear allotment and legal status. The buildings are constructed in the

34
 available spaces between the established houses, producing mostly
one-story buildings.
[c] Inundation process is a casuistic indication about which scholars
have never explained in any theory as one of the factors causing
slums. Inundation process has contributed in the expansion of slums
in Indonesia, even in the world (Yunus, 2005). Besides serving as
the capital city of Central Java Province, Semarang also functions
as the knot of trades and services regionally and nationally. This is
due to the availability of complete facilities in Semarang, including
harbor; airport; railway; national, provincial, and local roads;
educational facilities; and, government of Central Java Province.
This extensive range of facilities supports the sustenance and
developments of various sectors concerning trades and services,
industrial, tourism, agricultural, and educational sectors. Semarang’s
facilities, infrastructures, and attractions automatically trigger the
city’s population growth.
Along with the vast distribution and growth of the population,
various problems would also arise, among which are the environmental
and social problems. As encountered by the other big cities, the
common problems faced by Semarang are inundation, lack of clean
water, coastal reclamation, allotment shift of lands not based on the
initial purposes, and environment degradation.
Semarang’s coastal areas constantly face other problems,
such as saltwater intrusion, abrasion, inundation, land subsidence,
sedimentation and siltation, and upstream flooding. Inundation is
a longtime problem existing since the Dutch colonialization to this
day. Commonly, Semarang can be divided into two areas: southern
area, often called upper city, which is a hilly area with a steepness
of about 15-40%; and, northern area, often called lower city, which
is a lowland area with a steepness of about 0-2%. From the low
state of the northern area, it can be said the area often suffers from

35
 inundation.
Actually, both residents and government do not stand idle
knowing this continuous inundation problem. Various efforts have
been put forward to overcome the problem, but none results in a
significant improvement. Instead, the inundation area expands and
the depth increases, threatening Semarang’s northern area. During
rainy season, inundation depth gets worsened: Semarang’s northern
area might encounter two disasters simultaneously, including flood
and inundation. The salt water flooding also flows to the surrounding
lower areas.
The expanding inundation area and its depth in Semarang’s
northern area are caused by some contributing factors, including the
sea level rise caused by global warming, land subsidence, and saltwater
intrusion from the generally slope rivers, which are the estuary of
upstream rivers. Coastal and swamp reclamation also contributes to
the inundation in the northern area.
Regarding the sea level rise caused by global warming, Aris
Marfai (2006) projected that between 1990 and 2010, the earth
average temperature will increase by 5,80C. The global warming
will, in turn, trigger climate change and raise sea level a meter.
Meanwhile, land subsidence, according to the coherent finding by
the Indonesian Directorate of Environmental Geology in 1991,
occurred in Semarang coastal area from 2 cm to 25 cm per year. In
North Semarang Subdistrict, Bandarharjo, Tanjung Mas, and parts of
Terboyo Kulon, the land subsidence reaches 20 cm per year. Besides,
the phenomenon is worsened by the redundant use of groundwater.
In 1998, the Directorate of Environmental Geology stated that the
use of groundwater reached 35,639 x 106 m3 per year.
The non-natural factors also influencing the expansion area and
depth of inundation are the land allotment shift, drainage system that
does not function well, and high population growth obstructing the

36
alignment of the use of land with its initial purpose. The areas that
initially served to absorb water have been used to build settlement,
offices, and other facilities. Besides, expansion and paving projects
block and narrow down the drainage system, disabling it from
collecting and discharging water based on the allocation.
In addition, inundation is also worsened by the lack of public
awareness in waste disposition and management. Often, in every
corner of a city, wastes are littering in the drainage system, nullifying
its ability to collect and discharge water during rainy season. These
wastes obstruct the rivers and waterways from dealing with swift
water stream during rainy season; these wastes silt and narrow down
the rivers and canals, causing many areas inundated.
One of the things that also cause the inundation in Semarang
is reclamation, which in general refers to backfilling of materials on
some relatively unused swampy area or land in order to construct
buildings or facilities; for instance, reclamation in coastal area,
swamp, sea, river, or lake. Wirawan (2001) defined reclamation as
a conversion process of swamp or marsh, degraded, deserted, or
unused land into land suitable for habitation or cultivation; including
conversion process of foreshore by building drainage system and
dike or reclaiming for various purposes.
The other factors encouraging reclamation strategy include
land utilization and requirements of safety, environment, and cost. In
addition, reclamation process needs evaluation and monitoring that
are strict, continuous, and integrated in order minimalize the negative
impact that might happen, both internally or externally, in the present
days or in the future.
The main problems during the planning and implementation
of reclamation are concerning socioeconomic, juridical, and
environmental problems. In terms of reclamation, socioeconomic
problems are usually realized by the disagreement of decision maker

37
 (local government), Regional House of People’s Representatives,
investors, NGOs, and the residents. The question that then arises
is “will reclamation give benefits to all parties, including the local
government through the local revenue, investors, as well as residents?”
Usually, if any, the residents will get the least revenue from the
reclamation, most of it goes to the investors (private enterprises):
residents will suffer more from the shortfall rather than reaping the
benefits, financially and socially.
Environmental problem caused by reclamation with calculation
deficiency might result in the environmental degradation that would
constantly get worsened. For instance, the purpose of a swamp, which
originally serves to prevent flooding, will shift as it is being reclaimed,
and the inundation water will flow to the lower areas. Meanwhile,
coastal reclamation could result in erosion and sedimentation to the
other coastal areas.
Reclamation in Semarang has actually occurred for a long
time (Karel Matekohy, et al, 2007); during the Dutch colonialization,
reclamation was carried out in 1875 to build the Semarang harbor.
After the independence day of Indonesia, there are at least three
significant reclamation projects conducted in Semarang’s northern
coast. Upon being granted by the Provincial Government of Central
Java in 1979, reclamation has been carried out in order to produce
today’s Tanah Mas residential area. In 1980, Tanjung Mas Harbor
of Semarang has been reclaimed and expanded upon the grant by
the central government. Five years later (1985) reclamation has been
conducted to build the Development Fair & Promotion (PRPP in
Bahasa Indonesia), Puri Anjasmoro residential area, and Semarang
Indah Area by the grant of the provincial government.
For the Marina beach reclamation, the local government of
Semarang as the owner of the area had decreed the principal approval
on 31 August 2006 through the Mayor’s Letter Number 590/04310

38
 on the approval of the utilization and reclamation in Marina beach
area.
The approval was then followed up by a memorandum of
understanding explicating the reclamation plan in Marina beach area
on 3 December 2006. This reclamation was projected to require
materials of grit for backfilling at least 15 million m3. This would
certainly produce various effects that subsequently need special
attention from the whole community since the reclamation would
affect the environment and people residing near the area.
Reclamation in Semarang can be classified into two categories; they
are (a) swamp/dike reclamation; and, (b) coastal reclamation.
[a] Swamp/dike reclamation is indicated to be the main cause of
inundation in the North Semarang. This is because swamps in
Semarang serve as the natural polder to collect overflowing flood
caused by rainfall and tides. Swamp reclamation might be one of the
factors causing the expansion of inundation area. It is ironic that most
reclamation processes were implemented by private industries having
strong funding but not Environmental Management and Monitoring
document and Environmental Impact Assessment (UKL-UPL and
AMDAL in Bahasa Indonesia). The widest swamp reclamation is
carried out by private industries in order to build elite settlements
and all the accompanying facilities in North Semarang (for instance
Marina beach).
[b] Coastal reclamation does not really contribute in the expansion of
inundation area. It might increase the affected area if a good drainage
system is not planned well, moreover if the reclaimed area blockage
the flow of receding water towards the ocean. The worst impact of
coastal reclamation is erosion in the coastal line and sedimentation.
The reclamation implemented in Semarang’s Marina Beach is one of
the interesting cases about reclamation. The document of Environmental

39
Impact Assessment explicated a coastal reclamation carried out by PT.
IPU (Indo Perkasa Usahatama). However, the “coastal” here merely refers to
the location where most activities were conducted: in the implementation,
almost 75% of the image interpretation reveals that it was actually swamp
reclamation, only the rest was coastal reclamation.
In the document, it was mentioned that PT. IPU as a national private
industry in Semarang running land property business would implement
reclamation on Marina beach. The result of 204 ha would be allocated
as: 75 ha for settlement, 45 ha for trades and services, 17 ha for public
facilities, 5 ha for open space, 20 ha for drainage system and retention
pool, 15 ha for road, and 27 ha for border area.
In a glance, the reclamation done by PT. IPU seems ecologic, but
if we take a look closer, most benefits would be reaped by those with
high economy. Most of reclamation results are allocated for settlement
and the whole accompanying facilities. The public facilities are restricted
for Marina Beach residents only, no outsiders might use them. Even the
border area serves as a recreation park for residents, while outsiders should
pay to enter.

2.5. The Effect of Slum Expansion

The immediate effect of slum expansion in the spatial context
is the environmental deterioration of slums, which refers to the
quality degradation of physical and social environment, worsening the
environmental quality of settlement. Yunus (2000) argued that slum
expansion is associated with the “areas of poverty, degradation and crime”
due to the deterioration of settlement environment. Slum’s environment
in the research location showed degrading environmental quality. This
condition can be identified through:
1) The availability of public facilities that is narrowing down in number,
even inadequately provided, from year to year.

40
2) The deterioration of environmental sanitation, indicated by high level
of plagues with high frequency of occurrence, commonly dengue
fever, diarrhea, and skin diseases.
3) The tendency to implement extended family by most residents in
slums, resulting in the disorganized space utilization within a house.
With the extended family, a house always needs additional spaces
built hastily that function as a shelter for additional family members,
thus, the physical condition of such a house seems even poorer.
4) Aging process also contributes to the degradation of aesthetic value
and function of slums. This can be identified visually from the
condition of the buildings’ wall partitions and roof quality.
5) Densification of slums will be followed by the infilling process, which
will in turn result in the settlement involution. This is the condition
where the demand for settlement land rises without being balanced
by the addition of available lands. Even though densification process
happens to the legal lands, taudification continues to occur, leading
to the death point. Death point refers to a condition where all spaces
have been occupied, leaving no more room for other facilities.
6) Inundation process occurring in slums within the research location
has a significant impact in the acceleration of slum expansion. The
effect shows special phenomena concerning physical and social
aspects.

2.6. Remote Sensing in the Study of Slums

Various definitions of remote sensing have been proposed by some
scholars. One of the most popular ones was brought forward by Lillesand
and Kiefer (1990:1), which regards remote sensing as both art and science
to collect information about particular object, region, or phenomenon for
the purpose of data analysis. The information is acquired by a particular
tool without requiring researchers’ direct contact with the studied object,
region, or phenomenon. Remote sensing is also a technique to collect

41
information remotely from an object and its surrounding environment
without a physical contact (Lo, 1996:1). Usually, this technique would
produce several forms of image, which are then processed and interpreted
to produce useful data that can be applied in agriculture, archeology,
forestry, geography, geology, planning, and other fields.
Generally, the remote sensing using electromagnetic waves carried
out for resources includes two main processes: data collection and
analysis. The elements of data collection are: (a) energy source; (b) energy
transmission; (c) interaction between energy and physical aspects of
earth surface; (d) censor of airplane and/or satellite; (5) data collection in
the form of images and/or numeric. In brief, censor is used for various
kinds of emission and electromagnetic waves reflection by the physical
aspects of earth surface. The analysis processes can be itemized as: (a)
Data validation using interpretation tools or observation tools in analyzing
numerical censor data; (b) Presentation of acquired information, usually
in forms of maps, tables, and written discussion or report; (c) Finally, the
designation of information for users in the decision making.
a. Panchromatic Aerial Photography
One of the outputs of photographic remote sensing is panchromatic
aerial photography, which is sensitive to the wavelength between 0.36
µm to 0.72 µm—almost similar to human eye. Hence, this is one of the
eminent aspects of panchromatic film because of its color that seems
identical with how the real object is seen by human eye (Colwell, 1976 in
Sutanto 1994: 43).
The eminent aspects of panchromatic photography are: (a) the color
seems identical with the images processed by the human eye when looking
at real objects; this is because the sensitivity is similar to that of human
eye; (b) the spatial resolution is smooth. For a long time, no images can
compete with those produced by panchromatic aerial photography: it can
be used for identifying even small objects; (c) high dimensional stability,

42
thus often used in photogrammetry. Panchromatic aerial photography has
been used for a long time; hence, people are familiar with it (Sutanto 1994:
44).
Panchromatic aerial photography used in studies as the main
source of data should be tested in terms of accuracy and interpretation
before going through the assessment and description processes in order
to validate the data. Aerial images should always be up-to-date since the
physical aspects of earth surface always changes. If the interpretation test
result of aerial images is less than 80%, it means the data validity is poor
and the aerial images are no longer relevant with the current condition.
For easier use of validity test, a table concerning aerial photography
interpretation test called omission and commission table is created:
Table 2.1. Interpretation Test of Aerial Photography
Characteristics Field test / Ground truth Total Total
(A) (B) (C) (D) interpretations incorrect
In A’ A’A A’B A’C A’D A A-A’A
ter B’ B’A B’B B’C B’D B B-B’B
pre C’ C’A C’B C’C C’D C C-C’C
tation D’ D’A D’B D’C D’D D D-D’D
Total A B C D sample incorrect
% Correct A’A/ A B’B/ B C’C/ C D’D/ D Mean of % correct
% Commission A-A’A B-B’B C-C’C D-D’D Mean of % commission
A B C D
Note:
A, B, C, D : Object classes in the field
A’, B’, C’, D’ : Object classes as a result of interpretation
A’A : Object class A interpreted by A’
A’B : Object class B interpreted by A’
B’A : Object class A interpreted by B’
% accuracy of class A= A’A% commission of class B= A-A’A
A A
Accuracy is accepted if mean of % correct > 80% and mean of commission
< 20% (Sutanto, 1994).

43
 In the studies of urban settlement, particularly slums, the ideal scales
of aerial photography are ranging between 1:30,000 to 1:10,000. This is
because on those scales, the images are able to identify: (a) urban and
suburban areas; (b) types of city transportation; (c) exit and entry tracks
for small transportation from and to the city; (d) open buildings; (e) areas
of heavy industries, trades, and recreations (Bintarto, 1976: 6).
According to Bintarto (1976: 12), house buildings can be identified
by their interpretation elements, among which are:
(1) Color: ranging from grey to black (dark) and commonly darker from
buildings in the core trade areas.
(2) Texture: tend to be spread evenly around old settlement complexes
and unevenly around newly-built settlement complexes.
(3) Pattern: residential areas are commonly spread parallel with the road
lane. House yard is located in the back of the house with apparent
borders.
(4) Association: Many roofs and trees indicate the common tendency of
trade areas. Individual settlements look smaller than other buildings.
Slums as material object can be highlighted from various disciplines
including Geography, particularly using remote sensing. The approach
in studying slums is employed for the purpose of determining the slum
distribution using panchromatic aerial photography. Panchromatic aerial
photography is used as the main source of data for mapping the distribution
of slums. The object interpreted is the whole settlement areas divided
into several settlement blocks, in which every block is built based on the
density and pattern of the settlement. Every block is classified based on its
quality measured by the determinant variables for the settlement quality,
which are the independent variables from aerial photography and variables
in the field. Independent variables from panchromatic aerial photography
are the whole images of settlements’ physical aspects seen from above:
settlement pattern, density, size of the houses, organization, internal road,

44
vegetation cover and the wide of road, sanitation, road quality, proneness
to flood and inundation, as well as the quality of settlement itself.

2.7. Underlying Theory of Slums

In order to avoid confusion in this study, there needs to be a
theoretical framework concerning several factors related to the study.
a. Settlement
According to Finch (1957), settlement is a group of housing units
or human’s shelters, including the whole elements such as house buildings,
roads, and other facilities used for the continuity of human life. From that
limitation, it is apparent that settlement does not refer merely to a group
of housing units, but also the accompanying facilities and infrastructures
supporting the residents’ life.
Hudson (1970) defined settlement in two different but related
definitions: firstly, the definition that refers to colonialization towards new
area, following after is inward migration; and, secondly, settlement that
refers to groups of house buildings.
According to Barlow & Newton (1971), settlements are all kinds
of human shelters including huts, foliage-roofed cottages having a single
room, houses in the fields, or even very large settlements or city with
thousands of buildings for dwelling. Meanwhile, Zee (1979) gave a
limitation that, “the word settlement means the process whereby people
become sedentary within an area; and the result of this process.” In this
definition, settlement means the process and the ways how people reside
and the results of that process. In Indonesia, settlement both refers to the
process of settling and the place of settlement.
The American Public Health Association (APHA, 1960) defined
settlement as a house building that pertains to the human need for shelter,
within which human fulfills physical and spiritual needs, and sheltered
from transmittable diseases as well as from safety threats and accidents.

45
Specifically, another limitation of settlement that was proposed in the
Guidelines for Settlement Environmental Planning (1979) refers to a place
with some houses of where people live or build facilities that are closely
related to the residents’ system of life. This definition refers to a group of
houses with life facilities and housing facilities.
The Indonesia’s Central Agency of Statistics (1990) regarded house
as a shelter having walls and a roof, whether it is used permanently or
temporarily, for dwelling or not. The guideline for the surveyors also
mentioned the function of the building as a protection building. In other
words, a house is a physical building that may function either for dwelling
or for other purposes.
Yunus (1987; 1989; 1996) emphasized more on the importance on
the scope difference, both in terms of the scale of the study and the scale
of the area. This emphasis is very influential to the depth of the meaning
and the simplicity of the geographic study. In its broadest meaning, human
settlement refers to all kinds of dwellings, both artificial and natural, with
all the accompanying facilities utilized by human either individually or
collectively, and either temporarily or permanently.
Referring to the above concepts, the scope of settlement in this
study is limited to a group of houses, artificial and natural, with all the
accompanying facilities utilized by human either individually or collectively,
and either temporarily or permanently for supporting the residents’ life.

b. Slums
Herbert J. Gans (1968) defined slums in a sentence: “Obsolescence
per se is not harmful and designation of an area as a slum for the reason
alone is merely a reflection of middle class standards and middle class
incomes.” From the sentence, slums can be pertained as a mark or seal
attributed by the upper class with high economic status to the lower
class with low economic status. Meanwhile, Grimes (1976) and Drakakis-

46
Smith (1980) identified slums as groups of small houses physically having
low quality of environment, unorganized settlement pattern, and low
availability of public facilities.
Judohusodo (1991) defined slums by using the indicators of
population phenomena such as low life quality, high density that is ranging
from 350-1,250 people per hectare, within the settlement area of 15-120
hectares. Among all houses located in slums, 60-70% are occupied by the
owners, while 30-40% being rented out: a single room is usually occupied
by several people or a family. Meanwhile, Socki (1993) identified slums
based on the physical characteristics, among which are:
1) High population density (>1,250 people per hectare)
2) High density (> 250 buildings per hectare)
3) Small buildings (< 25 m2)
4) Unorganized settlement pattern
5) Poor sanitation and quality of buildings
Slums are also often associated with industrial areas, around water
body, alongside railroads, and around the core area of human activities.
Suparlan (2004) argued that slum is an area in which the condition of
houses and shelters are poor, not in accordance with the acceptable
standards, including standards of needs, density, healthy dwelling places,
clean water, sanitation and the whole road infrastructures, open spaces, as
well as other social infrastructures. Slums are inhabitable since it does not
fulfill the technical and non-technical factors for a settlement. Referring to
the definitions above, the scope of slum in this study is a settlement area in
which the quality of houses and shelters are extremely poor. The shelters,
facilities, and infrastructures are not in accordance with the accepted
standards: standards of needs that are not met, high density, unhealthy
environment of dwelling places, insufficient amount of clean water, poor
sanitation and road infrastructures, unavailability of open spaces, as well
as the lack of other social infrastructures.

47
c. Causes of Slum Expansion
Clinord (1978) indicated that the emergence of slums is triggered
by population growth, particularly in terms of the density as a result
of urbanization, poverty, cultural and political agenda. Meanwhile,
Yunus (2000) associated the emergence of slums with areas of poverty,
degradation, and crime, which are caused by the deterioration of settlement
environment, which is in turn partly responsible for the emergence
of slums. Astuti (2004) stated that the causes of slum emergence and
expansion in cities are: (a) economy factor such as poverty and crisis; and,
(b) disaster factor. Economy or poverty factor motivates newcomers to
seek for better life in cities without sufficient knowledge, skills, and savings
in encountering fierce competition with the other newcomers. Hence,
these people can only dwell and built houses in a very modest condition
in the cities. In addition, the high number of newcomers results in the
government’s inability to provide habitable settlement. Another factor
triggering the rapid expansion of slums is the disaster factor, including
natural disasters such as flood, earthquake, volcano eruption, landslide; as
well as war or inter-ethnic conflict.
Babychen Mathew (2005) further revealed that slums are always
located in the area of poverty, which is triggered by social stratification,
high population growth, and dirty political agenda as well as the pressures
played by mafias seeking benefits from others’ poverty. Referring to the
causes above, the limitation of factors causing slum expansion can be
classified into three: economy, geography, and psychology factors.

d. The Process of Slum Expansion

According to Bourne (1981), the infiltration process can be classified
into two types of cause: aging process and densification process. The
aging process of a building is a process of quality degradation because of
the old age of the building, turning it to be fragile and in a poor condition;
thus, creating a slummy area. Meanwhile, the second process is related

48
to the densification of buildings because of the high population growth,
which subsequently results in the coercion by population towards land for
settlement. The population then tends to occupy the empty spaces. This
process occurs constantly, thus resulting in a condition where no area is
left unoccupied. Another tendency that would happen is the high density
of single house buildings, leaving no available spaces.

2.8. Theoretical Framework of Slums

There are several approaches of studying slums, among them are the
approaches based on population density and economy, as well as political
entity. The first approach is associated with the term urban, which refers to
an area indicated by non-agricultural economic activities and high density
as a result of both natural population growth as well as inward migration.
Along with the population growth, the demand of land for settlement is
rising.
Besides, the demand in the urban area is also rising for land to
accommodate various activities of politics, economy, social, culture, as
well as technology development. Meanwhile, the space availability is
limited. The limited space in the cities brings logic consequences towards
the expansion of settlement area, which can be carried out in the spaces
initially serving as open spaces, including paddy field, swamp, and other
kinds of open space. Another impact would be on the land prices that are
sky-rocketing, forcing residents to maximally make use of available land,
which subsequently results in the densification of buildings. Densification
is one of the negative developments of settlement since it can trigger the
deterioration of environment in a settlement area.
The uncontrolled expansion of settlement will tend to cause
deterioration, leading to the emergence of slums subsequently. The other
factors are non-physical ones, including socioeconomic and cultural factors
of the population. Socioeconomic factor can be identified by the quality
development of settlement area from year to year. The indicators of such

49
a development are the quality index of physical environment, including
settlement condition, and physical condition of settlement area, as well
as supporting environment in the settlement area. The second factor is
regarded as the process of collective migration towards the settlement area.
Based on the length of stay, migrants can be stratified into three levels;
they are bridge header, consolidator, and status seekers. The length of stay
is assumed to be significantly related to the migrants’ income levels (which
is also related to their occupations), the length, education background;
these bring out a particular perception towards the environment of urban
settlement.
The development process of a settlement can be observed
throughout the length of the process: a short one with relatively wide area
or continuous process in a relatively long time. Meanwhile, the observation
through continuous process would be able to take into account the aging
and densification factors.
In addition, the development process of a settlement can also be
observed by the residents’ behavior, which is set about by a cultural gap
between the migrants’ hometowns and the current settlement area. The
existence of this gap is triggered by the lack of face-to-face communication,
causing residents not familiar with each other, low solidarity, and in turn
degrading residents’ allegiance towards the norms in the settlement area.
It is hard to cultivate a sense of politeness and rightness if the allegiance
towards the norms is low. Poor sense of rightness and politeness will
result in a low quality of social control. Indifference will increase among
residents, although the behaviors of some are not aligned with the accepted
norms in previous residential areas.
The poor quality of settlement environment can be divided into
two aspects: Non-physical aspects (of residents inside and outside the
settlement area) and physical aspects. The former can be indicated by the
residents’ attitudes and behaviors, law infringement, as well as horizontal

50
conflicts. The frequent law infringement can be identified by the quantity
increase of such a case and perpetrators’ origins. The horizontal conflicts
that have occurred and might occur can be observed by the intercommunity
social relationships among the residents within the same settlement area as
well as different settlement area within a particular administrative region.
Such conflicts can also be observed by different indicators such as social
gap level triggering potential horizontal conflict.
Besides the coercion by population towards land, the slum
expansion in Semarang is also caused by saltwater inundation. During
rainy season and tides, areas that are relatively low or as low as coastline
will be inundated by saltwater. In the past, saltwater would flow to dikes
and swamps, but because of the coercion towards land in Semarang, these
dikes and swamps were reclaimed into area for settlement and activities
accommodation. Hence, the settlement area will be inundated.
In order to cure the effects of slum expansion in Semarang, there
are three methods that can be implemented: preventive, curative, and
development project. The first and second methods can be done by the
contribution of formula in the settlement area whose quality is degrading
or deteriorating (indicated by causing factors and the occurring process),
while the third method can be conducted by environmental improvement
projects. In addition, the pattern of deterioration progress in settlement
area will be easily observed based on time series. By identifying the
tendencies of the changes during particular period of time, the distribution
pattern, the occurrence process, and the impacts can be observed.
The interpretation of multi-temporal aerial photography
supported by the terrestrial data can serve as information showing the
slum development, which is subsequently analyzed using Geographic
Information Systems. The scheme of the theoretical framework is depicted
in figure 2.3 below.

51
52
 Chapter 3
Geographical Condition
of Research Location

3.1. Location, Area, and Boundaries

Semarang is covered in the Rupabumi Digital Map of Indonesia
with scale of 1:25,000, including the pages of Tugu, North Semarang,
and South Semarang, on 1409-221, 1409-22, and 1408-544 respectively.
According to the map, Semarang is astronomically located between 110o
21’42” - 110o 27’00” East longitude and 06o 56’42” - 07o 02’06” South
longitude; while in UTM coordinate, between 429550 - 439275 E and
9233000 - 9222700 N. The longest distance in this area from the North to
the South is 9,725 km while from the West to the East is 10,300 km.
The area of Semarang covers several regions, consisting of lands
and hills. The altitudes are ranging from:
1. Coastal Area : 0.75 m AMSL
2. Simpang Lima : 3.49 m AMSL
3. Candi Baru : 90.5 m AMSL
4. Jatingaleh : 136 m AMSL
5. Western area of Gunungpati : 259 m AMSL
6. Eastern area of Gunungpati : 348 m AMSL

53
7. Mijen : 253 m AMSL
The area of research location approximately covers 377.98 km2,
consisting of 16 sub-districts: Mijen, Gunungpati, Banyumanik, Gajah
Mungkur, South Semarang, Candisari, Tembalang, Pedurungan, Genuk,
Gayamsari, East Semarang, North Semarang, Central Semarang, West
Semarang, Tugu, and Ngaliyan. Administratively, the boundaries of the
research location are:
- In the North : Java Sea
- In the West : Kendal Regency
- In the South : Semarang Regency
- In the East : Demak Regency
The administrative map of Semarang Municipality is presented in
Figure 3.1.

3.2. Population
According to the population data of Semarang in 2006, the number
of Semarang residents reached 1,418,324. This number, compared to that
in 2000, has increased from 1,388,021 with the growth rate of 2.188% per
year. Meanwhile, the number in 1990 was 1,058,456 and 874,853 in 1980.
Hence, the population number of Semarang in 2006 is almost twice as
much as that in 1980. During 1980, the area of Semarang covers 373.67
km2, while the population density was 2,341 people/km2. Along with the
increasing population growth, the population density of Semarang is also
rising: for instance in 1990, the density number reached 2,832 people/km2
or increased by 21%, while in 2000, the population density reached 3,714
people/km2 or increased by 32% in ten years. In 2006, the population
density rate reached 3,795 people/km2; this indicates a relatively high
population growth in Semarang. Based on the statistical data for almost
three decades, it can be identified that migration contributes as much as
68% in the population growth of Semarang (Semarang Central Agency

54
on Statistics).
Among the sub-districts in Semarang, Central Semarang has the
highest population density rate with 13,605 people/km2. The lowest is
that of Mijen sub-district with 546 people/km2. The number and density
of Semarang population as a whole are presented in the Table 3.1.
Table 3.1 Population Number and Density of Semarang in 2005
Population Population
Sub-districts Area (ha) Number Density
(People) (People/ha)
Central Semarang 604.99 76,663 127
East Semarang 770.253 83,460 109
Candisari 655.512 80,544 123
North Semarang 1,133.275 124,703 110
Gayamsari 636.56 66,701 104
South Semarang 848.046 85,685 101
Gajahmungkur 764.987 60,350 78
West Semarang 2,386.71 155,320 48
Pedurungan 1,984.948 154,359 78
Banyumanik 2,508.06 111,639 45
Ngaliyan 3,269.58 99,482 30
Genuk 2,768.44 72,201 26
Tembalang 4,420.049 115,805 26
Gunungpati 5,699.083 62,111 10
Tugu 3,133.11 25,549 8
Mijen 6,215.265 43,752 7
TOTAL 37,798.868 1,418,324 38
Source: Kota Semarang dalam Angka 2005

55
SEMARANG MAP OF ADMISTRATION
SEMARANG MAP
OF ADMISTRATION
N
Scale 1:150,000
W E

S
Legends:
- Boundaries for regencies/
municipalities
- Boundaries for sub-districts
- Arterial roads
- Collector roads
- Railways
- Rivers
Sub-districts:
Banyumanik
Candisari
Gajahmungkur
Gayamsari
Genuk
Gunungpati
Mijen
Ngaliyan
Padurungan
West Semarang
South Semarang
North Semarang
Tembalang
Tugu
Source:
Rupabumi Digital Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 Year: 2013
Created by:
MOH. Gamal Rindarjono
02/1147 PS

Based on table 3.1, Central Semarang Sub-district that is located in

the core area where various activities are carried out, has the highest rate of
population with 127 people/ha. This is very likely since Central Semarang
serves as the downtown area where all activities in Semarang are centered,
both politics and trades, attracting newcomers. Another attractive area in
Semarang during the last twenty years is Candi Sub-district: within the
period of time, the rate of population density increased by 76% (Semarang
Central Agency on Statistics). This condition is indicated by the emergence
of business centers, which is in turned followed by new settlement areas.

3.3. Settlement Area

The distribution of settlements in Semarang Municipality can be
described as: administratively, the area having the highest density of
buildings is Central Semarang with 12 houses/ha. Meanwhile, the area
with the highest quantity of poor-quality buildings is North Semarang,
reaching 68% from the whole house buildings.

56
Table 3.2 Quantity and Types of House Building in Semarang in
2005
Types of House Building

Boarded/ Wooden

Woven Bamboo/
Semi-permanent

Quantity
Permanent

Others
Sub-districts

Central Semarang 9,987 5,212 2,201 0 17,400

East Semarang 9,768 6,532 1,435 0 17,735
Candisari 11,769 2,740 591 150 15,250
North Semarang 14,797 6,246 5,273 544 26,860
Gayamsari 8,429 2,232 1,262 101 12,024
South Semarang 10,988 1,950 1,380 0 14,318
Gajahmungkur 7,861 2,101 532 0 10,494
West Semarang 19,572 7,661 4,652 0 31,885
Pedurungan 45,255 7,220 2,626 192 55,293
Banyumanik 4,956 627 325 0 5,908
Ngaliyan 16,481 6,037 2,291 0 24,809
Genuk 4,606 3,314 4,274 675 12,869
Tembalang 11,187 3,084 1,535 340 16,146
Gunungpati 6,591 2,759 3,014 225 12,589
Tugu 2,814 1,285 457 10 4,566
Mijen 8,707 5,267 98 21 14,093
TOTAL 193,768 69,064 30,704 2,258 292.239
Source: Kota Semarang dalam Angka 2005
According to Table 3.2, house buildings made of board/wood and
woven bamboo can be found mostly in North Semarang, making up to
21%; 16% in Central Semarang; 11% in Tembalang; and, 8.9% in East
Semarang. Related to the distribution of slums in Semarang, there is a

57
significant relation between the types of house buildings with the quantity
of slummy house buildings. On the other hand, sub-districts with the least
slummy buildings are dominated by permanent house buildings, making up
to 95%, for example in Pedurungan Sub-district. Table 4.3 will emphasize
the density of non-permanent house buildings in Semarang.
Table 3.3. Density of House Buildings/ha in Semarang in 2005
Density
Quantity of Non-
of House
Sub-districts Area (ha) permanent House
Buildings/
Buildings
ha
Central Semarang 604.99 7,413 12
East Semarang 770.253 7,967 10
Candisari 655.512 3,481 5
North Semarang 1,133.275 12,063 11
Gayamsari 636.56 3,595 6
South Semarang 848.046 3,330 4
Gajahmungkur 764.987 2,633 3
West Semarang 2,386.71 12,313 5
Pedurungan 1,984.948 10,038 5
Banyumanik 2,508.06 952 1
Ngaliyan 3,269.58 8,328 3
Genuk 2,768.44 8,263 3
Tembalang 4,420.049 4,959 1
Gunungpati 5,699.083 5,998 1
Tugu 3,133.11 1,752 2
Mijen 6,215.265 5,386 1
TOTAL 37,798.868 98,471 3
Source: Kota Semarang dalam Angka 2005
Table 3.3 shows that the central area of activities is the location with
the highest quantity and density rate of house buildings. This is very likely
since the whole activities of economic, cultural, and political in Semarang
are centered in Central Semarang Sub-district. What makes it interesting

58
is the growing number of non-permanent buildings in North Semarang,
which happens along with the increasing density of house buildings per
hectare in this sub-district.

3.4. Land Utilization

It is important to identify the land utilization in some particular area.
This information can be used in examining the development of settlement
area from year to year as well as the causes for the growing volume and
area of flood, which is due to land conversion from agriculture to non-
agriculture.

59
60
Table 3.4. The Growth of Land Utilization between 1990-2005 in Semarang Municipality (Area in ha)
Year Land utilization
Paddy Dry fields/ Forests Yards/ Lands for Plantation Ponds Others Total
Fields Farmland/ Crop buildings and yards
Fields
2001 3,455.71 6,482.89 1,639.8 15,126.23 1,176.12 2,004.28 7,913.83 37,798.868
2002 3,658.47 6,221.44 1,515.7 14,298.07 1,178.12 1,788.48 8,262.56 37,798.868
2003 3,700.96 6,511.32 1,315.7 16,279.90 966.12 115.81 8,388.03 37,798.868
2004 3,897.96 5,564.21 1,100.6 16,523.07 1,178.12 877.45 8,657.45 37,798.868
2005 3,956.30 3,160.76 915.7 19,626.94 1,181.12 462.53 8,495.61 37,798.868
Source: Kota Semarang dalam Angka 2005
 As indicated in Table 3.4, during a five-year period, there is an
expansion of paddy field area by 14%, while the areas for ponds drastically
decrease by 78%. In a few cases, ponds are converted into paddy fields—
mostly reclaimed for building construction. Such reclamation has been
increasing with the approximate growth of 5.33% per year during the
period of years.
Population growth goes hand in hand with the increasing quantity
of buildings. In 2001, the number of physical buildings was 277,965,
which increased in 2005 to 292,239 (Kota Semarang dalam Angka, 2005):
the number of new physical buildings has grown 14,285 or increased by
47.51%. In other words, the growth rate that reached 4.751% is projected
to force land expansion for construction. The growth of physical building
in Semarang, based on the 1980 and 1990 census, as well as the latest data
in 2005 is presented in table 3.5.
Table 3.5 The Growth of Physical Building Quantity per Sub-district
based on the 1980 and 1990 Census in Semarang Municipality
Quantity Quantity Quantity
of Physical of Physical of Physical
Sub-districts
Building in Building in Building in
1980 1990 2005
Mijen 7,739 10,052 17,400
Gunungpati 7,686 11,187 17,735
South Semarang 28,327 38,653 15,250
Genuk 14,488 40,252 26,860
East Semarang 29,204 41,225 12,024
North Semarang 24,703 27,814 14,318
Central Semarang 11,004 10,813 10,494
West Semarang 33,018 48,383 31,885
Tugu 7,716 13,362 55,293
Total 163,885 241,741 201,259

61
3.5. Reclamation and Inundation
3.5.1. Reclamation in Semarang
This subchapter will discuss the reclamation activities on natural
polders in Semarang, particularly in North Semarang that is closely
associated with the emergence of inundation, which serves as one of the
processes of taudification. The population growth in Semarang during
1980-2005 is followed by the city development, increasing the population’s
coercion towards land for accommodating their activities. Cities carry a
burden that is getting heavier and heavier, and that has to be fulfilled by
the local governments, concerning city facilities and infrastructures such
as settlement area, industrial area, public spaces, offices, business centers.
Such a high population growth, along with the stagnant area, will
give an impact to the population density, in turn causing people fighting for
land acquirement for various purposes. The rising demand for land with
stagnant available land will lead to a vertical development, realized by the
construction of skyscrapers and flats. In addition, city development can
also be carried out by backfilling coastal or wetland, known as reclamation,
which is one of the several development processes of supporting facilities
in the city, for example constructions of airport, offices, stores, warehouses,
or even settlement areas.
However, the environmental impact caused by reclamation is often
disregarded. For instance, a swamp originally serving as natural polder and
going through reclamation process will have a higher elevation than its
condition before. This in turn will make the water flow into lower areas,
which are then pooled. Meanwhile, coastal reclamation will cause erosion
and sedimentation to the other coastal areas.
Reclamation generally refers to the backfilling process using materials
towards relatively unused available areas and wetlands, for instance in
coastal area, swamp, sea, river, or lake. John Wirawan (2004) stated that
reclamation is a process of reclaiming swampy or marshy area, wasteland,

62
desert, and unused land into land suitable for cultivation or habitation;
including conversion process of foreshore by building drainage system
for various purposes, building embankment, by backfilling, and other
strategies. The other factors encouraging reclamation strategy include
land utilization and requirements of safety, environment, and cost. In
addition, reclamation process needs evaluation and monitoring that are
strict, continuous, and integrated in order minimalize the negative impact
that might happen, both internally or externally, in the present days or in
the future.
The main problems during the planning and implementation of
reclamation are concerning socioeconomic, juridical, and environmental
problems. All those problems become the basic topics that are being
discussed by many people. In terms of reclamation, socioeconomic
problems are usually realized in the disagreement of decision maker (local
government), Regional House of People’s Representatives, investors,
NGOs, and the residents. The question that then arises is “will reclamation
give benefits to all parties, including the local government through the
local revenue, investors, as well as residents?” Usually, the residents will get
the least revenue from the reclamation.
Reclamation can give benefits to the cities through land provision
for various purposes, arrangement of coastal area, development of
marine tourism, et cetera. Despite all of the benefits, reclamation is a kind
of human intervention towards the balance of natural coastal ecosystem
that has always been in equilibrium and dynamic. Reclamation causes
ecosystem changes such as changes in current pattern, erosion, coastal
sedimentation, and increasing the tendency of flood and disruption
towards the environment.
Among the effects caused by reclamation are concerning hydrology,
quality of water, hydro-oceanography, the use of reclaimed spaces and
lands, types and facilities of health, incidence and prevalence of diseases,

63
and residents’ attitudes. Each of this effect should be carefully pondered
by the local government of Semarang so that the benefits of Marina Beach
reclamation are not exclusively reaped by the high-class society, but also all
residents of Semarang.
Marina Beach project is not the first coastal reclamation project
carried out in Semarang since it has started 500 years ago. Van Bemmelen
(1952), a Dutch scholar, detailed that Semarang coastal silt has been
amassed at least since 500 years ago, categorized as Natural Reclamation
due to material sedimentation from Gunung Ungaran. Coastline that was
initially located in Bukit Bergota area has moved forward towards the
coast.
Reclamation in Semarang can be classified into two categories:
a. Swamp/pond reclamation
The implementation of swamp reclamation needs extra attention
because swamps in Semarang serve as the natural polder to collect
overflowing flood caused b.y rainfall and tides. Swamp reclamation
might be one of the factors causing the expansion of inundation area.
What is worse is that most reclamation processes were implemented
by private industries having strong funding but not Environmental
Management and Monitoring document and Environmental Impact
Assessment (UKL-UPL and AMDAL in Bahasa Indonesia).
b. Coastal reclamation
Coastal reclamation does not really contribute in the expansion of
inundation area. It might increase the affected area if a good drainage
system is not planned well, moreover if the reclaimed area blockage
the flow of receding water towards the ocean. The worst impact of
coastal reclamation is erosion in the coastal line and sedimentation. In
this case, it is necessary to take into account the technical simulation
of changes in ocean current pattern and ocean hydrodynamics.
The newly reclaimed beach in Semarang will later meet various

64
 ongoing economic and social activities. These activities refer to the
pond businesses run in Tambakharjo, Tugurejo, and Karanganyar,
recreational areas (Marina, Maerokoco, PRPP, Tanjung Emas),
Ahmad Yani Airport, as well as residential areas in Tambakharjo and
Tawangmas. Industrial activities by PT. KLI and PT. RPI, Wijaya
Kusuma industrial area, Tanjung Mas Harbor, Tambak Lorok Electric
Power Generation to Gas and Steam (PLTGU in Bahasa Indonesia,
and warehousing areas of PT. Ciptaguna Sentrabuana.
Regarding the reclamation implemented in Semarang’s Marina
Beach, the Environmental Impact Assessment document mentioned that
PT. IPU as a national private industry in Semarang running land property
business would implement reclamation on Marina beach. The result of
204 ha would be allocated as: 75 ha for settlement, 45 ha for trades and
services, 17 ha for public facilities, 5 ha for open space, 20 ha for drainage
system and retention pool, 15 ha for road, and 27 ha for border area.
The reclaimed areas in the northern Semarang are detailed in figure
3.2:

65
 RECLAMATION MAP OF SEMARANG
RECLAMATION MAP
OF SEMARANG
Scale 1:150,000

Legends:
- Boundaries for regencies/
municipalities
- Boundaries for sub-districts
- Arterial roads
- Collector roads
- Railways
- Rivers
- Research Location
- Land Reclamation
Sub-districts:
Banyumanik
Candisari
Gajahmungkur
Gayamsari
Genuk
Gunungpati
Mijen
Ngaliyan
Padurungan
West Semarang
South Semarang
North Semarang
Tembalang
N Tugu
Source:
W E Rupabumi Digital Map of Indonesia
S Scale 1:25,000 Year: 2013
Created by:
MOH. Gamal Rindarjono
02/1147 PS

3.5.2. Inundation
Inundation caused by ocean tides has been a longtime phenomenon
in Semarang. The current problem includes the expanding inundation
area, which is partly caused by land subsidence in lower areas of Semarang
formed by sedimentation for hundred years. However, as detailed by Robert
Kodoatie (Suara Merdeka, 13 June 2004), the still-ongoing consolidation
process plus other factors including groundwater utilization and overloaded
upper ground complicate inundation problems in Semarang. This is
worsened when the aforementioned factors simultaneously happen with
the seawater flood whose depth exceeds the sluicegate height, in which
during the rising tide, seawater flow through the canals and inundate the
surrounding areas.
The big question that remains among the residents is: Why is
inundation problem getting even worse ever since coastal reclamation
in the northern coast of Semarang was conducted, particularly Marina
Beach? Swamp or coastal reclamation carried out in Marina beach used

66
the materials of dirt taken from hilly regions in southern Semarang, such
as Gunungpati. Besides, dikes are built around the boundaries of wetland
reclamation in order to avoid abrasion. Meanwhile, seawater flood as a
regular natural phenomenon is blocked by the elevation of reclaimed area,
thus the flood inundate lower areas in the surrounding, such as settlement
areas, roads, shopping complex, bus and train stations, et cetera.
Inundation phenomenon in Semarang can be viewed from several
aspects, which are lithology, geology, and hydrology aspects.
a. Lithology aspect
The soil below the surface of coastal region in Semarang (lower area
of Semarang) is composed of fine-grained sediment that is moist
and relatively dense sand on the upper layer of volcanic rocks with
20-25 meters depth. The moist clay is getting thickened towards the
eastern Semarang, and lessened towards the West and South (upper
area of Semarang); the distribution of moist clay zone, having 20-25
meters depth, towards the northwest and southeast areas dominates
the coastal area/ lowland in Semarang. Meanwhile, the zone with
more than 30 meters depth can be found around Trimulyo and
Genuksari and towards the South to Pedurungan (eastern Semarang)
(Suhandini, 1988). Moist clay is prone to cone penetration more than
10 kg/cm2. The construction of buildings and multi-story buildings,
roads, and other infrastructures in this area will penetrate the soil
below, causing land subsidence. In Semarang, the occurrence of land
subsidence varies around 2-25 cm/year. The continuous occurrence
will make some areas lower than the seawater level (Office of Public
Work of Semarang Municipality, 2005).
b. Geology aspect
The types of soil in the coastal region of Semarang (lower area of
Semarang) include Association of Grey Alluvial, Hidromort Alluvial,
Dark-Grey Grumosol, and Dark-Grey Regosol. The distribution of
this type of soil covers areas in the lower area of Semarang, such as

67
 Genuk, Central Semarang, Tugu, North Semarang, as well as Mijen.
Geologically, land in Semarang is composed of deposits of river
alluvial, delta plain’s facies, and tidal facies. These deposits consist
of alternating layers of soil, silt, and moist clay that are interspersed
by volcanic gravel and sand. In this geologic condition, there
should be an abundant amount of groundwater. The thick layer
of moist clay, which varies between 2-30 meters, accelerates the
consolidation process. The data from Office of Public Work of
Semarang Municipality (2005) show that the drinking water for
Semarang residents (1,974,392 people), industries, and others
amounts to 88,705,000 m3/year (1996) among which mostly taken
from groundwater. Since the groundwater pumping in Semarang far
exceeds the aquifer capacity, the groundwater surface level decreases
to15 to 22 meters below the ground level (1996).
The decrease of groundwater surface level will add stress in the
ground: if the occurring stress exceeds previous stress level, land will
go under consolidation and compaction; on the areas having normal
consolidation, the state in turn will cause land subsidence.
c. Hydrology aspect
Unconfined groundwater flows freely through aquifer and is not
overlain by impermeable layer. The surface level of unconfined
groundwater is heavily influenced by season change and the condition
of surrounding environment. The people residing in the lower area
of Semarang often utilize groundwater by building wells dug to 3-18
meters in depth (Office of Public Work of Semarang Municipality,
2005).
Based on the three aspects, it is apparent that the lower area of
Semarang suffers from inundation problems, mostly the expanding
inundation area that is closely related with reclamation: As the reclamation
area expands, so does inundation area. This happens because the water
that usually floods the reclaimed area flows to the surrounding lower land,

68
which includes areas of residential, industrial, trading, coastal recreational,
and affects city main infrastructures such as Tanjung Mas Harbor, Tawang
Train Station, Terboyo Bus Station, Ahmad Yani Airport, drainage system,
clean water, wastewater treatment, waste management, and main roads.
Inundation is worsened when the seawater gets blockaded and when the
river surface level decreases. River water flood no longer flows through the
swamps in the northern Semarang and to the ocean due to reclamation. As
a result, it floods the areas lower from those reclaimed, whose elevations
get higher, and inundate the areas of human activities.
The depth of land subsidence is usually ranging between 2-25 cm/
year. This phenomenon is caused by the cone penetration of buildings and
infrastructures constructed above the alluvial soil. The land subsidence
occurring in Semarang is caused by two factors: the decrease of
groundwater surface level due to pumping, and overloaded upper ground
due to reclamation. The active tectonic activities in the island of Java
during the Late and Mid Pleistocene form a pattern of complex geological
structure in the southern area of research location. It has not been clearly
identified how the active fault structure affects the land subsidence in
Semarang alluvial land. The continuous process causes some areas lower
than seawater level. Land subsidence only occurs in some points with
depth approximately 25 cm, but the area and depth of inundation are not
significantly related with it. For instance, the data taken in Bandarharjo
show the depth of land subsidence ranging from 8-15 cm, but the depth
of inundation reached 1.5 meters. Therefore, the government’s argument
exaggeratedly pointing to inundation cannot really be proved accurately:
land subsidence in several areas serves as a minor factor in the expansion,
depth, and duration of inundation in Semarang. The significance of this
includes implementation of body of water in the northern Semarang. The
distribution of inundation area in Semarang is presented in figure 3.3.

69
 MAP OF INUNDATION AREA DISTRIBUTION
MAP OF INUNDATION
AREA DISTRIBUTION
Scale 1:150,000

Legends:
- Boundaries for regencies/
municipalities
- Boundaries for sub-districts
- Arterial roads
- Collector roads
- Railways
- Rivers
- Research Location
- Land Reclamation
Sub-districts:
Banyumanik
Candisari
Gajahmungkur
Gayamsari
Genuk
Gunungpati
Mijen
Ngaliyan
Padurungan
West Semarang
South Semarang
North Semarang
Tembalang
N Tugu
Source:
W E Rupabumi Digital Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 Year: 2013
S
Created by:
MOH. Gamal Rindarjono
02/1147 PS

70
 Chapter IV
Slums in the Research Location

4.1. Description of the Socioeconomic Condition of Slum

Residents
This chapter discusses the result of the study. Prior to the discussion,
however, it is necessary to describe the socio-economy of the respondents.
In 1980, the area of slums in Semarang reached 876 ha (http://www.
kimpraswil.go.id/humas/infoterkini/, 2006) and expanded by 11% in less
than ten years.
In 2006, the area of slums became 972.76 ha (Semarang
Development Planning Board, 2007) and covered 42 locations, mostly in
North Semarang. They were Krakasan, Makam Kobong, Stasiun Tawang,
Bandarharjo, Kebonharjo, Kampung Melayu, Tanjung Mas, Dadapsari,
Purwosari, Plombokan, and Panggung (See Figure 4.1).
The locations used as the sample for this study were Pekunden
(located in the Central Business District - CBD), Mrican (located in urban
fringe), Karangrejo in Gajahmungkur (located in Jatingaleh, representing
urban peripheries situated in hilly areas), Tandang in Tembalang (located in
Kuburan Cina, representing urban peripheries situated in lowland areas),

71
and Bandarharjo, representing urban peripheries situated in coastal areas.
There were 250 respondents altogether.
Figure 4.1: Map of Slums Distribution in Semarang

MAP
OF RESEARCH LOCATION
Scale 1:150,000

Legends:
- Boundaries for regencies/
municipalities
- Boundaries for sub-districts
- Arterial roads
- Collector roads
- Railways
- Rivers
- Research Location
Sub-districts:
Banyumanik
Candisari
Gajahmungkur
Gayamsari
Genuk
Gunungpati
Mijen
Ngaliyan
Padurungan
West Semarang
South Semarang
North Semarang
Tembalang
Tugu
N
Source:
W E Rupabumi Digital Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 Year: 2013
S
Created by:
MOH. Gamal Rindarjono
02/1147 PS

4.1.1. Characteristics of Slum Residents’ Behavior

Generally, slum residents in Semarang had three dominant
characteristics: (1) deviant behavior; (2) applying culture of the slums; and,
(3) apathy and social isolation.
a. Deviant behavior
Criminal acts, juvenile delinquency, prostitution, drinking, gambling,
and narcotic misuse were some behaviors easily found in slums within
the research location. Table 5.1 indicates that 83.4% respondents
resided in slums within the research location, worked in informal
sectors as hawkers, pedicab drivers, tailors, fishermen, et cetera. There
were also residents working as casual laborers, which sometimes
served as construction workers, transportation conductors, and
transportation brokers (usually called “timer”). This kind of laborers
performed temporary works given by other people, even being

72
 unemployed most time of a week. This condition led to a tendency
where casual laborers were easily tempted to do criminal acts.
In contrast, 90% of Bandarharjo residents worked in informal
sectors, but most of them were casual laborers (27%). However, their
daily performance, settlement, habits, and financial aspects showed
these laborers had high earning. The result of primary data analysis
shows a baffling finding: Residents with high per capita income (14%)
were those working as casual laborers, most of which were without
children, significantly lessening their dependency burdens. Besides,
based on in-depth interview with respondents, it can be concluded
that the casual laborers with high per capita income worked relying
on their physical strength. This shows a culture of the slums, in which
physical strength is commendable: All kinds of problem are solved
with violence, with which they earn money.
b. The culture of the slums has rooted in slum areas in Semarang. The
residents lived in groups, which could easily be found gathering in
small stalls, hangout places, and wherever they could borrow money.
There was almost no person living in solitude. All activities were
carried out communally in every aspect of life. Even though physical
strength was commendable in slum culture; but ironically there was a
high tolerance among the residents towards social deviance.
The result of in-depth interview with the key persons, particularly
in Semarang periphery and Bandarharjo, shows that the number of
families whose legality was questionable (without marriage certificate)
or called cohabitation (without legal marriage based on the applicable
government regulation) reached 24% from the respondents. In
addition, over violations of legal and social norms, these respondents
strictly covered the information and only disclosed it to particular
people. This behavior led to a suspicion towards outsiders, including
government, police, newcomers, and aliens entering their area. The
real the culture of slums is described in Figure 5.2.

73
 One of the characteristics of
slums’ culture is that it indicates
many places where groups of
people gather together during
the day and even more during
the night.

Note: The picture was taken on

23 June 2014 in Bandarharjo.
c. Apathy and social isolation
Slums in Semarang had particular images in which the slum residents
were perceived as a reflection of a natural inferiority for having poor
physical appearance and life, seen as a lowly creature. Such a public
view will keep the slum residents socially excluded from the circle of
participation within the urban development (Khudori, 2002).
The residents of slums in Semarang also did not have the tools to
communicate with the outside world, making them powerless to voice
out their opinion. They acknowledged the image attributed to them
and realize that they lived in a lower stratum than the middle class.
However, they sometimes also tried to ameliorate this condition,
although they just apathetically carried on with the reality most of
the time and only did what they could do.
These slum residents felt helpless to change their life, which was
then followed by the patterns of behaviors and beliefs towards their
longtime marginality. When a person was finally detached from this
environment, they would see it as luck rather than the result of their
hard work; a fortuity rather than a planned action; and, a gift rather
than competence. These are the reflection of their fatalism. From
the interview, it is known that 87% of the respondents submissively
accepted their condition, particularly about the inundation problems
occurring throughout the year. They believed their settlement area

74
 was subsiding, allowing water inundates deeper from year to year.
They even refused to believe that it was because of the reclamation
in the surrounding areas.
In order to identify the characteristics in detail, the discussion below
will highlight the respondents’ age groups, types of works, income
level, as well as educational background.

4.1.2. Respondents’ Age and Family Members

Generally, most of the respondents (56 people) are in the ages
of 40-44, amounting to 22% of the whole respondents. In Bandarhajo
specifically, most respondents are between the ages of 35-39, summing up
to 22% or 11 people. The next discussion will detail the respondents based
on their ages in the research location.
Table 4.1. Respondents’ Age
Urban Urban
Urban
Research Downtown Urban Periphery Periphery
Periphery
Location Area Fringe (hilly (coastal
No. (lowland) TOTAL
area) area)
Respondents’ Kuburan
Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Bandarharjo
Age Cina
1. < 29 1 7 7 6 8 29
2. 30 - 34 3 1 8 5 8 25
3. 35 - 39 9 9 6 7 11 42
4. 40 - 44 11 16 14 8 7 56
5. 45 - 49 11 9 5 10 4 39
6. 50 - 54 8 5 3 6 7 29
7. 55 - 59 3 2 4 3 3 15
8. 60 < 4 1 3 5 2 15
TOTAL 50 50 50 50 50 250
Source: Primary Data

4.1.3. Types of Works
To analyze job distribution based on the type of occupation in slum
areas, a study should refer two theories: theory of marginality and theory
of dependence, could not be separated from the equation (Prisma; No.
6/XIII, 1984). According to the theory of marginality, the phenomenon

75
of slums is the result of permanent mobility of people from rural area to
urban area, either economically, socially, or culturally; and political ideas
that are not integrated with the life of urban society. Socially, people in
slum areas display the characteristics of internal disorganization (no social
cohesion and highly individualistic) and externally isolated (no access to
public facility since they do not directly interact with the urban people).
Culturally, the slums residents still bring their traditional culture (from
their villages) and tended to be confined in poverty. Economically, they
live like parasites because most of them freely absorb the resources, not
give economy contribution to the city. The theory states that the slums
residents are lavish, consumptive, easily satisfied, not market-oriented
(they are communal-oriented), do not have entrepreneur spirit; and if they
do have a production unit, it is limited. Politically, the poor residents in
the city are politically apathies. They do not want to participate in political
areas, and are easily influenced by revolutionary movements due to the
frustration, social disorganization, and other uncertainties in their life.
However, the theory of dependence displays the opposite. This
theory explains that the slum phenomenon is the result of market-
oriented capitalism that comes to densely populated rural areas that are
structurally extorted by urban area. The arrival of capitalism is realized in
green revolution, through the programs of intensification, extensification,
and commercialization in agriculture sector to produce as many crops
as possible to fulfill the needs of city residents, national need, and for
export market. Green revolution in rural area is agricultural activities with
small-capital, a part of which is from developed capitalist countries (for
the pesticide, fertilizer, and other modern equipment), thus creating a
dependence towards industrial countries. The direct effect for the farmers
is the increase of unemployment in rural areas, which encourages mobility
of the people and their activities to urban areas.

76
 The people who move from rural to urban area are not skilled and
they do not have proper knowledge in surviving the city, thus making it
hard for them to work in formal sector such as commercial companies
(goods and service) or government offices. Their only chance remains on
the informal sectors, such as selling goods, being street vendors, scavenger,
or any other jobs that do not need certain skill or permit.
Different from theory of marginality, theory of dependence explains
that slums residents socially, economically, and culturally integrate with the
city residents. However, their integration in many cases harm the slums
residents. Socially, they have a social organization and unified cohesion
between each group. They do not want to return to the village due to the
absence of opportunity. They also want to use the public facility; however
they are rejected and are often not acknowledged. Culturally, they have
high work ethic and want to have proper living like others and to send their
children to schools. However, the elitists (priyayi) see them as lowly lives
and the source of the city calamity: source of crimes, prostitution, and
filthiness. Economically, they actually give more than receiving. It is the
slums residents who clean and use the waste of the urban area residents.
Such an informal sector actually lowers the living cost, especially for those
with low income. By rummaging through garbage, the scavengers sort
the garbage that later becomes low-cost material for industries. Simply
speaking, they really give contribution to the economy but they do not
gain anything of it.
The theory of dependence explains that the slums residents are
social group that are socially rejected, culturally humiliated, economically
exploited, and politically oppressed by the existing dominant structure in
the society. It is not marginality or poverty culture that makes them live in
the slums, but it is because they are marginalized by the current system.
To analyze the phenomena in the research area, the theory of
dependence closely resembles the condition and helps more in solving

77
the problems. However, some characteristics mentioned in the theory of
marginality exist as well, the causes of which are explained inthe theory of
dependence. The characteristics and the causes of slums in the research
area are summarized in Table 4.2.
Table 4.2 Types of Occupation in Research Area
Urban
Urban Urban
Downtown Urban Periphery
Research Area Periphery Periphery
Area Fringe (coastal
No (hillside) (lowland)
area)
Kuburan
Occupation Type Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Bandarharjo
Cina
1. PNS Rank 2 0.9 1.9 0 2.0 1.0
2. PNS Rank 1 1.9 0.9 1.0 3.0 1.0
3. Military/Police 0 0 4.0 1.0 0
4. Employee 0.9 14.1 28.0 7.0 4.0
5. Salesperson 0.9 10.0 7.0 3.0 0
6. Technician 1.9 0.9 3.0 20.0 2.0
7. Chauffeur/Driver 1.9 1.9 4.0 2.0 2.0
8. Security Guard 0.9 0.9 6.0 1.0 0
9. Factory Workers 13.2 1.9 10.0 3.0 20.0
10. Ship crews 0.9 0 0 0 2.0
11. Fisherman 0 0 0 0 4.0
12. Bricklayer 0.9 4.7 11.0 9.0 6.0
13. Seller (restaurant) 6.8 3.8 7.0 10.0 2.0
14. Street Vendor 41.5 47.5 1.0 0 9.0
15. Tailor 3.8 7.5 0 0 0
16. Scavengerscavenger 2.8 0 2.0 24.0 5.0
17. Pedicab Driver 4.9 0.9 2.0 7.0 15.0
18. Casual Laborer 7.5 2.2 8.0 5.0 27.0
19. Other (servants, 8.4 0.9 6.0 3.0 0
retirees, etc.)
TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data Analysis
Table 4.2 shows that most of the slums residents (41.5%) living in the
downtown area of Kelurahan Pekunden were street vendors. They sold
snacks, beverages (including medicinal herbs seller), and cigarettes. They
strayed not far from their homes; mostly around malls, in the road side or

78
crossroads. The second position was factory workers (13.2%). The most
concerning ones were those who worked as casual laborers (some worked
as bricklayers, crews of public transports, and calo angkutan (they called it
“timer”)). They were employed by others; although most of the time they
were idle than working. This condition made it easier for casual laborers
of committing crimes.
As the table shows, the total number of informal sector workers
reached more than 70%. This showed that most of residents who were
originally from rural area did not have proper skill and knowledge to survive
in the city, making it difficult for them to work in such formal sectors
as commercial companies or government offices. Their only chance was
to work in informal sectors that did not need certain skills, by being a
food seller or a street vendor. They preferred living in the downtown area,
because distance was also a significant factor. They did not need to spend
transportation fare as they had easy access to reach their working spot,
thus reducing the daily living cost.
Similar phenomenon also happened to the slums residents in
Kelurahan Mrican, which was located in the urban fringe. Street vendors
still dominated, even reached 49.5% of the total number. Some of them
went to the downtown area and some went to the urban fringe. They went
in and out of the surrounding villages to sell their goods.
The noticeable difference was the quite high number of employees
in private sectors (24.1%). They worked as employees and salespersons in
private companies. This occupation required certain skills and of course a
formal diploma. This was not surprising as most of them lived near these
private companies and warehouses for goods distributors, and their labors
were needed by the retail shops.
The data for slums in Kelurahan Mrican also showed that there was
a well-established social structure (consolidators). This is indicated with
their children who were more educated and most of them already worked

79
in informal sectors.
The urban periphery in the hillside of Jatingaleh, which was in
Kelurahan Karangrejo Kecamatan Gajahmungkur, showed that the formal
sectors had higher percentage compared to the informal ones. Sixty-three
percent of them worked as government officials (civil servant/PNS and
military personnel/police officers) and employees at private companies,
while others worked in informal sectors. Most of formal sector workers
were employees. The stability of slums residents in the urban periphery
was related to how long they had stayed in the city (status seekers). Most of
them had lived for more than 40 years in Semarang. Initially, most of them
lived in the downtown area, but later they bought relatively cheap land in
the hillside area. As water availability was a problem and the accessibility
to the area was also limited, the lands were rather cheap. Since they wanted
to own their own house, they struggled for it. Although they only owned a
small house, at least it was theirs. As they mingled with other social groups,
they acquired more opportunities and more residents were then able to
work as formal sector workers.
The other urban periphery was Kuburan Cina, located in Kelurahan
Tandang Kecamatan Tembalang. The slums in this area were still developing
as the residents only lived there for about 5-10 years. The residential areas
were still merged with the Chinese Cemetery; some even used the tombs
as their house walls and the altars as their veranda.
Similar to those in Jatingaleh, the residents used to live in the
downtown area or in the urban fringe. Gradually, their lives improved as
they changed their profession. This is indicated with the big number of
people who worked as mechanics (20%). They worked in car repair shops,
ran a tire patch service, or worked as welders. To run such a business, they
needed a specific area, which had to be strategically placed in the roadside,
but the land should be cheap or even for free. Kuburan Cina area was
qualified for those criteria. Initially they occupied the lands for free and

80
without permission, but gradually they were allowed to stay and opened a
business in that area by renting from the authorities of that land.
Another interesting phenomenon of informal sector professions
is those working as scavengers waste collectors. Scavengers were people
who collected and sorted trash from dumpsters in the residential, while
waste collectors were the ones who received the sorted waste to be sold
to factories as low-cost raw materials. There were 24% of workers who
worked in this informal sector.
For some people, being a scavenger could be a promising job as it
did not need certain skills and diploma. Moreover, there was no need for
complicated bureaucracy for acquiring a permit. There were two categories
of scavengers in the research area. The first was those with no middlemen
(which meant they were free to sell their goods to any collectors as they
wanted). The second group were those with middlemen, thus they had
to sell their findings to their middlemen. They were usually given some
“facilities” such as dwelling places and waste picking equipment. One
middleman had 5-15 families of scavengers and they lived in one complex
of dwelling, which then required wider space for the waste stall.
Commonly, every member of a scavenger family also worked in shift
in two trips. For example, the husband started working from 4:00 a.m. to
8:00 a.m., then he would start again at 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the wife
started working at 9:00 a.m. to noon. They salvaged some goods such as
plastic buckets, paper and cardboards, plastic drinking bottles, drink cans,
aluminum, metal, brass, and copper. The price for these was between IDR
3,500 to IDR 35,0001 per kilogram. In a week, a scavenger earned IDR
50,000 to IDR 65,0002. There were five waste stalls in this research area,
and a bigger waste stall, which also the right-hand person of factories,
would buy the sorted goods. Every week, these stalls bought goods

1 IDR 15,000 – IDR 30,000 = USD 1.23 – USD 2.45

2 IDR 50,000 – IDR 65,000 = USD 4.09 – USD 5.31

81
for approximately IDR 600,000 to IDR 900,0003 from the scavengers.
Therefore, in a month, these stalls spent at least IDR 2,000,000 to IDR
5,000,0004. Approximately, the net profit of each stall was IDR 1,500,000
to IDR 2,500,0005 per month.
Economically, the pickers and the collectors contributed more than
receiving. It was the pickers living in the slums who cleaned and made
use of the waste. By rummaging through the waste, they sorted useful
goods and used them as low-cost raw materials for industry. Simply stated,
they had contribution in the urban economic activity and maintained their
surrounding area.
Different condition occurred in Kelurahan Bandarharjo. Ninety
percent of the residents worked in informal sector, the highest number
were casual laborers (27%), then factory workers (20%), and pedicab
drivers (15%). Only 10% of the residents worked in formal sector.
Something that needs to be highlighted is the high number of
workers who claimed to be casual laborers. However, observed from their
daily performance, their habits, their homes, and their financial ability, it
is hard to believe that they had low income.

4.1.4. Income
The most common unit used to measure the society’s financial
ability is the per capita income of people or of a household. It is calculated
by dividing the total income of a household with the number of family
members to acquire the average income of each individual. It is later used
to predict the economic burden and its consideration by using the average
income of the household.
Per capita income of a household could be acquired through two
calculations. First, per capita income is calculated based on the poverty
3 IDR 600,000 – IDR 900,000 = USD 49.06 – USD 75.39
4 IDR 2,000,000 – IDR 5,000,000 = USD 163.53 – USD 408.83
5 IDR 1,500,000 – IDR 2,500,000 = USD 122.65 – USD 204.42

82
level that refers to the rice consumption of an adult male (Hart, 1978).
The income class is categorized as follows: (1) low per capita income,
if the per capita income is lower than the value of 450 kg of rice per
consumer per year; (2) medium per capita income, if the income is similar
to the value of 451-900 kg of rice per consumer per year; (3) high per
capita income, if the income is higher than the value of 901 kg of rice per
consumer per year.
When the study was conducted, the price of rice in the research area
was about IDR 3,200/kg. That means the per capita income classes were
as follows: (1) per capita income < IDR 1,440,0006/year was considered
low; (2) per capita income of IDR 1,443,200 to IDR 2,880,0007/year was
medium; (3) high, if the per capita income > IDR 2,883,2008/year.
The second calculation is by using the World Bank’s standard of
per capita income of urban society, that is USD 370 (when the study
was conducted, USD 1 = IDR 11,800). If every family consisted of two
children and one wife, the minimum daily income was IDR 2,9909. In
this study, the per capita income of slums residents was classified into:
low, if the per capita income < IDR 4,355,00010/year; medium, if per
capita income IDR 4,366,000 to IDR 5,546,00011/year; and high, if the
per capita income > IDR 5,546,00012/year.
According to the World Bank’s standard, all respondents would be
categorized as poor. Therefore, the study used the standard that referring
to the rice consumption. Table 4.2 summarizes the per capita income at
each research area.

6 IDR 1,440,000 = USD 118.11

7 IDR 1,443,200 – IDR 2,880,000 = USD 118.37 – USD 236.22
8 IDR 2,883,200 = USD 236.48
9 IDR 2,990 = USD 0.25
10 IDR 4,355,000 = USD 357.20
11 IDR 4,366,000 – IDR 5,546,000 = USD 358.10 – USD 454.89
12 IDR 5,546,000 = USD 454.89

83
Table 4.3 Per Capita Income of Residents in the Research Area
Urban
Urban Urban

TOTAL
Downtown Urban Periphery
Research Area Periphery Periphery
Area Fringe (coastal
No. (hillside) (lowland)
area)
Per Capita Income Kuburan Bandar
Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh
(IDR) Cina Harjo
1. <1,440,000 39 28 31 32 32 162
2. 1,441,000-2,880,000 5 9 9 9 11 43
3. > 2,881,000 6 13 10 9 7 45
TOTAL 50 50 50 50 50 250
The data shows that 162 of 250 (64%) respondents were low-income
workers, while the high-income workers in the research area were only 45
(18%).
The per capita income of residents in Kelurahan Pekunden located
in the Central Business District represents the phenomena of city poor
residents. This is indicated with the high number of low-income residents
(78%). This is also shown with the fact that 73.5% of the residents worked
in informal sectors, almost half of whom worked as food sellers.
Workers with medium-income, about 10%, represented the medium-
class residents. They were workers in formal sectors, such as drivers,
security guards, and civil servants. They usually did not have side jobs.
Their lives depended very much on their monthly salary. As they thought
their salary was enough to fulfill their needs, they preferred spending their
spare time in socializing rather than working side jobs for more money.
However, it is interesting that 12% of residents were included in
high-income workers, with per capita income >IDR 2,883,200. Commonly,
they were nuclear family with the average daily income of higher than
IDR 8,00013. Most of those included in this category were casual laborers.
One of the common occupations was calo angkutan or commonly called as
“timer.” According to drivers, however, they only asked for money every
time the drivers passed their area.
13 IDR 8,000 = USD 0.66

84
 In conclusion, there was no significant or even no correlation
between the number of family members and the total monthly income of
a household. In other words, not every family member worked and earned
money. This factor, however, did not affect the family income.

4.1.5 Education Level

An observation on the education level of slums residents is
important to examine what kind of formal education level they have been
through, as it is related to job opportunities and other aspects associated
with the characteristics, attitudes, and behavior of residents in slum areas.
It is assumed that the education level of the breadwinner will influence
the financial welfare of the family. The higher level of education a person
has, the better job he will get, and the higher income he will gain. Table 4.4
shows the level of education of the respondents.
Table 4.4 Levels of Education in Research Area
Urban
Urban Urban
Downtown Urban Periphery
Research Area Periphery Periphery
Area Fringe (coastal
(hillside) (lowland)
No area)
Kuburan Bandar
Education Level Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Cina Harjo

1. Uneducated 6.8 1.6 2.0 4.0 2.3

2. Elementary 45.3 32.3 26.8 44.8 44.8
School Graduates
3. Junior High 36.6 20.6 27.3 21.3 26.4
School Graduates
4. Senior High 11.3 38.6 35.1 26.4 25.4
School Graduates
5. Diploma I 0 1.6 1.3 0.6 1.1
Graduates
6. Diploma III 0 0.5 2.0 0.6 0
Graduates

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7. Bachelor’s 0 4.8 5.5 2.3 0
Degree
Graduates
TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data Analysis
The data above shows that most residents in Kelurahan Pekunden in
the downtown area were elementary school graduates (more than 52.1%).
This emphasizes the fact that the residents did not have proper skills and
knowledge, and since they did not possess formal diploma, they could
not work in formal sector. Those who tried to survive and support their
family chose to work in informal sectors. This is indicated with 41.5%
of informal sector workers in the area, mostly working as street vendors.
As shown in Table 4.4, 36.6% of the residents were junior high school
graduates, most of whom worked at factories. Some others worked as
tailors.
Compared to Pekunden, residents in the urban fringe of Kelurahan
Mrican were in a better condition, with fewer number of elementary
school graduates and uneducated people (33.9%). The junior high school
and senior high school graduates were 20.6% and 38.6%, respectively. The
level of education really influenced the kind of job. This is indicated with,
28% of the residents who worked in formal sector such as salespersons,
drivers, security guards, shopkeepers, and employees for private companies.
These jobs were undoubtedly better than those in informal sector (street
vendors), because the companies provided some facilities such as health
insurance, welfare benefit, and so on.
Table 4.4 also shows that 6.9% of slums residents in Kelurahan
Mrican were university graduates and most of them worked in the
government offices and private companies. Even though the number
was quite low, these residents contributed some ideas in developing their
surrounding area. They also helped in acquiring aids for the settlement

86
needs.
Similar condition also occurred in Jatingaleh, the number of
elementary school graduates was not as high as in Kelurahan Pekunden.
Even, the residents of urban periphery area showed better condition
compared to Pekunden. There were only 28.8% of the uneducated and
elementary graduates, 22.3% of junior high school graduates, and 35.1%
of senior high school graduates. If their education determines the jobs
they will get, the data shows a significant proof since almost 60% of the
residents worked in formal sector as civil servants, military personnel,
police officers, salespersons, drivers, shopkeepers and employees, and
factory workers, which were much better than working in informal sector
(as street vendors). By working in formal sector, they were granted some
facilities such as health insurance, welfare benefit, and so on.
The data in Jatingaleh shows that 6.9% of slums residents graduated
from universities and they worked as civil servants and employees in
private companies. Even though the number was quite low, they helped
in developing their environment and became the pioneers for voicing
Jatingaleh slums residents’ aspiration.
The data in Kelurahan Tandang, Kecamatan Tembalang located
in Kuburan Cina shows that 48.8% were the uneducated and elementary
school graduates, 21.3% were junior high school graduates, and the rest
(26.4% and 3.5%) were senior high school and university graduates,
respectively.
The big number of the elementary school graduates and the
uneducated indicates a significant correlation to the high number workers
at informal sectors, especially scavengers (24%) and the bricklayers, food
sellers, pedicab drivers, and casual laborers (24%). That means that the
number of workers at informal sectors reached 48%. This is different
from John Turner’s theory of residential mobility stating that the residents
of urban periphery are the ones who have been living in the city (status

87
seekers), have relatively high income, have their own houses, have high
life style, and have a high level of education. However, the reality in the
research area shows the other way around. The residents still led unstable
lives, with no house of their own, and they were poorly educated. Such
cases will be explained in a separate chapter.
41.7% of the residents in Bandar Harjo, another periphery in
Semarang, were elementary school graduates, 2.3% were uneducated,
26.4% were junior high school graduates, 25.3% were senior high school
graduates, and only 1.1% were university graduates.
This shows that the level of education does not always determine
the kinds of job. The findings show that the casual laborers (27%) were
senior high school and junior high school graduates.
Through observation, it was found that the casual laborers were
those who did “shady works.” They would not tell the exact work they
did, but their physical appearance showed that they had a good financial
condition. In the interviews, they implied that they worked with violence
and fistfight as their forte.
The factory workers, fishermen, bricklayers, and ship crews (32%)
were mostly elementary school graduates and the uneducated. They
believed that they were “morons,” so they were willing to do any kinds
of work as long as they got paid. However, they did not want to commit
crimes, because they assumed working in such area need strategic and
critical thinking to avoid dealing with the police officers. Again, they
believed that “morons” could not work in such risky work field.

88
4.2. Description of Physical Condition of the Slums in
Semarang
4.2.1 Physical Condition of the Slums
As the study was focused on the slums, it is important to make a
fine difference between residential buildings and non-residential buildings.
The difference between both is observable through satellite photo with
scale of 1:10,000. Residential buildings were narrow and in clusters, with
dark roofing, and commonly in the shape of square or rectangle. Non-
residential buildings such as industrial area, schools, and offices have a
bigger size, parallel pattern with main roads, low density, lighter roofing
and in the form of letter I, L, and U and other unique forms. This study,
however, only focused the analysis on the residential buildings.
4.2.1.1 Residential Block Border
The research unit was delineated based on the environmental
conditions such as population density and residential pattern. Each was
then displayed in a map, and overlaid to create a residential block map. The
first step of this study was to make residential density map and residential
pattern map.
[a]. Residential Density
Densely-populated area is a characteristic of slum areas. After the
building coverage of a residential area is calculated, the density of that
area then can be identified. The building coverage area can be determined
with a return area in ArcView program.

89
 Low density
< 40%

Medium density
40%-60%

High density
> 60%

Table 4.5 shows the results of residential density level in the research area
by using building coverage formula.
Table 4.5 Residential Density of Research Area
Urban
Urban Urban
Research Downtown Urban Periphery
Periphery Periphery
Area Area Fringe (coastal
No (hillside) (lowland)
area)
Residential Kuburan Bandar
Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh
Density Cina Harjo
Area (Ha) 40,296 22,5233 17,7885 9,928 31,5916
Area of 37.67 19.93 13.89 7.52 30.08
Residential
Land (Ha)
Density 93.5 88.50 78.12 75.80 95.23
percentage
Source: Primary Data 2006

90
Table 4.5 shows that the research area was densely-populated area. The
highest density was in the urban periphery of Kelurahan Bandarharjo.
The housings were small, crammed, and did not fulfill the general healthy
housing criteria.
The field observation shows that the slums residents lived in areas
with bad sanitation. Most of the housings failed in providing the standard
bathrooms, in terms of either the design or the health aspect. The provided
bathrooms could not be used for defecation. The slums residents would
need to bring clean water and use the river near their dwellings to take
a dump. Also, their houses did not meet the decent housings standards.
They were only ±13 m2, built from iron sheeting, wood board, plywood,
and bricks on some parts of the wall. The flooring was only cement plaster
and covered with plastic carpet, and the roofing only used roof tiles and
iron sheeting. Figure 4.17 displays the housings condition in the slums.

• The roof was made of roof

tiles and iron sheeting.
• The side wall partition was
made of woods covered in
plastic due to decay and rot.
• The front wall partition was
made of plywood and part-
concrete brick.
• The floor was made of
cement covered in plastic
carpet.
Notes: Picture taken in Kelurahan
Pekunden on June 20, 2004.

Figure 4.17 Housing Condition in Research Area

The slums in Kuburan Cina is an interesting case. Initially, the
settlement went through land plundering system, but gradually the land

91
ownership was legalized. The settlements were relatively small as similar
to other housings in slums area. The settlements in Kuburan China were
rather unkempt, even some used the burial altar for veranda. Figure 4.18
presents the condition of the settlements.

Housings are
relatively small as
the characteristics of
unplanned house.

The abandoned
tombs become a
part of the house.

Figure 4.18 The Condition of Slums in Kuburan Cina

[b]. Settlement Patterns

Settlement pattern is the layout of the housings facing the street and
the layout uniformity of them. To acquire the settlement pattern, it can be
done by dividing the number of housings facing the street and the ones
next to the road. Figure 4.19 presents the settlement pattern observed
through satellite photo.

92
 Organized Pattern >60%
uniform

Unorganized Pattern < 40%

inconsistent

Figure 4.19 Settlement Patterns from Aerial Photograph

The figure shows organized settlement patterns in Bandarharjo,
Pekunden, and Jatingaleh. The roads were already paved that enabled the
residents to build houses along the small path, while it was nonexistent in
Mrican and Kuburan Cina. It was still unorganized due to the absence of
permanent road.

4.2.2 Accessibility
To avoid obstacles such as conversion unit and the use of
unstandardized measuring equipment that might affect the acquired data,
tool measure in ArcView program was used to measure the roads in the
surrounding area of slums. The object was the road width in the settlement
blocks. Next step was to find the average width of the road by dividing the
total number of road width in the block.
It was found that the average road width of Jatingaleh and
Kuburan Cina were 3-5 meters. The road width for Pekunden, Mrican,
and Bandarharjo was 2 meters made by paving blocks as the result of
P2KP construction program. However, some roads in Kuburan Cina and
Mrican are not constructed yet. Figure 4.20 shows the condition of road
in research area.

93
 The roads are paved,
as the result of village
development program

The unpaved roads are

dirt roads.

Figure 4.20 The Condition of Road in Research Area

4.2.3 Sanitation in Slums

Bad sanitation is one feature of slums area. This is indicated by the
dysfunctional drainage system, no dumpster, and the poor latrines from
the health aspect. These are found in research area: the dysfunctional
drainage. The drainage system was clogged, making the ditches into
small dirty ponds in the roadside, even in some places merged with the
dumpster. Despite being unsightly, it became mosquitoes breeding sites,
which could cause an epidemic. The condition of the drainage system can
be seen in Figure 4.21.

94
 The ditches are clogged
and dirty water floods
the residents’ yard. It is
unfortunate that these
also serve as dumpsters.

Notes: taken in
Bandarharjo on June
20, 2004

Figure 4.21 The Condition of Drainage System in Research Area

The figure shows that health awareness amongst slums residents
was still very low, causing the slums to be epidemic-prone areas. Dirty
environment makes it easy for virus of infectious diseases to thrive. As the
result, infectious diseases often hit the slums residents, such as diarrhea
that leads to other diseases: typhoid, respiratory infection, skin diseases,
measles, leptospirosis, and dengue fever. Difficult access of water is the
main cause of these diseases, as well as dirty life style, bad sanitation that
weakens the intestinal organs towards diarrhea virus (Astuti MSA, 2002).
This is worsened by the unavailability of water closets as they only
provided communal bathroom, which could not be used for defecation.
Since it only works for showering and washing, they should bring clean
water to water closets in the riverside next to the settlements. The children
usually take a dump in the drainage system in front of their houses, as
displayed in Figure 4.22.
The most concerning situation is that the slums residents (either
consciously or unconsciously) taught bad habits to their children such as
telling them to take a dump in the drainage. They ignored the etiquette and

95
neglected environmental health.

• T h e
washroom
with no water
closet
• Water taken
from shallow
water source
using hand
water pump
• Water closet
available in
the riverside
(for adults) Notes: taken in Kelurahan
• Children can Pekunden and Kelurahan
take a dump Bandarharjo on June 20-
in ditches 21, 2014

Figure 4.22 Condition of Water Closet

96
 Chapter V
The Causes of Slum Area
Development in Semarang

Clinord (1978) indicates that population growth (especially the

density), urbanization, poverty, and political will are the causes of slum
area development. Yunus (2000) observes that the establishment of slum
area relates to the “areas of poverty, degradation and crime,” which are
forms of settlement area deterioration. Astuti (2004) explains that the
main causes of slum area are (a) economy such as poverty and economy
crisis; and (b) disaster. Economic factor or poverty encourages newcomers
to look for a better life in the city. Without proper knowledge, skills and
resources, and tough competition amongst them, the newcomers could
only stay and build a small house in the city. On the other hand, the
increasing number of newcomers makes it hard for the government to
provide decent housings.
Disaster, either natural disaster (e.g., flood, earthquake, eruption,
and erosion) or post-war/ethnic conflict situation can also trigger the
spread of slum area.
In conclusion, there are three main factors of the emergence of
slum area: economy, geography, and psychology.

97
 This chapter will discuss the causes of the emergence of slums area,
and they will be fully elaborated into separate sub-chapters.
5.1 Economic Factor
5.1.1 Relation between Economic Condition and Housings Needs
According to theoretical studies, two theories believe that as the
country’s economy becoming more established, the financial ability of
the poor will be automatically elevated. Another view thinks that people
cannot eradicate poverty if the production process still depends on big
capital.
As Turner (1971) refers to Maslow’s theory of humans basic need,
he explains that there is a correlation between one’s economic conditions
to the priority of basic needs and settlement needs. As observed, low-
income individuals incline on prioritizing the house location. They prefer
somewhere closest to job opportunities. They are being realistic that
without any job, they will not survive. House and land ownership remains
their last priority as long as they have a place to live.
Their priority of needs will change as they earn more money. At
this point, they will concentrate on owning house and land to make sure
that they will not be evicted and they can fully focus on earning more.
Without legal ownership of a land, an individual will always feel insecure,
thus diminishing their passion in expanding, maintaining or improving
their life quality.
To conclude, for low-income workers, it is important of having a
shelter near to their working place, legal ownership of house and land is
the second priority, while the house design and quality remains the last.
The research findings show interesting phenomena, especially those
related to the priority of house location and the working place (proximity).
The findings are summarized in Table 5.1.

98
 Table 5.1 The Relation between Priority of House Location and Proximity, the Land Cheap Price, Closeness to
Kin, and Other Factors
Downtown Urban Fringe Urban Periphery Urban Periphery Urban Periphery
Area
(Pekunden) (Mrican) (Jatingaleh) (Kuburan Cina) (Bandarharjo)
Year Year Year Year Year
Factor
80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06
Proximity (%) 60 57 51 46 42 41 40 40 9 9 5 6 12 16 15 20 27 21 25 24
Land
Availability 5 9 9 2 28 30 32 34 21 25 21 22 64 66 65 64 17 16 16 12
(%)
Closeness to
20 20 19 14 12 11 8 8 31 28 26 20 14 13 11 12 42 43 42 38
Kin (%)
Other factors
15 14 21 38 18 18 20 18 39 38 48 52 10 5 9 4 14 20 17 26
(%)
TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data Analysis

99
 The table shows their preferences in choosing settlements. According
to Turner’s (1972) theory, distance between house and workplace remains
the main concern for low-income workers. However, this only applies
to Kelurahan Pekunden that is located in the downtown area. The main
reason was that 41.5% of them worked as street vendors and they strayed
not far from their homes; mostly wandered around malls, in the road side
or crossroads. The rest of them worked as factory workers or service
providers such as salesperson, security guard, mechanic, pedicab driver,
and hauler.
It seemed that these jobs were highly needed in the downtown area
since they were many big retail shops and private companies. As observed
and from in-depth interview with respondents, labor stratification occurred
in the area. It was clearly seen through salary, employment guarantee,
health and workplace security, and more clearly in how they dress and
how they reach the workplace.
The ratio between newcomers (46%) and natives (56%) was almost
similar in Kelurahan Pekunden as downtown area. Turner calls the natives
as status seekers. As status seeker, they pose relatively similar characteristics
as stated by Turner, that status seekers are the ones who have been living
in the city, and most are above 55 years old. In such cases, they lead a
stable life, with their own house, sufficient income, and stable life style.
Even though 21.6% of status seekers in Kelurahan Pekunden owned
a house, 72.4% still stayed in semi-permanent houses. Their housings
indirectly represented their financial ability. As they were proud of having
their own land, they would feel secure and voluntarily help improving their
environment.
The findings show that there was a deep correlation between land
ownership and social status of the residents in downtown area. For
slums residents, owning a patch of land was a prestige, thus evoking their
willingness to maintain, manage, and tend it. As the result, they would also

100
take care of the surrounding environment. This was the main cause for
people to respect status seekers. Most of them were aspired of becoming
leaders, either formally or informally. Formally, they became village leaders,
but many of them were also “respected” without having formal position.
For newcomers, status seekers could give advices and suggestion of how
they could live in the settlement.
As presented in the data, 21.7% of newcomers who had owned
their house became the main informants for the new settlers. Turner
names them “consolidators.”
Periodically, these consolidators returned to their hometown as they
still had families living outside Semarang, mostly in cities in Central Java.
In their hometown, they became icons of financially-success migrants.
Their success of owning a place and full-time job made them a place to
seek for advices for people who wanted look for a job in Semarang. They
were also willing to give free temporary lodging for their kin.
In Indonesia, such association has its own philosophical value.
New settlers (or bridge headers) seek advices from consolidators, and
consolidators will also seek advice from status seekers. This mutual
relationship is based on strong trust that whoever helps people in need,
God will ease his ordeals in life. Indonesian proverb calls it “sapa nandur
bakal ngunduh” or “you will reap what you sow.”
Kelurahan Mrican as urban fringe area shows an impressive condition
as 63.8% were newcomers while the rest (36.2%) were natives. Even, 76%
of the newcomers already had their own houses. This statistic shows the
occurrence of centripetal movement as described by Colby (1933) and
further explained in Yunus’ (2001) study, that the main pulling power of
centripetal movement is related to functional force. Functional force is
a force that occurs when economic function associated with economic
facility due to its close location to the activity center. This is as proven in
the findings that 36% residents chose to live in the downtown area for

101
easy access to economic functions or proximity to workplace.
Kelurahan Karangrejo, Kecamatan Gajahmungkur is a village in
urban periphery area of Jatingaleh that still has dominant vegetation and
traditional nuance. It was still mainly inhabited by natives (54.1%) and
45.9% of newcomers. Seventy-four percent of the natives owned houses,
but only 41.2% newcomers had their own. Low price of the land drove
22% newcomers of residing this area with strong psychological reason.
On the other hand, the proximity to workplace only had 6% of influence
for people to stay.
The same condition also occurred to other urban periphery areas
such as Kuburan Cina (18%) and Bandarharjo. It is surprising, though,
because these two areas were mostly resided by newcomers (69.9% and
73.3%, respectively).

5.1.2. The Residents’ Reason on House Location

The following table presents the condition of dwellings in the slums
of research area:

102
 Table 5.2 Percentage of the Condition of Dwellings in Slum Areas
Criteria Permanent (%) Semi-Permanent (%) Temporary (%) Very Modest (%)
Area Year Year Year Year
80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06 80 90 00 06
Downtown Area
13 15 17 12 37 20 13 14 39 36 38 36 11 19 22 38
(Pekunden)
Urban Fringe
28 29 31 38 19 16 14 16 33 33 31 32 20 24 24 6
(Mrican)
Urban Periphery
19 21 21 20 18 20 24 22 38 39 39 52 25 20 16 6
(Jatingaleh)
Urban Periphery
4 7 9 10 64 63 62 62 22 15 16 18 10 15 13 10
(Kuburan Cina)
Urban Periphery
13 14 14 16 22 23 21 22 28 23 25 26 32 30 30 36
(Bandarharjo)
Source: Primary Data

103
 Although the table shows that most residents still lived in temporary
housings, there were many types of house as presented in the table:
permanent, semi-permanent, temporary, and very modest. The main
building of temporary houses is made of wood with wood and woven
bamboo partition walls and cement floor. Semi-permanent house is made
of brick and wood, part of the partition walls are brick and wood or
woven bamboo, and with tiled floor. The main building and the partition
walls of permanent house are made of concrete brick, and the floor is
covered with tiles or terrazzo. Very modest houses in slums are commonly
constructed from bamboo pillar, the roofing is made of used iron sheeting
or roof tiles or part of both, and the floor is still made of ground.
In Kelurahan Pekunden, most residents lived in very modest houses
(38%) and it was rented house. These houses attached to the owner’s
house and got supplied with electricity, but the occupants needed to use
communal bathroom in the area. There was no fixed rent fee as they
believed it as mutual relationship between the landlord and the occupant.
Most importantly, they should pay for electricity, which ranged from IDR
15,000 to IDR 30,0001. Even, 28% paid nothing to the landlord and in
exchange they worked for the landlord’s family as housekeepers. Most of
very modest house owners lived in a semi-permanent houses.
However, 38% residents occupied permanent houses in Kelurahan
Mrican. Although they were small, at least the condition was better; with
cement plaster, tiles, or ceramic floor, concrete brick for pillar, and brick
partition walls. As they lived in steep slope, they assumed they would need
to fortify their houses for security reason.
This settlement area just started to develop in the beginning of the
80s and the lands were still quite cheap. The construction began in the
bottom side of the hill and gradually worked its way to the top side. Even
though the residents did not think it was the best choice, at that time, easy

1 IDR 15,000 – IDR 30,000 = USD 1.23 – USD 2.45

104
access to the city and cheap price remained the main reasons.
Kelurahan Karangrejo Kecamatan Gajahmungkur of Jatingaleh
was located in hillside area. This area was highly vegetated just like in the
village. People could still find many plants and bamboo forests. Most slums
residents in this area lived in very modest houses; the ones with wooden
pillar, and most of the walls were made of woven bamboo, and soil floor.
The findings show that 52% lived in temporary housings, because of big
social capital in the society. When a settler started the construction of a
house, the neighboring people would help by lending physical labor or in
form of raw material such as bamboo. It was a mutual relationship, as the
bamboo owner would get to use his bamboo and opened more space in
his land for more productive use, and the cutter would get free materials
for construction. In this area, to build a 6 x 9 meters house, people needed
to prepare IDR 10,000,0002 for buying construction materials such as
roof tiles, nails, and other needs. The rest of the money would be used
to provide lunch for the helping hands. Apparently, social capital was the
main reasons for new settlers to reside this area, as they would get free
labor and raw materials (bamboo) for the house construction.

5.2 Geographic Factor

5.2.1 Land Location and Availability
In this study, the geographical factors included the location and
availability of land. Most low-income residents could not afford buying
land in the city. According to Abrams (1969), it was mainly caused by
land venture, excessive land ownership by certain parties, legal aspects,
and vague land law.
The government’s efforts in providing housings for low-income
workers remained unnoticed, as the city planner and policy maker in
regional government office and the central government did not see the

2 IDR 10,000,000 = USD 817.66

105
benefit of this action. As explained by Angel (1983), the government does
not provide land for low-income residents’ interest, ignoring the fact that
these people also need housings. This action triggered the emergence of
slum areas in big cities, and was highly affected by residential mobility due
to centrifugal and centripetal movement. The two movements referred to
dynamic forces theory by Colby (1933).
As observed, the dynamic forces on the centripetal movement in
the urban periphery showed different traits to the pulling forces in the
city, although the forces were functional urban forces. As summarized
in Table 5.13, the findings show that the main reasons of newcomers for
residing the urban periphery were proximity to workplace, land availability,
closeness to public facilities, and closeness to kin. These reasons could be
indicated as the urban periphery pulling forces for centripetal movement.
On the other hand, the main pulling force of centripetal in downtown
area remained the proximity to workplace.
The study finds that the biggest centripetal movement occurred in
Kuburan Cina under the aspect of land availability. However, attachment
between urban periphery and downtown area was undeniable. Despite
being characterized by traditional trait, urban periphery was the closest
target for city development due to increasing population, city functions,
and development of public facilities in the city. This triggered centrifugal
urbanization process, or could be called as urban sprawl process in city
morphology studies.
In addition to centripetal movement, centrifugal movement as the
pulling forces of urban periphery also occurred. City as the central of all
activities, either politics, economy, social, cultural and technology, and as the
place where the population grew would need more land to accommodate
the residents’ needs. However, the limited availability of land could not

3 The Relation between Priority of House Location and Proximity, the Land Cheap
Price, Closeness to Kin, and Other Factors

106
meet the increasing demand. These encouraged the development of
centrifugal movement and city functions to the urban periphery. Thus, it
was no surprising that the development of new facilities in urban periphery
became influencing pulling forces of centripetal movement.
The centrifugal movement was indicated by the migration of those
living in the downtown area to urban periphery. The data acquired from
the downtown area residents focused on the main pulling forces of their
decision for residing in urban periphery. According to the study, there
were four main reasons as well as the pulling forces of urban periphery
area for the newcomers. They are high land availability, low-priced land,
comfortable location, and other social factors. Pushing forces of centrifugal
movement showed the opposite traits to pulling forces of the destination.
In downtown area, high-priced land and uncomfortable surrounding
environment were the pushing factor of centrifugal movement.
In Kuburan Cina, which was located in the urban periphery, the land
availability was the main reason. The data shows that 62% chose that area
due to the land availability. Initially, the area was a Chinese Cemetery and
it began developing in the 80s. As the land was abandoned and unkempt
by the family, the newcomers occupied the land. Most newcomers (69.9%)
came from outside Semarang and 30.4% originally came from Semarang.

5.2.2 Residential Mobility

There was a significant correlation between job and the need for
wide business space, such as for scavengers (24%) and mechanics (20%)
who ran tire patch service, welder, and opened car service shop in the
research area. Both occupation types needed relatively wide area and it
would not work that well if it was run in the downtown area. Kuburan
Cina met the criteria. Initially they occupied the lands for free and without
permission, but gradually they were allowed to stay and opened a business
in that area by renting from the authorities of that land.

107
 This study would be focused on the reasons of scavengers for
deciding to live in Kuburan Cina. Scavengers were people who collected
and sorted trash from dumpsters in the residential, while waste collectors
were the ones who received the sorted waste to be sold to factories as low-
cost raw materials.
For some people, being a scavenger could be a promising job as it
did not need certain skills and diploma. Moreover, there was no need for
complicated bureaucracy for acquiring a permit. There were two categories
of scavengers in the research area. The first was those with no middlemen
(which meant they were free to sell their goods to any collectors as they
wanted). The second group were those with middlemen, thus they had
to sell their findings to their middlemen. They were usually given some
“facilities” such as dwelling places and waste picking equipment. One
middleman had 5-15 families of scavengers and they lived in one complex
of dwelling, which then required wider space for the waste stall.
Commonly, every member of a scavenger family also worked in
shift in two trips. For example, the husband started working from 4:00
a.m. to 8:00 a.m., then he would start again at 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the
wife started working at 9:00 a.m. to noon. They salvaged some goods such
as plastic buckets, paper and cardboards, plastic drinking bottles, drink
cans, aluminum, metal, brass, and copper. The price for these was between
IDR 3,500 to IDR 35,000 per kilogram. In a week, a scavenger earned IDR
50,000 to IDR 65,000. There were 15 waste stalls in this research area,
and a bigger waste stall, which also the right-hand person of factories,
would buy the sorted goods. Every week, these stalls bought goods
for approximately IDR 600,000 to IDR 900,000 from the scavengers.
Therefore, in a month, these stalls spent at least IDR 2,000,000 to IDR
5,000,000. Approximately, the net profit of each stall was IDR 1,500,000
to IDR 2,500,000 per month.

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 Economically, the pickers and the collectors contributed more than
receiving. It was the pickers living in the slums who cleaned and made
use of the waste. By rummaging through the waste, they sorted useful
goods and used them as low-cost raw materials for industry. Simply stated,
they had contribution in the urban economic activity and maintained their
surrounding area.
Among those who lived in the slums area, the waste collectors
earned quite high from their business as they earned approximately IDR
1,500,000 to IDR 2,500,000 a month. Commonly, these waste collectors
were the middlemen of scavengers’ management structure of industrial
raw materials. They would sell recycled materials such as plastic, paper,
cans, irons, and aluminum the scavengers had sorted. These materials
would be sold to bigger collectors outside the city every month by driving
truck loaded with the recycled things.
As the scavenging business developed, the waste collectors,
especially the young ones, started to proactively look for recycled things. In
Indonesia, this strategy was commonly called jemput bola where the parties
were proactive in the activity. Different to the scavengers who rummage
through the waste in the dumpster, the collectors went through residential
complex by driving pick-up truck and they bought the unused things from
houses.
This strategy benefits both parties. The people were able to sell their
junks for a sum of money and the collectors got their own share for the
junks would fetch higher price.
Since they needed wide space to pile up the things they had collected,
they looked for empty lot, more importantly for free. As Kuburan Cina
area met these requirements, the scavengers and collectors moved to the
urban periphery area, which initially provided free land for their business
and far from the meddling government officers.

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 The mobility of the residents and their activity to urban periphery
in Kuburan Cina caused a change of perception in Residential Mobility
Theory (Turner, 1968). As explained, there are four interrelated dimension
in residential mobility: income, life style, housing, and location. These
dimensions are associated with how long they (the urbanites) have lived
in the city.
Turner explains that Residential Mobility is a theory of determining
the urbanites’ living place based on three considerations. First consideration
is related to whether to rent or to own a place. Second consideration
referred to the location, to be in the downtown area or urban periphery,
and the last, quality of the housings (whether in high class or low class
housings).
Turner’s Residential Mobility assumed that the urbanite families
who have similar income and life cycle would possess the similar
considerations. The newcomers (or bridge headers) would prioritize the
proximity to workplace and ignoring the comfort and security of their
living place. Considering this, the bridge headers inclined to live in the
downtown area by renting houses with their friends. Gradually, the higher
and stable income made them consider a better place to stay, hence shifting
the proximity to workplace as the second. The city no longer gave comfort
for them due to high population and density, thus they chose to buy a
patch of land in the urban periphery. The wider space enabled them of
designing the housing they desired. However, they had to trade off the
proximity to workplace for living comfort. In Turner’s (1986) Residential
Mobility, they are named as consolidators.
Turner also explains that the four mobility dimensions (income,
life style, housing, and location) are interrelated. Similar families are
assumed to possess the same criteria for choosing house. For low-income
bridge headers, rented house is a rational choice for them considering
the proximity to workplace as the main concern and since they still had

110
unstable income. This was the starting phase of residential mobility. Their
unstable life style also represents this situation.
The second group is the consolidators. As their income increase
and they lead a stable life, proximity to workplace no longer a concern for
them. They gradually stop renting house and prefer comfortable housing.
Moreover, since the city becomes more crowded, they choose to live in the
urban periphery, a form of residential mobility in this phase.
Status seekers are the third group mentioned in Turner’s theory;
they live in the city longer than the consolidators. However, their housing
preference and consideration were almost similar to those of the
consolidators. According to Turner, the main difference between the two
was the fact that status seekers have higher income, thus leading a more
stable life.
Band’s (1976) study conducted in Accra, Nigeria, Africa find that the
bridge headers did not rent a house in the downtown area, instead, they
stayed in the urban periphery. Brand explained that the city was already
highly-populated and high rent price, thus the bridge headers could not
afford a good place to stay. Compared to downtown area, the rent price in
urban periphery is obviously cheaper. A study conducted in Bucaramanga,
Columbia, Latin America by Edward (1983) also shows similar findings.
However, the residential mobility in Bucaramanga shows more
complicated process compared to Turner’s theory. Edward finds that
residential mobility does not only relate to the four dimensions (location,
life style, income, and housing), but also land availability and family
trait. Edward calls these two additional dimensions as multi-dimension
mobility. Edward’s study shows that low-income bridge headers cannot
afford to buy a house, thus, similar to Turner’s theory, they rent a room.
Though, different from Turner’s, the bridge headers, status seekers, and
consolidators stayed in the urban periphery. Figure 5.1 presents the
Residential Mobility Model by Turner.

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 Figure 5.1 Residential Mobility Model by Turner (1968)
The study helps in finding an anomaly in residential mobility model
applied to research area, especially Kuburan Cina. Newcomers, or in
Residential Mobility theory are called bridge headers, were the residents
who just lived there. Most of them were scavengers and waste collectors.
There was an anomaly in residential mobility model especially in
Kuburan Cina. Newcomers, or called bridge headers in Residential Mobility
theory, were the residents who just lived there. Most of them were
scavengers and waste collectors. In this case, we should elaborate more on
their life style. Waste collectors were mostly bridge headers who had not
lived long in the city, even though they earned more compared to those in
their groups. Commonly, they had their own house, even built housings for
7-15 families of scavenger who worked for them in one dwelling complex.

112
 As the collectors had stable income, they also owned a house, which
was considered based on the land availability. Initially, as the cemetery
area was unkempt, they could live illegally among the tombs. The wide
space also made into their consideration since they would need that space
for storing the junks and recycled things. As the number of scavengers
increased, which affected their income, they bought or rent the land they
used to legalize the land ownership.
Even though they had not lived long in the city, this group had stable
income, as observed from house ownership and their house location,
which was in the urban periphery. However, they did not lead a high life
style. As observed, the scavengers and the collectors still lived modestly,
they cooked in communal kitchen, dressed modestly, and they still seek
advices from the consolidators or status seekers. Figure 6.2 shows the
residential mobility model of the research area based on Turner’s (1968)
theory.

Figure 5.2 Residential Mobility Model in Research Area

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5.3 Psychological Factor
5.3.1 Extended Family System
Nature and humans interact as interrelated unity. Both units have
the power over each other; nature controls humans through natural
disaster and humans can manipulate the nature to serve their needs. In
order to survive, humans must be able to adapt to the nature, and the most
basic needs is housing. In primitive era, humans used to live in the cave.
As their rational ability developed, humans built houses or dwellings for
protection.
As social entity, humans need each other to live with, which they
then create settlement. Not only does it serve as protection, but also
where socialization process takes place. This is where an individual learns
the traditional values and norms in the society. They can also fulfill their
physical and psychological needs in a settlement.
Besides physical needs, humans also need to fulfill their psychological
needs such as need for security, self-actualization, and affection. The most
basic psychological need is need for security, and if this is not fulfilled,
people will not stay for too long in a settlement.
As observed in the research area, this need is the most obvious
factor that made them stay in the slums. Although they lived in temporary
houses with bad sanitation for health, they stayed because they had mutual
need for protection and being protected. The findings show that they lived
in a relatively big area resided by more than one family. The conditions
such as communal bathroom and/or communal kitchen are mostly the
main factor of strengthening the relationship between slums residents.
They spent most of their time together such as doing laundry, showering,
cooking, looking after the kids, entrusting their kids while they ran some
errands, and helping each other without being asked. The breadwinners,
who were working at day, mostly spent their time outside after arriving
from work, interacting while smoking with the neighbors in the roadside.

114
The mothers also cooked and/or did laundry outside their houses. The
children obviously played with their friends outside.
In the research area, most slums residents are outdoor people as
they preferred spending time outside. However, a different trait was found
in Kelurahan Bandarharjo. The findings show that 36% respondents in
this research area applied extended family system, in which they gave free
lodging for strangers. However, as commonly they worked in the same
informal sector, they quickly became a family. Their main reason was
for protection since more than half of them were criminals, with only
2% used strategic planning when doing their work. Most of them were
nomads to avoid being caught by police officers.
This system, however, strengthened their dependence, mutual need
for protection, and strong family ties between the members. They worked
together in earning money. Even though each member respected the
house owner, they had mutual feeling of owning the house, thus made it
hard for outsiders to identify the real owner, let alone to investigate the
family. More explanation on the relation of priority of house location and
psychological factor of slums residents can be found in Table 5.14.
As explained, the main reason for this strong tie was occupation
similarity. Their mutual feeling to protect each other triggered another
mutual feeling of need. The newcomers needed free lodging and the
house owners need partner for their work. This triggered a unique and
private kinship relation: deep respect to seniors, and shared problems,
either financial or other problems, even though most problems were
solved by fistfight. Thus, the more manpower they had, the firmer their
social and financial position in the society. This was the reason for 36%
slums residents of Kelurahan Bandarharjo for residing this area.
In 2006, 20% residents in Jatingaleh considered closeness to kin

4 The Relation between Priority of House Location and Proximity, the Land Cheap
Price, Closeness to Kin, and Other Factors

115
was the most important aspect. The situation was almost similar with
that of Kelurahan Bandarharjo, with entirely different reason. Jatingaleh
was located in the hillside with thick Javanese traditional nuance. Most
of the houses were semi-permanent with woven bamboo partition walls.
This area was highly characterized by bamboo forests in some residents’
back yard with its plantation pattern and benefits, and thick kinship and
sambatan (solidarity work5) in the society.
Since most of the newcomers were originally from Central Java,
naturally, they wanted to live in a place where they could sense the familiarity,
either from the nature or the society. High social capital became the main
pulling factor of this area. The newcomers could immediately own a house
as the society would love to work together in constructing a house for the
newcomers. They contributed in physical labor or construction materials
(woods and bamboos).
However, closeness to kin was not a significant factor in Kelurahan
Pekunden. Only 14% considered this as important and they were street
vendors or those who worked in informal sector and other micro business.
Most stayed in their kin’s house and helped with their business.
Closeness to kin factor in Kuburan Cina only reached 10%; mostly
scavengers who worked for the middlemen and lived in the same dwelling
complex. Instead of family ties, they supported each other based on
material value. The middlemen owned the asset and capital, while the
scavengers were the ones who worked and got paid for the junks they
sorted and gave to the collectors. The scavengers had no rights on deciding
how much they would earn and they complied with the collectors’ rules
and decision. Dependency towards the collectors and fear for being cast
out of the dwelling complex and be homeless people were the main reason
they remained silent.

5 Condition where people willingly help each other.

116
5.4 The Relation between Priority of House Location and
Proximity, the Land Cheap Price, Closeness to Kin,
and Other Factors
The following figure gives visual explanation of Table 6.1 on the
relation between priority of house location and proximity, the land cheap
price, closeness to kin, and other factors.

Other factors

Proximity

Land
availability

Downtown Urban Urban

Area
Urban Periphery
Fringe Periphery
(hillside)
(lowland)

Figure 5.3 The Relation between Priority of House Location

and Proximity, the Land Cheap Price, Closeness to Kin,
and Other Factors
As observed from Figure 6.3, there were some interesting
phenomena related to the development of slum areas in the research area,
which were in downtown area, urban fringe, and urban periphery. They
will be elaborated in the following points:
[1] Downtown area; the proximity to workplace posed an essential reason
for newcomers to reside this area as they assumed that they earned
money in the same area. Free public facilities such as workplace,
closeness to consumer, and easy access to food store, were also
other important factors. They considered closeness to kin factor was

117
 unimportant, as they believed that they would gradually have new
families. The most inconvenient factor was the land availability for
settlement. They did not need to own a house as long as they could
sleep and rest, no matter how bad the dwelling was.
[2] Urban fringe; even though proximity still posed as important, it was
not considered essential. Those who lived in this area assumed land
availability and other factors as unimportant.
[3] Urban periphery in hillside area; the residents considered other factors
(in form of social factor) as important factor. The locals’ tendency to
help newcomers in settling up was an important factor for them. It
could be done in the form of physical labor or giving raw materials
(bamboo) for construction. The newcomers thought land availability
was less important since they assumed that the land would always be
available. Proximity was considered as convenient factor.
[4] Urban periphery in lowland area; the most essential factor were the
land availability, as associated with the scavengers and waste collectors
who lived in this area and their need for relatively wide area. The
business would not work well if it was run in downtown area.
[5] Urban periphery in coastal area shows special phenomena; the
residents considered land availability as inconvenient factor. Similar
to those who lived in downtown area, mostly were nomads and they
believed there was no need for a house. However, closeness to kin
was an essential factor for them due to occupation similarity. Most
had “shady work” including committing crimes and dealing with
police officers, thus they would need to protect each other resulting
in their strong ties among the groups. Even though most housing in
this area were not permanent and had bad sanitation, they still stayed
for the mutual need for protection.

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 Chapter 6
Process of Slum Settlement
Development

6.1 Process Analysis

Based on the process, there are two types of slum areas:
instantaneous or invasion and infiltration. Instantaneous or invasion
process occurs in short-term period and covers wide area, while infiltration
happens slowly but continuously. Commonly, the slum areas in Indonesia
undergo infiltration process. Bourne (1981) states that infiltration process
will be further distinguished into two sub-processes: aging process and
densification process. However, the findings show that instantaneous
process also occurred in the research area, mainly caused by inundation
process. This chapter will discuss the development process of slum
settlement caused by aging, densification, and inundation process.
6.1.1. Aging Process of Slum Areas in Semarang
Aging process is determined by the building age, which resulted
in its decay. This study focuses on decay level of the building structure
(i.e., flooring, wall, door and window, and roofing), the average building
performance on the decay process, decay level of a building, and the most
renovated part of the building. This chapter will be concluded with the

119
spatial distribution of decaying residential housing due to aging process.
This process is closely related to time factor; therefore, the study
looked at the process in different time frame. The time factors used are
indicated by T0, referring to the start of the construction in the 1980s,
T1 referred to middle time frame ranging from 1990 to 2000s, and T2
was when the research conducted in 2006. As the study focused on three
different period of time, the three referrals were used to ease the analysis.
Even though the study mainly used terrestrial survey, the researcher did not
ignore multi temporal image to help with the analysis process, especially
for the spread of slum areas.
[a] Roofing condition
Roofing is the part of partition in a building and it is used as indicator
of slum areas if observed through either satellite or aerial photographs.
As observed in photographs, roofing can be easily identified by the varied
bright or dark color. Commonly, in slum areas, the roofing are gray and
made from various materials, and it is extremely varied in highly-populated
slum areas such as in Kelurahan Bandarharjo, Kuburan Cina, and in
the downtown area of Pekunden. Terrestrial survey findings show that
most roofing in research area are made of pressed roof tile, roof tile,
iron sheeting, part roof tile-part iron sheeting, and the combination of
materials commonly used for roof. It is also found that some housing,
especially in Kuburan Cina, used cardboard, plastic, thatch, fibers, leaves
and weeds, and palm leaves.

120
 Table 6.1 Roofing Condition in Research Area
Roof Material Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Kuburan Cina Bandarharjo
T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
Pressed roof tiles 2 4 4 16 16 8 14 18 18 26 36 36 6 6 12
Roof tiles 50 34 38 62 58 48 58 56 42 46 30 30 86 78 48
Iron sheeting 2 4 4 12 2 2 4 6 8 6 0 0 2 4 4
Roof tiles + iron
8 26 32 2 4 4 18 18 30 0 10 10 0 0 2
sheeting
Mixed materials 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 0
Others 12 12 12 4 6 4 2 0 0 8 16 18 2 10 18
Missing 26 18 8 4 14 34 2 2 2 12 6 4 2 0 16
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data

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 The table shows that more than half used roof tiles for roofing,
which ranked as the most used roofing, followed by pressed roof tiles.
Pressed roof tiles roofing could easily be recognized through photograph
from its bright color and regular pattern. Most slum residents in Kuburan
Cina, who were scavengers, used this material for their roofing. Commonly,
the owners of these pressed roof tiles housings were the waste collectors
or middlemen, while the other scavengers resided in its surrounding
area. They were easily characterized as clusters of settlement around the
middlemen’s house with dark color roofing and in small sizes. As observed
from the photograph, the roofing pattern shows contrast color among the
dwellings.
Mixed material between roof tiles and iron sheeting was another
interesting trend in the slum areas. The roof tiles were mostly used as the
roof top ridge and the rest of roofing was constructed of iron sheeting.
Thirty percent of the housings in the slum areas used this roofing
construction.

[b] Flooring Condition

This sub-chapter also used the three time referrals, which showed
that in T0 the housings were dominated with gray tiles until T2 when the
research was conducted. This was also applicable to the condition when
renovation was done from T0 to T1 to T2. The findings show that most
housing used gray tiles for the flooring. Table 7.2 summarizes the condition
of flooring in research area.

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 Table 6.2 Flooring Condition in Research Area
Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Kuburan Cina Bandarharjo
Flooring Condition
T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
Ceramic 10 16 24 14 48 40 10 18 42 10 38 40 6 22 24
Gray tiles 28 40 50 28 30 22 28 46 34 4 16 16 18 8 2
Cement 30 22 16 22 8 4 30 30 20 16 22 22 24 38 40
Woven bamboo 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Soil 6 4 4 22 0 0 26 2 0 52 14 14 14 28 10
Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 6
Missing 26 18 6 12 12 34 4 0 0 18 10 10 8 0 18
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data

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 As shown in Table 6.2, an interesting thing occurred in Kelurahan
Bandarharjo, which shows that housing with cement flooring was 24%
on T0, 38% on T1, and 40% on T2, showing an significant increase. This,
however, was the result of house renovation, as there was a decrease on
the number of soil flooring housings in Kelurahan Bandarharjo (from
44% to 28% and finally reached 10%).
As previously explained, Jatingaleh was highly vegetated with
bamboo forests, impacting in quite high number of respondents using
woven bamboo for flooring. Although this was also found in Mrican,
Jatingaleh showed higher number (20%). In order to acquire more accurate
data on the aging process, the study included the flooring condition in
construction phase until it ended or when the study was conducted.

[c] Wall Condition

Aging process in wall condition is the most observable process
among all other building structures. As the walls age, it will be noticeable
from how the color faints, fungus grow on parts of the wall, wall base
material sheds, and some fissures in the wall. Even though most of the
slum settlements were cement, the researcher still found wooden board
and other materials used in the research area. Table 6.3 shows the complete
data of the wall condition in research area.

124
 Table 6.3 Wall Condition in Research Area
Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Kuburan Cina Bandarharjo
Wall Material
T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
Cement 46 54 64 38 70 64 46 72 84 56 78 80 24 56 70
Wooden board 28 22 24 34 16 2 40 20 10 18 6 4 62 38 10
Plywood 0 2 0 8 0 0 2 4 2 2 0 0 4 4 4
Woven bamboo 4 2 0 16 0 0 6 0 0 10 2 2 8 2 0
Mixed material 4 4 4 0 0 0 4 2 2 4 6 10 0 0 0
Missing 18 16 8 4 14 34 2 2 2 10 8 4 2 0 16
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data

125
 The data shows that most walls condition in research area was
made of cement, however, it was not the common cement found in
other residential areas in the city. The outside walls of the house were not
cemented, so people could easily see the wall bricks. The following points
will further elaborate the wall condition of the research area.

6.1.1.1. Building Performance

Aging process could also be observed from the building performance.
Building performance is the visual appearance of the building as observed
when the study was conducted. However, in determining the aging factors,
the study will always refer to three time referrals of T0, T1, and T2.
The building performance discerned the wall condition, the decaying
part of the building, and the most often renovated part of the building.
The first aspect was the wall condition. Wall condition is the most
observable aging process as indicated by how the color faints, the porous
wall base material, and some fissures in the wall. The study shows that the
overall numbers of settlements in slum areas were damaged, but some
were still intact.
[a] Wall Condition
Visually observed, the wall condition could be categorized into still
intact, less than half were damaged, half were damaged, and dilapidated.
Table 6.4 presents the wall condition in research area.

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Table 6.4 Wall Condition in T0, T1, and T2 of the Research Area
Wall Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Kuburan Cina Bandarharjo
Condition T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
Still intact 26 16 28 30 48 34 38 56 68 42 50 56 30 34 34
Less than
half were 22 20 10 32 34 32 2 12 12 32 28 26 24 36 30
damaged
Half were
28 42 52 18 6 0 0 4 6 8 10 6 24 18 4
damaged
Dilapidated 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 2 2 8 2 2 18 8 14
Missing 24 22 10 14 12 34 58 26 12 10 10 10 4 4 18
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Primary Data

[b]. Damage Level

The data shows that the roofing was the most severely damaged part
of a building. This was probably caused by roofing’s direct exposure to the
extreme weather change in day and night.

127
 Table 6.5 Damage Level of Building in Research Area

128
Most Damaged Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Kuburan Cina Bandarharjo
Part T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
Foundation 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 2 0 0
Flooring 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 6 2 0 2 4 58 56 42
Walls 8 12 18 2 4 2 30 26 20 6 6 4 18 12 10
Roofing 44 58 58 40 48 36 58 62 70 16 62 42 12 18 16
None 0 0 0 4 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Foundation,
Flooring, 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Roofing, Walls
Walls, Roofing 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Flooring, Walls,
0 0 0 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Roofing
Missing 48 30 24 40 36 52 4 4 2 78 30 50 10 14 32
Total 50 50 50 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
 The table shows that Kelurahan Bandarharjo had the most damaged
parts of a building, primarily caused by inundation process, which will be
further elaborated in the next part of this chapter. In Kelurahan Pekunden,
the damaged roofing percentage increased from 8% on T0 to 12% on T1,
and reached 18% by T2. The roofing were the most damaged part with
44% (T0 ) to 58% (T1) and ended at 58% (T2).
Similar condition occurred in Mrican, the damaged roofing was
40% on T0 and increased to 48% on T1, but the number slightly decreased
after renovation process (36%). Although wall damage of this area
slightly increased by 2% from T0 to T1, the number decreased to 2% after
renovation.
When building construction was initiated, most settlements in
Jatingaleh used woven bamboo for the wall partitions, in T1 30% were
damaged. After renovation, the number decreased to 26% in T1 and
continued to lower to 20% in T2, in accordance with the decreasing
number of woven bamboo walled settlements. Due to aging process, the
number of damaged roof tiles in modest settlements reached 68% on T0,
it decreased to 62% in T1; however, the number increased to 72% in T2.
The most noticeable damage in Kuburan Cina was the roofing,
although the number fluctuated in three time frames (16% to 62% and
42%, respectively). Another interesting phenomenon was in Kelurahan
Bandarharjo, where most settlements were flooded, impacting in
accelerated inundation process according to how long and how often they
were flooded. Not only the roofing part, the most dominant damaged
parts were the flooring and walls. Forty-two percent of the flooring
in respondents’ houses was heavily damaged; even some still had their
houses flooded. The damage in walls was commonly caused by seeping
flood water into the walls, causing faster decaying process even though
the building was rather new. The number, however, show a decrease from
T0 (58%) to T1 (56%) to T2 (42%), due to renovation done by raising the

129
floor level.

6.1.1.2. Spatial Distribution on Aging Residential Housing

This sub-chapter will discuss the spatial distribution of residential
housings undergoing aging process from 1980 to 2006. This study used
image interpretation and terrestrial survey to analyze the acquired data.
The data for terrestrial survey was acquired by doing interview with
the respondents in research area on the time frame of 1980s on the
construction process, 1990-2000, and the time when the research was
conducted in 2006.
The data acquired through interview and image interpretation
shows that the condition in all research area in the construction phase of
1980s still did not meet the requirement for residential area. The interview
confirmed this as they stated that the construction was spontaneously
done, which meant some buildings were built of any materials they could
find, either for the main structure building or partitions. The aging process
was the most evident in the partitions, especially the roofing and walls. As
observed, this is indicated by the fading roof color, the decay, and roof
patches.
The data acquired in the downtown area of Kelurahan Pekunden
shows that some houses in the 1980s were constructed in the roadside
and in the riverside. The respondents stated that the number of decent
housings in the area was 32, while 15 others were very-modest houses.
The slums areas undergoing aging process will be further elaborated in
Figure 6.21.
As the population grew in the 1990s, resulting in the increasing
number of residential housings needs, people started to construct more
housings away from the roadside, according to the axial development of
the road network. This is indicated by the construction of road network in
the inside area and more residential housings were built in the empty land.

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The number of residential housings went along with the road construction.
In the 1990s, there were 75 decent houses, 30 underwent aging process
and 15 were renovated. Twelve of the fifteen renovated houses were the
ones underwent aging process in the slum area in the 1980s.
The common renovation done in the roofing part was by patching
up the decaying or damaged part with another substitute material (or with
cheap price if they should buy it). For example, they usually patched roof
tiles with iron sheeting they could find in the dumpster or they could buy
in the thrift shop. Figure 6.22 shows the slum areas undergoing aging
process in 1990.
In 2006, the number of empty land decreased significantly and the
settlements were highly populated. The findings show that there were 138
decent houses, 22 houses underwent aging process and 26 were renovated.
In fact, all residential housings underwent aging process from 1980s
to 2006, with the roofing and walls as the most visible parts of the building.
The aging process inclined to be of taudification process, which referred
to the process of slum area expansion, mainly caused by the unmaintained
care of the settlements. However, the aging process without taudification
also occurred in some parts of the building. As observed, although aging
process did happen in both, the two had distinguished feature as the ones
without taudification showed maintenance. The ones without taudification
still looked clean and sturdy despite the decaying process. The slum areas
undergoing aging process in 2006 is summarized in Figure 7.23.

131
Figure 7.21 The Slum Areas undergoing Aging Process in Pekunden
1980

W T

Road
River
Plants
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:

Compiled by:

1990

1990
NN

W
W TT

SS

Road
Road
River
River
Plants
Plants
UnslumArea
Unslum Area
SlumArea
Slum Area
AgingProcess
Aging ProcessininSlum
SlumArea
Area

Source:
Source:
90

Compiledby:
Compiled by:

132
1999

W T

LEGENDS:

Road
River
Plants
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
99

Compiled by:

2006

2006
N

W T

S
LEGENDS:

Road
River
Plants
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
2006

Compiled by:

133
 In 1980s, there were only 128 houses built in Kelurahan Mrican. The
acquired data from interview and image show that 58 houses were simply
built in emergency type houses and semi-permanent ones and there were
only 38 well-built houses in the area.
In 1980s, the unslum area in Kelurahan Mrican were built along the
main road of Jalan Tentara Pelajar and near a park, which was already there
since the colonization of Netherland. Most residential housings were built
in Dutch style. On the other hand, the slum areas were clustered in the
farthest area from the main road. Commonly, the most decayed dwellings
in slum area were the ones made of bamboo and wood and used roof tiles
for the roofing (usually patched up with other materials). The condition
of slum area in Kelurahan Mrican in 1980 could be seen in Figure 6.24.
In T1 or in the 1990s, both the number and quality of settlement
had improved significantly. There were 88 decent residential housings, 27
had decayed, and 22 were renovated ones. Most of the renovated houses
were the Dutch style housings in the unslum area. Even though these
housings underwent aging process, there was no sign of taudification. On
the other hand, the dwellings in slum area noticeably underwent aging
process, especially the very modest ones, indicated by the visible decay in
almost all building structures. If the number was added by the “newly-
built” very modest housings in the same year, it increased almost 50% from
the previous year, reaching 78 houses. The data were shown in Figure 6.25.
In 2006, the number of residential housings increased two times
compared to the condition in the 1990s, with 153 decent housings. Twenty-
six percent houses in slum areas underwent aging process and there were
38 renovated houses.
From the data shown in Kelurahan Mrican on the aging process
of settlement in slum area, the researcher concluded that this area was
still relatively resided by small number of residents in the 1980s or in
the start of construction. This area was still dominated with Dutch-style

134
housings and they were mainly built along the main road and near the park.
However, these settlements could not be included in the study because
they were categorized as unslum settlements.
Some houses in slum areas still looked good in the 1980s, but then
they underwent aging process in 1990 and in 2006. Fifteen percent of
houses in the 1980s showed aging process without taudification, 57%
showed aging process with taudification, and the rest (35%) was the
combination of newly-built houses in the beginning of 2000s and the
renovated old houses.
Due to constant maintenance and renovation, the number of
houses undergoing aging process without taudification was higher.
Constant maintenance done by the slum residents could significantly
reduce taudification (although aging process still went on). Usually, the
slum residents did the maintenance in commemorating holidays such as
Independence Day, Eid ul-Fitr for Muslims, or weddings and celebration
for male circumcision. Figure 6.26 shows the slum areas that underwent
aging process in 2006.

135
Figure 6.24 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Mrican in 1980

MAP LEGENDS: Source:

Contour Line - Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS Scale 1:10,000 of 1980
Road - Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
IN MRICAN IN 1980 Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
River - Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Plants Field Work

Unslum Area
Slum Area Compiled by

Aging Process in Slum Area

Figure 6.25 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in

Mrican in 1990

MAP LEGENDS: Source:

Contour Line - Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS Scale 1:10,000 of 1990
Road
IN MRICAN IN 1990 - Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
River Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
N Plants Field Work
Unslum Area
W T Slum Area Compiled by
Aging Process in Slum Area
S

136
 In the 1980s as the starting point of the study, there were 238
dwellings in slum areas in Jatingaleh, 58 of them underwent aging process
with taudification, and 170 houses looked habitable. As explained in the
previous chapters on the housing condition in Jatingaleh slum areas, most
houses were built by using bamboo as the main material due to its high
availability. The decent housings were the ones fortified with concrete
brick, either only half or whole part of it. As observed, the houses that
underwent the worst aging process were the not-renovated ones, with
decay in all parts of the house. Figure 6.27 shows the slum area undergoing
aging process in 1980.
As the time elapsed, the aging process of the bamboo houses became
more visible, mostly led to taudification process. In 1990, there were 241
decent houses and 67 houses underwent aging process with taudification.
Due to renovation commonly done to the walls, there were 51 houses that
underwent aging process without taudification. Almost 76% renovated
houses changed their woven bamboo walls to concrete brick walls.
When the research was conducted in 2006, the numbers of
housings in slum area were three times higher than in the 1980s. There
were 525 houses, 378 of them were still decent, 54 houses made of
bamboo underwent aging process with taudification, and 94 underwent
aging process but they were renovated. Figure 6.29 presents the slum area
underwent aging process.
In conclusion, in the 1980s, most housing was made of bamboo
for the main scaffold and the partitions part. In fact, bamboo housings
were sturdy enough if they had good design for the construction and
after the materials were preserved by soaking them in mud for some time.
However, this was not applied when they built housings in Jatingaleh.
People just cut the bamboos and used them to build houses, without even
thinking of decorating or coating the materials with preserving substances
to maintain the durability.

137
 As the result, after 10 years, bamboo-made housings underwent a
significant aging process. This was indicated in the number of decaying
housings in Jatingaleh. In the first ten years, there were 58 decaying houses
(20%). The number of decaying housings in 1990s to 2000 slightly reduced
due to renovation done to the houses by changing bamboo material into
part-concrete or concrete brick; in this time elapse, there were only 67
decaying houses in Jatingaleh slum areas.
Although it did show an increase for the aging process with
taudification, a significant decrease was noticeably shown from 20% in
the 1980s to 18% in 1990s-2000. This was mainly caused by the increasing
number of housings in slum areas.
In 2006, there was a major increase in the number of residential
housings in Jatingaleh slum areas. Compared to the number in the 1980s
(154 housings), the number skyrocketed three times higher to 525 housings.
However, the aging process percentage was only 11%, lower than other
research areas.
Figure 6.27 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Jatingaleh in 1980
MAP
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS
IN MRICAN IN 1980
N

W E

S
LEGENDS:
District Limit
Village Limit
Contour Line
Road
River
Field
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
Scale 1:10,000 of 1980
- Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Field Work

Compiled by:

138
Figure 6.28 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Jatingaleh in 1990

W E

LEGENDS:
District Limit
Village Limit
Contour Line
Road
River
Field
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
Scale 1:10,000 of 1980
- Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Field Work

Compiled by:

Figure 6.29 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in

Jatingaleh in 2006
MAP
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS
IN MRICAN IN 2006
N

W E

S
LEGENDS:
District Limit
Village Limit
Contour Line
Road
River
Field
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
Scale 1:10,000 of 2006
- Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Field Work

Compiled by:

139
 It was rather interesting that in Kuburan Cina, they did not focus
building houses right in the roadside; instead, they built them in the
empty land behind the hill near the cemetery, which was unseen from the
main road. It was actually meant for camouflage from the government
officers since they lived there without permission and the land was illegal
for settlement. Initially, they were squatter settlement. They inclined to
distance themselves from the outsiders, especially the government officials.
Although they knew it was not a right thing to do, they have no choice for
lack of money and need for having a dwelling.
However, they gradually bought the land they resided. As observed
through aerial images in 1980s, there were only 75 houses and 31 of them
were very-modest type. These houses were characterized by dark color
roof and small clustering sizes. They were built of the things the residents
could find, resulting in noticeable aging process even earlier.
The slum areas in Kuburan Cina undergoing aging process in 1980 could
be observed in Figure 7.30.
In 1990, the number of housings became twice many as the previous
year. As the cemetery area became more crowded, people started to reside
the empty land in smaller paths or lanes, though they still avoided the main
road. There were 42 very modest houses, 129 were still in good shape
and no sign of aging process, and 31 had aged but been renovated. The
elaboration could be visually seen through Figure 6.31.
In 2006 when the research was conducted, a major invasion had
taken place from the settlement to the cemetery ground; even, the
settlements dominated most of the area, eradicating what had left of
the cemetery. Instead of cemetery, people could see the combination of
residential housing and tombs. The expansion skyrocketed; more people
occupied the empty land in the roadside, impacting in crowded settlement
in the cemetery field and its surrounding area.

140
 This was indicated by the increasing number of housings in Kuburan
Cina, almost three times higher than the previous year. There was a rise on
the housings undergoing aging process with taudification from 129 in 1990
to 241, while there were only 72 decaying housings without taufidication
due to renovation.
In conclusion, the aging process of slum areas in Kuburan Cina
was caused by the emergence of squatter settlement. Similar to other
slum areas, the residents resided in illegal land. However the condition
in Kuburan Cina was rather uncommon since they lived in a cemetery
ground due to financial condition and the need for settlement. Illegal slum
areas settlement could also be called as spontaneous settlement, due to
their spontaneity on both residing and building the settlement.
Associated with spontaneous settlement, they used any materials
they could find in building their houses and without further ado, the
aging process accelerated in this area in the 1980s with almost 50% of
the housings decayed with taudification process. Between 1990 and
2000, the residents increased drastically, impacting in further settlement
construction closer to the main road. In 1991, more and more legal land
owner sold their land to the residents in low price. Due to land ownership
aspect, the decayed housing rate decreased 28% compared to the previous
time frame. In 2006, there was an increase in decaying housings caused by
the arrival of the scavengers. Figure 6.30 presents the aging process of
slum areas in 2006.

141
Figure 6.30 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Kuburan Cina in 1980

LEGENDS:
MAP Village Limit
Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS Contour Line Scale 1:10,000 of 1980
IN MRICAN IN 1980 Road - Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
River Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
Crop field - Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
N Field Work
Paddy field
Swamp
W E Unslum Area Compiled by
Slum Area
S Aging Process in Slum Area

Figure 6.31 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in

Kuburan Cina in 1990

MAP LEGENDS: Source:

Village Limit - Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS Contour Line Scale 1:10,000 of 1990
Road - Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
IN MRICAN IN 1990 River Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
Crop field - Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
N Field Work
Paddy field
Swamp
W E Unslum Area Compiled by
Slum Area
S Aging Process in Slum Area

142
Figure 6.32 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Kuburan Cina in 2006

MAP LEGENDS: Source:

Village Limit - Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS Contour Line Scale 1:10,000 of 2006
IN MRICAN IN 2006 Road - Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
River Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
Crop field - Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
N Field Work
Paddy field
Swamp
W E Unslum Area Compiled by
Slum Area
S Aging Process in Slum Area

The data on spatial aging in the 1980s show that there were already
more than 1,100 housings in Bandarharjo. However, 40% were still
very modest house or commonly called as spontaneous housings. Since
inundation mostly occurred in the northern part of Bandarharjo, the
housings in that area underwent early aging process. The aging process was
firstly noticeable in the flooring, water started to seep through the floor
pores, causing the tile floor to be humid due to high content of water in
it. After reaching a certain point where the floor could not hold the water,
puddles started to leak between the tiles. Finally, the tiles were elevated.
Whereas, the inundation process for cemented floor directly went to the
elevated part and most of the times the floor just perforated because it
was not as durable as tile floor.
The second visible decaying building part was the walls. At first, the
color faded due to water content inside the walls, and then gradually they
would start shedding and crumbling. Figure 6.33 presents the slum areas

143
undergoing aging process in 1980.
In T1 or in the 1990s, there were 1,060 decent housings and 168
underwent aging process with taudification. The aging process was visibly
seen in the flooring and the walls. On the other hand, there were 153 aging
housings without taudification for the effect of renovation. This could be
observed in Figure 6.34.
As the inundated area expanded, more housing underwent aging
process with taudification. The number reached to 373 out of 1448
housings (almost 30%) in 2006. Most of the housings were owned by the
poor since they could not afford to renovate their house and assumed
that sooner or later their houses would collapse. Since they could not do
anything to prevent the aging process and the increasing inundation, they
could only place their furniture above piles of rocks or made bamboo
stands.
There were 54 renovated houses owned by the financially able.
There were two types of renovation they usually did. First, by demolishing
the building parts, then raising the whole area up to three meters by
filling it with soil to make it available for new building construction. This
renovation process made the new building slightly higher than the rest
housings in the area and the road, thus the owner usually made flight of
stairs in front of their house for easy access.
The second method was commonly done by middle-class workers
who could not afford demolishing and re-building their house. They could
only regularly fill the floor every two years. Gradually, the window lost its
function and was used as the main door. There were only two meters or
even less of space between the ceiling and the floor, somehow making the
house looked shorter and as if it collapsed since the neighboring houses
were entirely renovated/elevated. The slum areas undergoing aging
process in 2006 will be further explained in Figure 6.35.

144
Figure 6.33 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Bandarharjo in 1980
MAP
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS
IN MRICAN IN 1980
N

W E

LEGENDS:
Village Limit
Road
River
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
Scale 1:10,000 of 1980
- Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Field Work

Compiled by

Figure 6.34 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in

Bandarharjo in 1990
MAP
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS
IN MRICAN IN 1990
N

W E

LEGENDS:
Village Limit
Road
River
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
Scale 1:10,000 of 1990
- Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Field Work

Compiled by

145
Figure 6.35 The Map of Slum Areas Undergoing Aging Process in
Bandarharjo in 2006
MAP
AGING LEVEL OF SLUM AREAS
IN MRICAN IN 2006
N

W E

LEGENDS:
Village Limit
Road
River
Unslum Area
Slum Area
Aging Process in Slum Area

Source:
- Black-White Panchromatic Aerial Image
Scale 1:10,000 of 2006
- Digital Earth Surface Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25,000 of 2001
- Lembar 1409 – 222 Semarang
Field Work

Compiled by

In conclusion, the aging process in the downtown area (Kelurahan

Pekunden), the urban fringe (Mrican), Jatingaleh, and Kuburan Cina
occurred due to age factor. It was mainly caused by poor quality materials
used for the construction, and as time elapsed, they decayed and finally
collapsed.
Commonly, the roofing was the most visible decaying building part,
caused by extreme weather change in day and night, and in the rainy season.
In a decade, most of slum residents renovated their roofing by fixing or
changing their roof by patching the leaky parts with cheaper materials they
could find, impacting on various form of roofing due to the materials they
used. The second noticeable part was the walls. The aging process easily
permeated the building parts because the residents mainly used bamboo,
wood, part-bricks, and concrete brick without cement.
Different to other research areas, there was an anomaly in Kelurahan
Bandarharjo. Due to inundation, the aging process started in the bottom
parts of the house, the flooring. As the flooded part would not last long,

146
in a decade the whole flooring was flooded. In order to counter this, most
residents put the attempt to renovate the floor as the first priority.

6.1.2. Densification Process of Slum Areas in Semarang

Densification process is one of slum areas expansion process in
Semarang. The data such as black-white panchromatic image analysis in
1980, 1990, 1999, and terra metric image in 2006 were directly acquired
through Google earth pro. As Semarang developed into the center of
economic activities, the population grew significantly, mainly caused by
urbanization process. As a result, Semarang would not be able to provide
comfort, serenity, security, and prosperity to all residents. The limitation
of land and resources provision for economic activities created more
problems for the city, impacting in the increasing number of population
and settlement density, poverty, and unemployment.
In Indonesia, urbanization is not caused by lack of job opportunities
in the rural area; rather, it is mainly caused by limited income they received
in agricultural sector. In the last three decades, the income growth in
agricultural sector only improved 8% to 14.3%. If compared to the
income growth in non-agricultural sectors in the city, which reached 16%
to 48%, more people inclined to head to the city to work in either formal
or informal sector. However, Semarang still could not provide more job
opportunities in formal sector for the newcomers, causing only small
number of them worked as formal sector workers and the rest remained
unemployed. Without having another option, they worked in the informal
sector with very low salary or commonly called as the poor. Also, the
provision of decent and cheap housings could not be realized since most
of those in need were low income workers. This was mainly caused by
high price of housing due to the increasing cost of construction materials.
It was apparent enough that the poor could not afford decent housings
for themselves. Semarang government, private enterprises, and housing
developers could not provide low-priced decent housings for the poor.

147
 Similar to almost every city development, the city will dominate
all kinds of land use. The main purposes of city are for the center of
governmental offices, services, trade, economy, social, and settlement.
Consequently, land availability becomes scarcer and the price for available
land skyrockets. The program for providing cheap decent housings for
the residents encounters a challenge in high land price. Low salary of
the residents in need, high interest for housing loan, and lack of funds
for cheap housings are the challenges for housing provision program.
Moreover, many property developers are mostly profit-oriented driven. In
the end, the program of housings provision is only affordable for middle-
high class workers.
As many settlement areas accommodate more people than the area
can handle, it gives negative impact for the surrounding environment.
Accordingly, more slum areas emerge and develop in Semarang. The low-
income workers can only afford to live in the slum areas and they have to
deal with lack of public facilities available for them.
The increasing population goes parallel with the increasing demands
of housings; however, the land unavailability is the main reason for lack
of decent housings in Semarang. The imbalance between the increasing
population growth and need for housings compared to the limited space
in the city caused population density in settlements. Consequently, the
density lowers the comfort level of an area.
Besides population growth, settlement problem in Semarang was
also caused by the challenges they faced on settlement construction.
This chapter mainly discusses the densification process that
eventually leads to slum areas expansion. As the densification went through
taudification process, a slum area could reach a death point. There were
two types of population growth that caused the densification process.
The first is macro population growth; this refers to population growth
caused by natural and unnatural process (i.e. migration) in the slum areas.

148
The second type is micro population growth; this refers to population
growth caused by extended family system as the characteristic in slum
areas residents.
Extended family system is a system adopted by the slum areas
residents out of their habit to give free lodging for the newcomers.
This system created a strong family-like bond between both parties. As
associated with this system, densification process in the research area was
made into two phases:
[a] Densification phase inside residential housing. This phase means
adding more rooms inside the residential housing without expanding
the building area to give lodging for the “new family member.” This
was done by making simple partitions between rooms. Although the
partitions might be made of simple materials such as cloth, that room
will be privately owned by the family member. The more people they
lodged, they will add more rooms in their house.
[b] Densification phase outside residential housing. This phase is done
if there are more coming “relatives” but they could no longer make
partitions in the existing housing. They will make new rooms by
adding new building in the empty space and it is attached to the main
building. Commonly, the buildings were made of modest and cheap
materials, thus making the area looks messy and unorganized.
This chapter emphasizes extended family system in terms of the
numbers of relatives the residents lodged in their house, densification phase
inside and outside residential housing, and the occurring densification
pattern.
6.1.2.1 Number of Relatives Lodged in the Housing
Commonly encountered in slum areas residents, extended family
system is a system they deem necessary in creating strong family-like bonds
between parties by giving free lodging for the newcomers, either family or
strangers. They will always be available and willing to accommodate as

149
many people as they could. Table 6.6 will further explain the number of
‘relatives’ lodged in the slum areas residents’ houses.
Table 6.6 The Number of Relatives Lodged in the Housing in Research
Area
The Kuburan
Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Bandarharjo TOTAL
Number of Cina
Relatives
Lodged in T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
the Housing
0 32 30 24 48 42 48 26 28 22 48 48 48 32 32 32 186 180 174
1-2 4 4 4 2 4 2 10 8 10 2 2 2 2 4 8 20 22 26
3-4 8 8 14 0 4 0 6 8 12 0 0 0 10 6 6 24 26 32
5-6 6 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 6 10 8
7-8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 4 2 6 6 2
8-9 2 2 2 0 0 0 2 4 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 6 8
>10 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
TOTAL 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 250 250 250

Source: Primary Data

The table shows that there was a slight increase of respondents who
lodged their “relatives” from T0, T1, and T2. This is indicated as there were
64 people (25.6%) in T0, the number constantly increased to 70 (28%) in
T1, and 76 (30.1%) in T2. Commonly, a family could lodge three to four
persons in a house. Kelurahan Pekunden located in the downtown area
had the most number of free lodgers, while the least one was Kelurahan
Mrican.
However, Kelurahan Pekunden did not go through significant
change. The percentage of free lodgers in T0, T1, and T2 was constant for
1-2 and 3-4 free lodgers (4% and 6%, respectively). Although there was
no change in T0 to T1, the percentage for 1-2 free lodgers slightly elevated
from 8% to 14% from T1 to T2. The field data also shows that there
were an additional number of five people, as there was 0% in T0, but the
number increased to 2% in T1 and T­2.
Different to Kelurahan Pekunden, the pinnacle point of free lodgers
in Mrican was in T1, as indicated by an increase to 4% in T1, however,
the number dropped to 2% in T2. The data shows fluctuating change of

150
percentage for 1-2 free lodgers from 0% to 4% and fell to 0% again when
the study was conducted. In conclusion, compared to other areas Mrican
had the least number of free lodgers.
Most number of free lodgers was in Jatingaleh, as indicated by the
numbers of up to 10 people living in a house in T0. The numbers of 1-2
free lodgers constantly increased in each time frame, from 6% in T0, 8%
in T1, and 12% in T2. This also happened in 5-6 free lodgers category, as
the number increased 2% each time frame (2%, 4%, and 6%, respectively).
The increasing tendency also occurred to more than ten free lodgers, as the
data shows that it was 0% in T0 and T1, and increased 2% in T2. However,
the table also presents the numbers from T0 for 3-4, 7-8, and >9 of free
lodgers also dropped significantly, signifying that some of them had left. It
was 2% in T0, and when the study was conducted, the number fell to 0%.
The percentage of free lodgers in Kuburan Cina was quite constant,
as indicated by 2% of 1-2 free lodgers. This shows that most residents
were natives in that area.
In Bandarharjo, there was a tendency of decreasing number of
relatives living in the residents’ house. The data shows that only 2%
residents had relatives living with them, because commonly the relatives
only needed temporary lodging. Also, the number tended to be fluctuant,
it is indicated that there was only 2% for 1-2 free lodgers in T0, it slightly
increased to 8% in T1, but it dropped to 2% in T2. This also happened to
the percentage of 1-2 free lodgers, which started at 10% in T0, it dropped
to 6% in T1, and continued to fall to 0% in T2. The percentage of free
lodgers in Bandarharjo kept dropping in almost all indicators such as for
3-4 and 5-6 free lodgers, some even reached 0% in the time frame when
the study was conducted.

151
6.1.2.2. Number of Rooms
As the residents accommodate more people in the house, they should
also add more rooms to ensure the privacy of family members. This was
done by making partitions in the main residential building without adding
new building. Table 6.7 presents the percentage of the addition of rooms
in research area.
Table 6.7 Addition of Rooms in T0, T1, and T2 in Research Area
Number Pekunden Mrican Jatingaleh Kuburan Cina Bandarharjo
of
T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2 T0 T1 T2
Rooms
1-2 9 10 8 2 3 4 10 6 2 5 4 2 9 12 16
3-4 29 20 32 20 18 14 6 10 14 27 12 13 23 19 18
5-6 9 14 5 14 14 10 18 20 18 12 21 22 18 16 10
7-8 3 6 5 10 8 8 10 10 8 6 13 13 0 3 4
9-10 0 0 0 2 5 10 4 2 4 0 0 0 0 1 2
>11 0 0 0 2 2 4 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50
Source: Primary Data
The number of rooms in a house in the research area could be a
parameter to analyze the degree of slumness in a settlement. Most housing
in research area had five to seven rooms, which meant the density level of
each house was rather high.
As explained, the densification process in the research area was made into
two phases:
[a] Densification phase inside residential housing. This phase means
adding more rooms inside the residential housing without expanding
the building area to give lodging for the “new family member.” This
was done by making simple partitions between rooms. Although the
partitions might be made of simple materials such as cloth, that room
will be privately owned by the family member. The more people they
lodged, they will add more rooms in their house.

152
Figure 6.41 illustrates the first phase, as follows:

Phase Ia
Multipurpose Room

Bed Room

Bed Room

Room
Consolidation
Phase Ib
Multipurpose Room

Bed Room
Bed Room

Figure 6.41. Densification Process I

[2] Densification phase outside residential buildings
This phase started when a “new family member” comes while it was
impossible to make another room-partitioning inside the residential
building. Therefore, an extra building should be added outside the
main residential building. The construction was done by attaching a
new room to the main building. The materials used were very skimp,
making the building look messy. Figure 6.42 illustrates the second
process as follows:

153
 Room Invation Kitchen and
Bath Room

Multipurpose Room

Bed Room
Bed Room
Bed Room
Bed Room

Figure 6.42 Densification Process II

6.1.2.3. Densification Process of Residential Building

Slums were scattered at several locations, such areas around railways,
river banks, and corners of Semarang city. To cope with this problem,
the local government should make a regulation of building construction
permit in accordance to the area allotment by overseeing the pre-, during,
and post-construction process. With such a regulation, people know in
which area they should or should not construct buildings.
For more details, the following part will discuss densification process
that took place in the sampled areas. To begin with, Table 7.8 describes
the percentage of the growth of residential areas during 1980 until 2006.

154
Table 6.8. Growth of Residential Areas
Percentage of
Total
Residential the Residential
No. Location Area Year
Area (ha) Area to the
(ha)
Total Area
1980 10.18 25.27
Downtown 1990 25.99 64.52
1. 40.296
[Pekunden] 1999 35.94 89.20
2006 37.67 93.5
1980 5.23 23.24
Urban Fringe 1990 11.58 51.43
2. 22.5233
[Mrican] 1999 14.70 65.31
2006 19.93 88.50
1980 3.33 18.72
Urban
1990 5.43 30.56
3. Periphery
1999 10.81 60.81
[Jatingaleh]
17.7885 2006 13.89 78.12
Urban 1980 0.95 9.57
Periphery 1990 3.55 35.78
4. 9.928
[Kuburan 1999 5.01 50.56
Cina] 2006 7.52 75.80
1980 12.81 40.58
Urban
1990 19.07 60.38
5. Periphery 31.5916
1999 26.98 85.43
[Bandarharjo]
2006 30.08 95.23
Source: Primary Data from the Result of Remote Sensing Imagery
Firstly, Pekunden is a sub-district as one of the samples located in
the downtown. In 1980, aerial photograph of the area showed that houses
were built along the main road or near the waterway.
Seen from the number of houses around the area in the map from
1980, only 25.27% of the area were used as settlement. Then, the data
obtained in 1986 shows a quite significant increase, particularly with the

155
constructions of small roads between the houses in the form of paved
alleys. Almost half of the total area (49.46%) in Pekunden already turned
into settlement. Thus, there was an increase of densification, reaching
25% over the period of six years. Figure 6.43 displays a more detailed map
of densification in Pekunden in 1980.
Then, in 1990, there were more road networks that divided the
kampongs in Pekunden. Small roads in the middle of residential areas
were denser, making the lands accessible with connecting roads. This
roads were not wide -about three meters wide-, but well-paved. In 1990,
people started to build settlement in vacant lands, reaching 64.52% of the
total area. During the 1980-1990, the residential area increased 2 times.
Figure 6.44 displays a more detailed description regarding the Map of
Densification in Pekunden in 1990.
The next is the data obtained in 1999. The data shows that almost the
entire areas (89.20%) in Pekunden was already covered with settlements.
That means the residential area increased more than 25% in ten years.
Figure 6.45 displays a more detailed map of densification in Pekunden in
1999.
In 2006, the land for settlement reached 93.5% of the total area.
As such, the down town area, particularly Pekunden, reached its death
point. Figure 7.46 displays a more detailed map of densification process
in Pekunden in 2006.
The result of this research indicates that there was a spatial pattern
when densification proses of slums in the researched areas took place.
This pattern was a centripetal spatial development. This is a process of
adding new constructions in the inner parts of the city (Yunus: 2005).
In general, there were two types of centripetal spatial development
in the researched areas: (1) horizontal and (2) vertical development.
Horizontal development is a process to add spaces to accommodate
activities by horizontally constructing single-floor buildings on the unused

156
spaces in the city. Vertical development is a process to create new spaces
by constructing multi-floor buildings (Yunus: 2005). The horizontal
development occurred in all areas of the research samples, while the
vertical development occurred only in Pekunden and Bandarharjo with
the construction of apartment for the local residents.
The process of centripetal spatial development occurred by means
of spatial infilling process. There were two types of this process. The
first type, which occurred in Pekunden, Jatingaleh, and Bandarharjo, took
place in established settlements by filling unused spaces in the middle
of a settlement with small-scale buildings, usually houses. Generally,
the existing settlements are legal lands owned by individuals with clear
designation and legal status. The new houses were built in vacant lands
between the existing houses. Since these new houses were constructed
inside the settlements, most of them were single-floor structures.
As the constructions of apartments by Pekunden and Bandarharjo
local government were located right by the streets, land prices behind them
fell. Consequently, the spatial infilling process occurred most intensively in
this area after the construction of the apartment. Similarly, Yunus (2005)
called the areas behind the apartment as a shadow zone. Shadow zones are
the lands or settlements located right behind the rows of buildings in the
main streets. These row of buildings block both the physical access and
the economic opportunities of the lands or settlements behind them. The
market price of lands on the shadow zone is lower than the lands right by
the main road, although the difference of their physical distance is only
tens of meters.
This is an opportunity of the owners of the front lands to lower the
land price in the shadow zone; so that they will gain huge advantages by
annexing the lands in the front and in the rear. First, they can expand their
own land and can raise the price of the land at the back to the same price
of the land in the front after the annexation. Then, they can also lower the

157
purchase price of the rear lands.
The owners of the shadow zone will eventually sell their lands to
the owners of the lands in front of them because they are willing to pay
a little bit above the market price. Figure 6.57 describes the shadow zone
with the construction of apartments.
Figure 6.43 Map of Downtown Densification Process (in Pekunden)
in 1980

MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1980
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Bridge
Sub-district Limit
Contour Line
River
Other Settlement
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1980
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

158
Figure 6.44 Map of Downtown Densification Process (in Pekunden)
in 1990
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1990
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Bridge
Sub-district Limit
Contour Line
River
Other Settlement
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1990
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work
Compiled by:

Figure 6.45 Map of Downtown Densification Process (in Pekunden)

in 1999
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1999
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Bridge
Sub-district Limit
Contour Line
River
Other Settlement
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1999
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work
Compiled by:

159
Figure 6.46 Map of Downtown Densification Process (in Pekunden)
in 2006
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 2006
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Bridge
Sub-district Limit
Contour Line
River
Other Settlement
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 2006
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work
Compiled by:

The densification of urban fringe, particularly Mrican, shows a

rather unique process. A different type of spatial infilling process took
place outside the settlements or vacant lands with legal ownership. This
second type is called spatial infilling process accretion by which the filling
of the vacant lands run slowly with smaller volume.
The settlements in Mrican became denser as its population increased.
As noted earlier, Mrican is consisted of hilly terrains covering areas of
22.5233 hectares. In the research conducted in 1980, residential areas in
Mrican covered 3.23 hectares or 23.24% of the total areas. In its early
development, residential houses in this sub-district were mostly located
in the flattest areas in the northern part near the main road. Figure 6.48
displays a more detailed description regarding the Map of the Densification
Process in Mrican in 1980.

160
 The density of Mrican moved over time to the hilly areas in the
south. The empty spaces in the edges of hills were populated with more
residents as there was no more flat areas. It is proven with the rapid
increase of residential areas. In 1990, the allotment for residential areas
reached 51.53% of the total area (11.58 hectares). Figure 7.49 displays a
more detailed description regarding the Map of the Densification Process
in Mrican in 1990.
In 1999, the growth of residential areas in Mrican reached 65.31%
(14.70 hectares) of the total area. Particularly in 1990-1999, the growth
of residential areas in this sub-district increased 16%. This was smaller
than the previous decade (1980-1990), which reached 28%. This was not
unusual since constructing houses in steep hills are much more expensive.
In 1980-1999, new residential areas were mostly constructed in northern
part where the lands are flatter; whereas in 1990-1999, people had no
choice but to build house in sloping areas.
The densification process of slums in the urban fringe shows an
appalling process of how scarcity of lands forces people to build houses
on improper places. The growth of residential areas in Mrican from 1999
until 2006 increased to almost 23%. In 1999, the existing residential areas
covered 14.70 hectares, while, in 2006, it increased to 19.93 hectares or
88.50% of the total area.
The construction of houses in Mrican was no longer considering the
safety standards. The main factor, which drove people to build residential
buildings in hilly areas, was, of course, the scarcity of available lands. The
land price in steep areas is cheaper as well. Besides, Mrican is an ideal
place for workers because it is situated not far from downtown and, by all
means, close to the sources of livelihood.
Constructing buildings in steep areas inevitably has consequences.
Buildings in those areas are fragile. In the last few years, many new
houses were heavily damaged. Walls and floors were easily broken. There

161
were even cases of collapse because the natural movement of the land.
Figure 6.51 displays a more detailed description regarding the map of
densification process in Mrican in 2006.
In short, the densification process that took place in Mrican from
1980 to 2006 is the one of the spatial infilling process accretion model;
by which empty spaces with legal ownership located outside the existing
settlements are slowly occupied. Particularly in Mrican, the expansion of
the settlements started from the northern part, which was flatter areas,
and moved to the south and southwest in hilly areas. In 1980, settlements
areas in this sub-district covered only 5.23 hectares (23.24%) of the total
22.5233 hectares of land. In 1990, the number increased to 11.58 hectares
or 51.53% of the total area, which means there were 6.53 hectares (28.29%)
of land converted into settlements within the period of ten years.
However, during the decade of 1990-1999, the growth of settlements
in Mrican was halved to 13.78%. Several factors might be the causes of
this decrease. The first factor was the scarcity of flat vacant land, despite
of the high land price in the northern part. Besides, people would think
twice to buy lands in the southern parts that comprised of steep hills even
if the land price was cheaper. The cost to build house in hilly areas was
more expensive due to the higher foundation and the need to dredge the
hill.
The second factor was the economic crisis in 1998. The crisis at the
time resulted in inflation and depreciation of the rupiah against the dollar
–from IDR 2,300 rupiahs to IDR 19,800. Similarly, the crisis impacted the
land price in Semarang. Before the crisis, the land price was IDR 75,000
per square meter; but after the crisis, it raised to IDR 250,000 per square
meter.
In 2006, settlement areas increased 23%. It covered 19.93 hectares
or 85% of the total areas. This increase is due to a more stable macro-
economy and land price in Mrican.

162
Figure 6.48 Map of Urban Fringe Densification Process (in Mrican)
in 1980

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Contour Line
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1980
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1980 River Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
Road - Field Work
Scale N
Plants
W E Unslum area Compiled by:

S Slum area

Figure 6.49 Map of Urban Fringe Densification Process (in Mrican)

in 1990

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Contour Line
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1990
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1990 River Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
Road - Field Work
Scale N
Plants
W E Unslum area Compiled by:

S Slum area

163
Figure 6.50 Map of Urban Fringe Densification Process (in Mrican)
in 1999

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Contour Line
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1999

IN PEKUNDEN IN 1999 River - BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia

Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Road Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
N
Scale - Field Work
Plants
W E Compiled by:
Unslum area
S Slum area

Figure 6.51 Map of Urban Fringe Densification Process (in Mrican)

in 2006

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Contour Line
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Scale 1 : 10000, Year 2006

IN PEKUNDEN IN 2006 River - BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia

Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Road Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
Scale N - Field Work
Plants
W E Unslum area Compiled by:

The spatial infilling process

S Slum area
accretion also occurred in Kuburan

164
Cina. However, at the beginning, the infilling process occurring in this sub-
district was the process of land plundering system by which the residents
plundered the lands that were considered no man’s land. Subsequently,
after they had money, the residents propose for a legal ownership of their
land by buying the lands from the rightful owners.
In 1980, the settlements area only covered 0.95 hectare (9.57%) of the
total 9.928 hectares of land. At the beginning, the settlements grew rather
far from the highway; in fact, it was hidden from the outside communities.
The residents intentionally isolated themselves because the lands where
they lived were illegal. Thus, the slums in Kuburan Cina formed a squatter
settlement. As already noted earlier, this research describes a competition
between settlements and cemetery. People’s need of settlements met its
satisfier in cemetery, which had been abandoned by its heirs. Figure 6.52
displays a more detailed description of this phenomenon.
The densification process ran rapidly during the period 1980-1990.
In just ten years, the settlements in Kuburan Cina increased 26% from 0.95
hectare to 3.55 hectares. This data reflected a more intensified competition
between the settlements and the cemetery. On the one hand, the growth
of the settlements ran very actively. On the other hand, the cemetery could
not make any resistance. Competition had turned into invasion; people
were not reluctant anymore to occupy inappropriate lands. Kuburan Cina
had relatively broad land, making the invasion process run smoothly.
Figure 6.53 shows the densification process in Kuburan Cina.
In 1999, the settlements in Kuburan Cina covered 5.01 hectares
(50.56%). In twenty years, the growth of settlements in this sub-district
reached 41%. Some of them were even closer to the highway; more
houses were built around the connecting roads between the settlements.
Since 1995, the locals sold the abandoned Chinese cemetery as well as the
neighboring lands as a commodity with lower price. This rapid growth
indicates that the settlements had been successful in dominating the

165
lands around the cemetery. Figure 6.45 shows the densification process in
Kuburan Cina.
In 2006, the settlements reached 7.52 hectares (75.80%) of total
9.928 hectares of land in Kuburan Cina. This growth almost reached a
succession phase in the competition between settlements and cemetery.
The early stages –competition, invasion, and domination- had been
exceeded, leading the final stage: succession. In this stage, the Chinese
cemetery would turn into another settlement as 100% of the land would
change into settlements.
An interesting fact about the domination of settlement in cemetery
is the respect of the residents toward the resting place of the dead.
Surprisingly, the living and the dead could coexist in Kuburan Cina where
the residents retained the condition of the graves. They settled the spaces
right next to the graves; some graves even became a part of the houses. For
instance, the altars particularly found in Chinese graves became the terrace
of the house. Figure 6.55 displays the harmony between the residents and
the Chinese cemetery as follows:

166
 Grave altar was
connected to the
house terrace.

A part of the grave

became a wall of
the house.

Figure 6.52. The Grave Merged with Residential Buildings

167
Figure 6.66 displays the densification process in Kuburan Cina in 2006
Figure 6.53 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in
Kuburan Cina) in 1980

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP Sub-District Border - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Contour Line Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1980
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1980 River - BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Road
N Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
Unirrigated Farm Land
Scale - Field Work
Farm Land
W E Swamp Compiled by:
Unslum area
S Slum area

Figure 6.54 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in

Kuburan Cina) in 1990

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP Sub-District Border - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Contour Line Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1990
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1990 River
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Road
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
Scale N Unirrigated Farm Land
- Field Work
Farm Land
W E Swamp Compiled by:
Unslum area
Slum area
S

168
Figure 6.55 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in
Kuburan Cina) in 1999

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP Sub-District Border - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Contour Line Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1999
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1999 River - BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Road
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
N Unirrigated Farm Land
Scale - Field Work
Farm Land
W E Swamp Compiled by:
Unslum area
S Slum area

Figure 6.56 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in

Kuburan Cina) in 2006

LEGENDS: Source:
MAP Sub-District Border - Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY Contour Line Scale 1 : 10000, Year 2006
IN PEKUNDEN IN 2006 River - BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Road
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
N Unirrigated Farm Land
Scale - Field Work
Farm Land
W E Swamp Compiled by:
Unslum area
S Slum area

169
 From the description above, the pattern, which took place in
Kuburan Cina, was the spatial infilling process accretion. This pattern has
4 stages: (1) competition, (2) invasion, (3) domination, and (4) succession.
Figure 6.57 displays these stages as models below.

In 1980, competition
occurred between settlements
and cemetery; settlements
took over 9.57% of the
cemetery

In 1990, invasion to the

cemetery took place; in
a period of 10 years, the
invasion added almost 25% of
cemetery lands to settlements,
making the total of 35.78%.

In 1999, the settlements begun

to show its domination to
the cemetery by covering
50.56% of the total areas.

In 2006, although it had not

led to a total succession, the
indication toward succession
was real in which the
settlements covered 75.80%
of the total areas.

Figure 6.57. Invasion Stages of Settlements to the Cemetery in

Kuburan Cina

170
 In the urban periphery of Semarang city, particularly Bandarharjo,
the result of the research shows that this sub-district was already crowded
with settlements since the beginning. In 1980, settlements covered 40.58%
or 12.81 hectares of the total 31.5916 hectares of lands. This was reasonable
as Bandarharjo is the nearest place to the beach. At the beginning, it was a
settlement for fishermen, but, with the reclamation of Marina beach and
the busier activities in Tanjung Mas Port, the surrounding areas became
new business centers (e.g. industries and warehouses). These new business
centers was a magnet for job seekers, therefore the growth of this sub-
district was very fast. Figure 6.58 displays the densification process in
Bandarharjo in 1980.
The growth of slum areas in Bandarharjo indicates the pattern
of centripetal spatial growth, especially the spatial infilling process on
established settlements. During the period of 1980-1990, the slums
increased 20%, from 12.81 hectares (40.58%) to 19.07 hectares (60.38%)
of the total 31.5916 hectares of land. Figure 6.59 displays the densification
process in Bandarharjo in 1990.
In 1999, the slums area in Bandarharjo covered 29.98 hectares or
85.43% of the total area, which means it increased another 15%. To cope
with this slum problem, in the beginning of 1990, the local government
constructed apartments to accommodate the residents living cramped in
Bandarharjo. As noted earlier, the construction of the apartments created
shadow zones behind them (Yunus, 2005). Lower price heavily intensified
the growth of slum areas in shadow zones. In 2006, the settlements
reached 95.23% or 30.58 hectares of land. Figure 6.60 and 6.70 display
the densification process in Bandarharjo in 1999 and 2006.
Slum areas in Bandarharjo are the example of uncontrolled growth
resulted by the lack of legislative oversight. Even if there were regulations,
but the application were not consistent and consequent. The population
growth and the increased need of settlements led to rapid acceleration of

171
densification, especially in the research locations.
Densification of residential buildings also contributed to the
growth of slum areas in the research locations. Constant and uncontrolled
densification is one of the causes of the slum areas growth. From the
research conducted during the period of 1980-2006, almost all of the
research locations ended with death point.
Problems would certainly arise in such crowded slums. Small
unsanitary close-packed houses caused the areas susceptible of transmitting
particular diseases, such as dengue fever, malaria, and other kinds of
disease easily transmitted through the air or animals. Building density is
associated with the population density; high intensity of social contacts
makes disease transmission easier. Fire is also an imminent threat in such
settlements. The high density of the buildings makes the propagation of
fire faster. Lack of hydrants and the difficult access to the fire scenes
hamper any attempt to extinguish fires.
Figure 6.58 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in
Bandarharjo) in 1980
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1980
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Contour Line
River
Road
Unslum Area
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1980
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

172
Figure 6.59 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in
Bandarharjo) in 1990
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1990
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Contour Line
River
Road
Unslum Area
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1990
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

Figure 6.59 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in

Bandarharjo) in 1999
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 1999
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Contour Line
River
Road
Unslum Area
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1999
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

173
Figure 6.59 Map of Urban Periphery Densification Process (in
Bandarharjo) in 2006
MAP
OF SLUM AREAS DENSITY
IN PEKUNDEN IN 2006
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Contour Line
River
Road
Unslum Area
Slum

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 2006
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

6.1.3. Inundation Process of Slum Areas in Semarang City

The result of the research shows instantaneous -or invasion- slums
area growth resulted by the inundation process. This inundation process
is a casuistry phenomenon. No one has deemed this process as a cause of
the slum areas growth, whereas this condition has resulted new forms of
slum in Indonesia and in the other part of the world (Yunus, 2005).
Semarang, aside from being the capital of Central Java province,
is one of the regional and national nodes of trade and service. The city
provides complete facilities and infrastructure such as a port, railway
stations, an airport, and inter-province roads. Inevitably, the city flourishes
various economic sectors including tourism, industry, and agriculture.
This, of course, becomes the pulling factor of the population growth.
Along with the population growth, environmental and social
problems begin to emerge. Similar to the other big cities problem,

174
Semarang faces problem such as inundation, lack of availability of clean
water, beach reclamation, shift of land use that is inconsistent with the
designation, and environmental degradation.
Inundation is not a new problem in Semarang. In fact, it has always
been the problem for the locals since the Dutch colonization. Generally,
the city can be divided into two main parts: southern or upper city part,
which consists of hilly areas with the slopes range from 15-40%, and
northern or lower city part, which consists of lowlands with the slopes
range form 0-2%. The northern part, which has coastal areas, has its
own problems such as intrusion of sea water, abrasion, inundation, land
subsidence, coastal sedimentation and silting, and flood from upstream. It
is the residents who live in the northern part of the city that have to deal
with inundation.
The residents and the local government actually did not stand idly
when inundation happened. Various attempts have been carried out to
solve this problem, but, until now, they still have not completely succeeded.
Instead, inundation becomes higher and covers wider areas in the northern
part of the city. It will be even worse when the rainy season comes. The
people have to deal with floods and inundation. Factors contributing to the
extent of water deployment and the height of water depth of inundation
in northern part of Semarang city are sea ​​level rise resulted by global
warming, land subsidence, beach reclamation, swamp backfilling, and sea
water influx to the land through rivers. These rivers are the estuaries of
the upstream rivers. Aris Marfai (2006) in his research stated that the sea
level rise is the result of global warming from 1990 until 2010, which is
predicted to increase the average temperature of the earth’s surface up to
5.8○C. Global warming will cause climate change and sea level rise up to
one meter. At the same time, according to coherent findings by Directorate
of Geology and Environmental Management in 1999, land subsidence –
ranged from 2 until 25 cm per year- occurred in coastal areas in Semarang,

175
particularly in North Semarang district, Bandarharjo, Tanjung Mas, and
part of Terboyo Kulon. This was furthermore exacerbated by excessive
groundwater abstraction, which, in 1998, reached 35.639 x 106 m3 per year.
Non-natural factors (e.g. land-use changes, non-optimal drainage,
and population growth) are also contributed to inundation in Semarang.
Water catchment areas were replaced with settlements, office buildings,
and other facilities. Moreover, road widening and paving straitened or
even closed drainage channels, making them incapable of accommodating
and channeling large volume of rainwater.
Lack of public awareness in the management and disposal of
household waste also aggravated inundation process in Semarang. Solid
waste blocked drainages in every corner of the city. Consequently, the
narrowing and silting of the waterways as well as rivers were inevitable.
One more thing, which worsened the inundation in Semarang, was
reclamation. Wirawan (2001) defined reclamation as an activity or reclaim
process of swamp or marsh, degraded land, desert, and uncultivated land
in order to make them arable or habitable -including foreshore conversion
by providing drainage system for a variety of purposes- by constructing
levees or by landfilling. The factors determining the decision to conduct a
reclamation project include land use, safety requirements, environmental
purposes, and cost. In addition, strict, continuous, and integrated evaluation
and monitoring are necessary to minimize current and future, internal and
external negative impacts.
The main problems accompanying the planning and the
implementation of reclamation are mostly socio-economic, juridical,
and environmental. Socio-economic problems are typically about
the disagreements and tug of wars between stake holders (e.g. local
governments and parliaments), investors, NGOs, and the people. More
specifically, people will usually get the smallest portion of profits from the
reclamation; while, investors will get the largest. In some cases, the local

176
residents were often financially and socially disadvantaged. This will be
further discussed in the next part.
A not-well calculated reclamation could make environmental damage
worse. For instance, swamp or marsh reclamations will make it lose its
function as natural polders to accommodate flood waters. As its function
changes, flood waters will seek the other lower areas. Beach reclamations
can cause erosion and sedimentation in the nearby coastal areas. Particularly,
the reclamation of Marina beach, the local government of Semarang
as the landowner had issued a principle permit through Mayor Decree
No.590/04310 (August 31, 2006) regarding the Approval of Exploitation
of Waters and The Implementation of Reclamation in Marina beach. It is
followed by the signing of the memorandum of understanding regarding
the implementation of reclamation in December 3, 2006. The reclamation
itself was estimated to require at least 15 million m3 soil. This, of course,
will bring many different results, including environmental impacts to the
local residents around the areas of reclamation in Semarang.
Reclamation in Semarang is categorized into two: [a] swamp/pond
reclamation and [b] beach reclamation.
[a] Swamp/pond reclamation is indicated as the main cause of
inundation in the North Semarang. The majority of the swamp/pond
reclamation is conducted by private enterprises with strong capital
and often do not have Environmental Management and Monitoring
document or Environmental Impact Assessment document. Swamp
reclamation is the widest reclamation conducted by private sectors
to build elite settlements and its facilities in North Semarang (e.g.
Marina Semarang).
[b] Beach reclamation does not have grave impact toward inundation.
However, this can cause a widespread inundation if the drainage
system is not well planned; moreover, if the reclamation site impedes
the return of water to the sea at low tide. The biggest negative impacts

177
 of beach reclamation are shoreline erosion in nearby beaches and
sedimentations in the other part of the beach.
Marina beach reclamation conducted by PT. IPU (Indo Perkasa
Usahatama Inc.) is a unique case. Its Environmental Impact Assessment
document states that this private company would conduct a beach
reclamation on the site, but, in reality, 75% of the reclamation –as seen
from remote-sensing image- was conducted on swamps. Only 25% was
actually conducted on the beach.
PT. IPU, a national private company specializing in property
business, would conduct a reclamation on 204 ha land in Marina Beach.
The land resulted from the reclamation will be used as: [a] settlements
(75 ha), [b] trade and service center (45ha), [c] public facilities (17ha0, [d]
open space (5 ha), [e] drainage system and retention pond 92 ha), [f] road
network (15 ha), and [g] border areas (27 ha0.
The design seems very ecologically planned, but, if it is scrutinized
more closely, the party who actually gains the biggest profits is the upper
economic group. In fact, the intention of conducting a reclamation on
Marina beach is to make settlements and facilities for its residents only.
Outsiders are not allowed to use these facilities. There is a recreational
park inside the complex where outsiders could enter, but they have to
pay. Figure 6.62 below displays a description regarding the reclamation in
Marina beach.

It is the swamp
reclamation in Marina
beach, which destroyed
the natural polder and
resulted inundation of
water in the lower areas.

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 Therefore, there is a significant indication that the worsened
inundation in North Semarang is resulted by the reclamation. Sea ​​water
waves usually flooded the site of reclamation will then seek another lower
places. Unfortunately, areas around the reclamation site were impacted,
such as other lower class settlements and other public facilities: Tanjung
Mas Port, Tawang railway station, Terboyo bus station, Ahmad Yani
airport, drainage and clean water system, waste-water management,
highways (1st, 2nd, 3rd class), local roads, slums, industrial and trade areas,
and coastal resorts.
The office of public works explained that land subsidence occurs
in Semarang ranging from 2 to 25 cm each year. The causes of this
phenomenon is usually the conical pressure buildings and infrastructures
constructed on unstable soil (alluvial). Particularly in Semarang, there are
two factors causing land subsidence: groundwater pumping and increased
load resulted by landfill. Javanese island tectonic, which was quite active
at the end of Pleistocene-middle Pleistocene, had resulted complex
geological structure in the southern part of the research locations. The
impact of an active fault structure toward land subsidence in alluvial areas
in Semarang has not yet been clearly determined. Consequently, if this
occurs continuously, some areas will be even lower than the sea level.
However, land subsidence in Semarang is not directly proportional
with the total area and the height of the inundation. The lowest land
subsidence only reached 25 cm; and it only occurred in few locations. The
local government often acclaims that inundation is closely related to the
land subsidence. Yet, they have never mentioned about the connection
between the increasingly widespread reclamation and the inundation
height in Semarang.
The impacts of inundation are the inundated ponds and settlements
in the coastal areas, unloading port area, railway station and its railways as
well as disrupt the activities of people in coastal areas. Inundation in ponds

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drifted out milkfishes reared by pond farmers. There were proximately
1,000 hectares areas of ponds in Semarang. These ponds are threatened
by tidal flood every year. Settlements around the coast and unloading port
area also not spared. The activity of loading and unloading goods in the
port are often disrupted - even delayed- by the inundation, causing large
economic losses.
Figure 6.63 displays how the impact of reclamation –inundation- that
destroyed public infrastructures in Semarang.

Only a few people

are benefited by the
reclamation. The
majority of the people
bear large material and
non-material loses. The
local government who
allows this seems to
close their eyes on this
problem.

Figure 6.63 Inundation in Bandarharjo

Similar thing was also experienced by Indonesian Railway Company
(PT. KAI). Tidal flood often disturbs activities in railway station in
Semarang. Inundation also puts passing trains at risk and damages the
sleepers –in some cases, the sleepers often vanish or buckle. This, of
course, endangers the safety of passengers and the people living near the
railways.
The other impact of inundation is that its waters could harm the
health of the people. Industrial, hospital, and household wastewater
overflows could not be accommodated by drainage channels, making

180
them flowing everywhere -not to mention trash from houses, markets,
office buildings, or dumpsters, which were washed away by the flood. This
would certainly affect the health of the people and the availability of clean
water.
Based on the collected field data and flood data, among the five
area samples, Bandarharjo is the only area in Semarang where disturbing
inundation occurs each year. Inundation in the other areas do not last
long, only happens when there is heavy rain and will disappear after the
rain stops. Conversely, Bandarharjo sub-district used to be a swampy area.
Along with the population growth, the need for settlements in Bandarharjo
increased. Landfills were considered as the solution at that time, as this
could provide more lands for settlements and its facilities. This condition
first took place in 1980s and grew faster in 1990s until now.
However, the growth of settlement areas and its facilities was not
followed by the arrangement of the drainage system and good water
governance. Some areas were landfilled and elevated to prevent floods
and inundation without considering the surrounding environmental
conditions. This condition caused a transfer of inundation to the lower
places in the surrounding areas. A social conflict could arise from this
transfer since it is not natural. The impact of landfills in Bandarharjo are
apparent; inundation in this sub-district became higher and longer since
1980s.
The other factor contributing to the inundation in Bandarharjo is its
geographical condition. Bandarharjo is located in the coastal area, which
has flat topography. It also has several outfalls of some rivers. Furthermore,
tidal floods and a very high rainfall are common place in this area.
The direct impact of inundation toward the local residents in
Bandarharjo is inevitable. The most common problem is the damaged
houses. The results of the survey and research show that the floors of
houses in this area suffered the most severe damage. Inundation also

181
damaged other parts of the house, such as the walls, foundations, fences,
and household furniture. The cost to renovate houses is quite expensive,
especially if floods and inundations occur each year.
Shortly speaking, the most prominent factor causing inundation in
Semarang is human activities, particularly the needs for settlements and
its supporting facilities. This has led to several landfill activities to provide
more lands. As the settlement and infrastructures grew, natural swamps
waned. Unfortunately, the construction of settlements did not consider
the surrounding natural environment and less well planned. Table 6.9
displays the condition of inundation in Bandarharjo as follows:
Table 6.9. The Condition of Inundation from 1980 until 2006 in the
Urban Periphery of Semarang (Bandarharjo)
The characteristics of inundation Number of
No. Year Period (days/3 Water level inundated
Area (ha)
months) (cm) houses
1. 1980 13.76 24 20 179
2. 1990 20.22 38 40 466
3. 1999 27.67 58 60 866
4. 2006 31.44 71 80 1,547
Source: Primary Data
Based on survey and interview with the local residents in Bandarharjo,
floods and inundations in this area started to happen from 1980s. At the
time, only a small part of Bandarharjo was covered and, thus, did not
bring alarming state. The water level ranged from 10-20 cm and occurred
about 1-2 hours. This condition, of course, corresponded to the length
and intensity of rainfall in that area as well as floods from the headwaters.
The growth of population in Bandarharjo in particular and in
Semarang in general caused the intensity of floods and inundations to
increase. The survey data and the interview with the local residents shows
that there was a rapid growth of houses from 1980 until now. This is due
to its strategic location and its complete infrastructures. Bandarharjo has

182
short access with the other areas in Semarang; moreover, the land price in
this area is not very expensive. In fact, from the beginning, this area has
become the center of settlements in North Semarang.
Figure 6.64 displays the negative impact of inundation on lower economic
group as follows:

People from lower

class is the one who
suffered the most
from the impact of
reclamation. Their
houses are always
drowned; and they
do not have another
alternative, but to
keep staying.

Figure 6.64 the Impact of Inundation

The rapid growth of settlements in Bandarharjo had led to
the growth of economy in this sub-district. This was marked by the
development of more facilities and supporting infrastructures in this area,
such as eateries, grocery stores, clothing stores, minimarkets, etc. Some of
the local residents also rented out their houses or rooms in their houses
to the people who wanted to stay in that area temporarily. This business,
in fact, was quite promising from which some of the locals intentionally
built houses for rent. The access that connects to the surrounding areas,
such local roads, was improved. All of these developments improved the
economy of the people residing in Bandarharjo.
Ironically, the development of economy in Bandarharjo brought
an adverse effects toward the environmental conditions. The growth of
settlements and infrastructures intensified the floods and inundations in
that area. Gullies and drainage channels were becoming narrower as the

183
people needed wider asphalt roads. A dense population would also push
away or even replace open spaces or water catchment areas. Thus, floods
and inundations become a serious threat for the local residents. This
condition is exacerbated by a lack of public awareness on the importance
of maintaining environmental health. Solid wastes often litters the roads,
gullies, and drainages.
At the peak of rainy season in December and January, the residents
of Bandarharjo have to face floods and inundations. In those months,
they have to deal with floods and inundations caused by the rain as well
as floods coming from the headwaters and floods caused by high tides.
This is worsened by drainage that is not function optimally because of
irresponsible littering, obstructions, and constrictions.
Floods and inundations in Bandarharjo are becoming a serious threat
to the local residents of Bandarharjo every year. Based on the interview,
observation, and survey data of flood and inundation, the distribution,
length, depth, and frequency of flood and inundation can be determined.
In 1980, water inundated 179 houses in Bandarharjo. The depth of
the water at the time ranged from 10 to 20 cm; and the inundation lasted
for 1 to 4 hours. The area covered by water reached 13.760 hectares or
43% of the total sample area. Figure 6.65 displays the area of inundation
in Bandarharjo in 1980.
Two factors –mezo and micro- contributed to the process of
inundation in Bandarharjo in 1980. The mezo factor was the reclamation
in the northern part of Semarang city, while the micro factor was landfills,
particularly on natural swamps/natural ponds in Bandarharjo. Swamps
and ponds are the receptacle of rainwater or seawater runoffs. These
natural swamps and ponds were landfilled to be used as settlements and
consequently the runoffs lost its natural receptacle. This condition forced
rainwaters and seawaters to seek lower places. One of these lower places
were the settlements of the people from the lower group.

184
 In 1990, the area in Bandarharjo covered by inundation reached
20.220 hectares or 63.5% of the total area. In just ten years, the inundation
increased to 20.5% and the impact was quite severe. The growth of the
population in this sub-district was the major factor contributed to this
condition in which 20 natural ponds were replaced with settlements and
infrastructures in a period of ten years.
The result of the massive changes were quite dreadful. 466 houses
–almost three times of the previous data in 1980- were inundated. The
depth of the inundation ranged from 20 to 40 cm and lasted for 1-4 hours.
Figure 6.66 displays the inundation area in Bandarharjo in 1990.
In 1999, the inundation were getting worse. 86.1% or 27.670 hectares
of land and 866 houses in Bandarharjo were inundated. This means the
inundated areas in this sub-district increased twofold in two decades. The
depth of the inundation ranged from 20 cm to 60 cm and lasted for 1-5
hours.
The result of interview with the respondents shows that several
causes of inundation cannot be separated from the floods occurred every
year. [1] Local flood is caused by high rainfall intensity and only covers
regional distribution of the rainfall. This is also worsened by the non-
optimal function of the drainage, which is often obstructed by trash,
thus reducing its channeling capacity. [2] Flood from upper rivers is the
result of the increased discharge of river water from Garang watershed
covering 189.84 km2 and of the reduced capacity of the river to channel
those waters. This overflow, therefore, inundate the surrounding areas in
the outfalls (Semarang Office of Public Works 2005). The flood from
upper rivers often escalates because the lands were already transformed
into buildings and the other infrastructures. This condition reduces the
flow coefficient of the water catchment areas, thus more waters flow as
surface runoff and less waters can percolate to become groundwater. [3]
Tidal flood is the outcome of high tide in the coastal areas or beach.

185
This type of flood is becoming worse and hits new areas because of the
irresponsible reclamations on the retention or water reservoir areas such
swamps, ponds.
In 2006, almost all areas (31.444 hectares or 99.5% of the total area)
and 1547 houses in Bandarharjo were inundated. One can imagine the
difficulty of residents when this phenomenon occurs. The depth of the
water ranged from 20 cm to 80 cm; and it lasted for 1-6. Figure 6.68
displays the area of inundation in Bandarharjo in 2006.
The inundation in Bandarharjo is already in dangerous level because
it disrupts human activities. The danger of inundation is not only physical,
but also socio-economic.
Figure 6.65. The Map of Inundation Process in the Urban Periphery
of Semarang (Bandarharjo) in 1980
MAP
OF INUNDATION IN THE SLUM
OF BANDARHARJO IN 1980
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Sub-district Limit
River
Road
Unslum Settlement
Slum
Inundation Areas

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1980
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

186
Figure 6.66. The Map of Inundation Process in the Urban Periphery
of Semarang (Bandarharjo) in 1990
MAP
OF INUNDATION IN THE SLUM
OF BANDARHARJO IN 1990
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Sub-district Limit
River
Road
Unslum Settlement
Slum
Inundation Areas

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1990
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

Figure 6.67. The Map of Inundation Process in the Urban Periphery

of Semarang (Bandarharjo) in 1999
MAP
OF INUNDATION IN THE SLUM
OF BANDARHARJO IN 1999
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Sub-district Limit
River
Road
Unslum Settlement
Slum
Inundation Areas

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 1999
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

187
Figure 6.68. The Map of Inundation Process in the Urban Periphery
of Semarang (Bandarharjo) in 2006
MAP
OF INUNDATION IN THE SLUM
OF BANDARHARJO IN 2006
N
Scale
W E

S
LEGENDS:
Sub-district Limit
River
Road
Unslum Settlement
Slum
Inundation Areas

Source:
- Black and White Panchromatic Aerial Photograph
Scale 1 : 10000, Year 2006
- BDigital Topographical Map of Indonesia
Scale 1:25000, Year 2001
Page 1409 – 222 Semarang
- Field Work

Compiled by:

The research found that there are 3 types of residents when it comes
to dealing with inundation process in their neighborhood.
[I] Residents “who can afford”
To solve inundation in their neighborhood -especially that of their
residential buildings-, the residents who can economically afford to
pay will immediately dismantle their houses; then, they will cover their
land with the materials from the dismantled house and soil. They will
construct a new house in the same land, but it will be higher than the
other houses (about 2-3 meters higher than the previous house). With
that, they can design a new house that is different from the previous
house to anticipate high inundation. The new house usually has 2 or
3 floors where the first floor consists of living room, bath room, and
kitchen without electronic devices. The upper floors is designed as
bed rooms or family room equipped with household furnishings that
require electricity.

188
Figure 6.69. The House of the Residents ‘Who Can Afford” Group
in Response to Inundation Process

STAGING PROCESS

The older house is

dismantled and its
location is covered using
the materials from the
older house and soil
about 2-3 meters higher
than the previous house
foundation; thus, the
new house is higher than
the other surrounding
houses.

The new house will

be higher than the
other surrounding
houses –including
its foundation- in
order to anticipate
inundation.

189
[II] Residents “who are less able to afford”
Because of funding constraints, the residents “who less able
to afford” can only raise the floor level in order to deal with the
increasing inundation. At first, the floor is damaged in various forms
such as cracking, flaking, or usually followed by water seepages.
Because of the limited fund and the worsening condition, the owner
will eventually raise the level of the floor –usually from 50 cm to 100
cm- and then plaster its surface. Consequently, the house will look
shorter. The ceiling height from the floor is about 2 meters, therefore
it is stuffy in the inside. The house seems to collapse if it is viewed
from outside. Figure 6.70 displays these conditions.
Figure 6.70. The House Condition of the Residents “Who Are Less
Able to Afford” in Response to Inundation Process

STAGING PROCESS

Stage I: In this stage, the

water begins to inundate
and subsequently
damage the floor
(flaking)

190
 Stage 2: In this stage, to
prevent inundation in their
houses, the residents raise
the level of their floor, thus
the height of the ceiling from
the floor becomes shorter

Stage 3: In this stage, the wall

of the house is also damaged
by inundation. The residents
have no choice, but to raise the
floor level for the second time,
reaching the border of window
frame and making the height of
the ceiling shorter

Stage 4: In this stage, the ceiling

is dismantled since its height
from the floor is too short after
a third raising attempt of the
floor. This makes the house
seems collapse compared to the
houses next doors, which have
also been dismantled and raised.

[III] Residents “who cannot afford”

This third group is the poorest amongst the three. They do not
have other alternatives to solve inundation because of economic
deprivation. They think that this condition is caused by the land
subsidence, not the worsening inundation. They can only resign to
this condition. They accept this condition as their fate without any
attempt to fix this problem. Fatalistic is a rational attitude to console
themselves in time of grief. The house is the only possession they
have, therefore they will keep staying in it no matter happened. The
only thing that they can do to reduce the impact of inundation is by
making bamboo holder for their beds or other furniture. Figure 6.71
displays a clearer description of the condition of this group.

191
Figure 6.71. The House Condition of the Residents “Who Cannot
Afford” in Response to Inundation Process

STAGING PROCESS

Poorness forces them to

live in houses that unfit for
occupancy. They make a
bamboo holder attached to the
upper part of window frame
to hold household furniture
that still can be used such as
cupboard, dining table, and
bed. It can be seen that the
space between the roof and
the bed is only 1 meter.

The inundation process

drowned the house both in the
inside and in the outside. This
damaged not only the floor,
but also the walls and almost
the other parts of the building.
Since they do not have money,
the house is left without any
repair. The inundation in
between the houses is like a
trench that divides the rich and
the poor.

This is the full image of

how the residents from the
“cannot afford” group do
not have other alternatives,
but to live in their houses
that are often completely
drowned because of
inundation process.

192
 Based on the discussion above, a conclusion can be drawn to answer
the second research question (c): How is the influence of inundation
toward the development of slum in Semarang?
In Semarang, particularly in North Semarang, the regularly-occurring
inundation processes cannot be separated from flood phenomena (flood
from headwaters, local flood, and tidal flood). After the floods occur, there
will be inundations with diverse length of time and depth. Inundation in
slum area, especially in Bandarharjo sub-district, is caused by the high
intensity of rain, worsening tidal floods caused by the reclamations on
retention areas, and the lack of appropriate water drainage and waterways
(too small water discharge capacity or blockage by sedimentation or trash).
The third factor is the waterways multipurpose use, which includes
rain water, wastes, and household wastes channeling, in which the water
cannot be accommodated by the capacity of flushing flow. This condition
causes sedimentation and non-optimal function of the drainage system
and reduces the channeling capacity. Furthermore, underground pipelines
(Water Company pipe, telephone and electricity cables) aggravate the
inundation because their placements are often adjacent with drainage
channels.
Above all, the factors that cause flood and aggravate the inundation
in Semarang can be categorized into two: natural and non-natural factors.
The natural factors are the high intensity of rain and the topographical
characteristics of some areas in Semarang, which are lower than the sea
level. The non-natural factors are the excessive reduction of catchment
areas, swamp and beach reclamations, and building elevations that did not
consider good drainage.
The inundation process happened from 1980 until 2006 proved
that this process caused damages to residential buildings. The parts of the
house, which were damaged quickly, were floor and walls. This process of
building damage, further, caused rapid alteration of settlements into slum.

193
The development of slum settlements in Bandarharjo was proportional to
the proliferation of inundated areas. This research also found that there
are 3 models of residents in term of their responses and their adaptations
to the inundation in their neighborhood.

194
 Chapter VII
The Impact of the Growth of Slum

This chapter discusses a variety of things related to the impacts of

the development of slum in Semarang. These impacts, which occur after
or along with the changes of slum settlements quality, include complex
geosphere phenomena. However, this research could not cope all of those
phenomena. The main observed phenomenon here is the one related to
the space changes phenomenon, as there is a visible growth of slum as well
as human phenomena. The analysis of physical impacts is observed based
on the occurred spatial phenomena, people’s attitude in managing their
settlements, and how they deal with any occurred changes. In particular,
the occurred human phenomena is observed through social, economic,
and political aspect.

7.1 The Impact of Growth of Slum in the Spatial Context

7.1.1 The Expansion of Slum
The growth of slum in the spatial context is observed using spatial
approach. Yunus (2004) explained that spatial approach is none other
than an analysis method that emphasizes its analysis on space existence
that functions to accommodate human activities. Since the object of

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study in Geography is geospheric phenomena, everything related to the
object inside a space can be highlighted in various dimensions, such as:
pattern, structure, process, interaction, organization within the system,
association, tendency or trends. Thereby, there are at least 9 (nine) themes
to be analyzed using spatial approach: (1) spatial pattern analysis; (2)
spatial structure analysis; (3) spatial process analysis; (4) spatial interaction
analysis; (5) spatial association analysis; (6) spatial organization analysis; (7)
spatial tendency or trends analysis; (8) spatial comparism analysis; and (9)
spatial synergism analysis.
This research applied spatial approach that highlights spatial
process analysis and spatial pattern analysis dimension. Spatial approach
emphasizes the space changes by which the changes of the space-maker
elements can be expressed qualitatively and quantitatively. The most
important aspect of spatial process analysis is the time dimension, thus
temporal dimension has a very important role to identify any occurred
process of changes. In this case, the analysis of spatial pattern analysis
emphasizes on the distribution of space-makers elements in form of the
expansion of slum area in Semarang. The growth of slum settlement –or
its expansion- in Semarang is an interaction between physical and non-
physical space-maker elements, which are a spatial expression.
As a geosphere phenomenon, the analysis of the linkage formulation
of slum growth in a city can be in form of space based, time based, or
time space based analysis (Yunus, 1989). Space based analysis analyzes
a phenomenon based on the difference of the space within the same
time; time based analysis analyzes a geosphere phenomenon in the same
space, but within a different time; and time space based analysis analyzes
a geosphere phenomenon based on its difference in time and space.
This research analyzed the growth of slum in form of its expansion in
Semarang based on the space difference using time space based analysis.
The selected series of time were the serial data in 1980, 1990, 1999, and

196
2006; while the space differences as its analysis materials are areas, which
express downtown, urban fringe, and urban periphery of Semarang (in
1980, 1999, and 2006).
2005 data shows that the slum area in Semarang reached 876
ha (http:\www.kimpraswil.go.id/humas/ifoterkini, 2006) in which it
expanded almost 11% in less than 10 years –in 2006, slum area covered
972.76 ha (Regional Planning and Development Agency of Semarang,
2007). Currently, slum settlements are spread in 42 locations. Most of
them are located in North Semarang District. Their locations in North
Semarang are in Krakasan, Makam Kobong, Stasiun Tawang, Bandarharjo,
Kebonharjo, Kampung Melayu, Tanjung Mas, Dadapsari, Purwosari,
Plombokan, and Panggung.
The result of the research shows that the growth –or the expansion-
of slum from 1980 until 2006 reached 27%. The map analysis using
Geographical Information System shows in detail that the total area of the
research locations is 122.128 ha, which was divided into 5 sample areas.
In 1980, the slum settlements in these 5 sample areas covered 22.965 ha
or 19% of the total research areas. In 1990, the slums expanded 18%,
covering 33.416 ha or 27% or the total area. In 1999, the slum settlements
covered 46.648 ha or 38% of the total research area, while, in 2006, it
further expanded into 55.657 ha or 46% of the total research area. This
data clearly describes that there was several expansions of slums in the
research areas.

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Table 7.1 outlines the expansion of slum in each sample area as follows:
Table 7.1. The Growth of Settlement Viewed from the Expansion of
Settlement and Slum Areas in 1980-2006 in the Research Locations
Settlement Slum
No. Location Area (ha) Year
Area (ha) Area (ha)
1980 10.18 6.363
Downtown 1990 25.99 10.25
1 40.296
[Pekunden] 1999 35.94 14.59
2006 37.67 16.39
1980 5.23 3.958
Urban Fringe 1990 11.58 5.084
2. 22.5233
[Mrican] 1999 14.70 6.879
2006 19.93 7.481
1980 3.33 1.485
Urban
1990 5.43 2.716
3. Periphery 17.7885
1999 10.81 4.524
[Jatingaleh]
2006 13.89 5.560
Urban 1980 0.95 0.340
Periphery 1990 3.55 0.437
4. 9.928
[Kuburan 1999 5.01 0.712
Cina] 2006 7.52 1.692
1980 12.81 6.018
Urban
1990 19.07 7.936
5. Periphery 31.5916
1999 26.98 10.581
[Bandarharjo]
2006 30.08 13.968
Source: Primary Data, the result of map analysis using Geographic
Information System (GIS)
The table above shows that the largest growth of building density
indicating the rate of slum expansion is in Jatingaleh in which, during the
years 1980 to 2006, the slum in this location expanded 32%. Pekunden
is in the second place with 31% growth, followed by Bandarharjo (37%),
Kuburan Cina (19%), and Mrican (18%). Jatingaleh has relatively large

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land and a fairly high degree of accessibility, therefore the access to
the hub of the city is close. New hubs in Semarang, such as shopping
centers, education centers (UNDIP and other private higher educational
institutions) and office buildings, which are not far from this area, are the
main attractions for newcomers to move and to live in Jatingaleh.
The growth of slum in Jatingaleh cannot be separated from the
growth of Semarang city in general. This indicates a tendency of the
shift of urban functions to areas in urban fringe. This phenomenon is
called urban sprawl or the outward spreading process of urban physical
appearances. As the result, areas in urban fringe, such as in Jatingaleh, will
undergo spatial transformation process in form of settlement densification
and socio-economic transformation as the further results of this process.
The densification process in urban fringe is the realization of
the increasing need for spaces in urban areas. Urban fringe as an area
of expansion of urban growth activities has been the concern of many
experts in various disciplines, such as geography, social sciences, and urban
sciences, since 1930s when the term was firstly introduced in literature. This
huge attention is especially designated to a variety of problems resulted by
the expansion process of a city to the suburb areas and causing physical
changes, such as land use, demography, ecological balance and socio-
economic conditions (Subroto et al., 1997). One of the characteristics
signifying the urban sprawl in Jatingaleh is the filtering up phenomenon.
This phenomenon is the substitution of older settlers with the new
ones who have better economic conditions (Yunus, 1987). Colby (1959)
proposed the dynamic force theory to explain this phenomenon. One of
the aspects underlying this theory is the diverse people’s perception of the
environment, thus creating forces that cause population mobilization and,
further, changing the land use of city outskirts or suburban areas. Broadly
speaking, this force, which causes settlement densification in Jatingaleh,
can be categorized into four types: centripetal, centrifugal, lateral, and in-

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situ force.
Centrifugal force is the forces that can cause people mobilization
and urban functions movement from the inside to the outside of a city. In
contrary, centripetal force is the forces that cause people mobilization and
urban functions movement from the outside to the inside of a city. Lateral
force is the forces that cause people mobilization and urban functions
movement from one location to the other with the same distance from
the city center. In-situ force is caused by changes in family structure, for
instance from an extended family into a nuclear family (Colby, 1959).
There is no doubt that Pekunden is a very strong magnet for
newcomers. As a downtown area, Pekunden has always been popular
for them. However, because of the limitation of available spaces, the
development of this area has already reached its saturation point where it
cannot accommodate more expansions. The only option is to fill empty
spaces, although the available spaces are often narrow. Similar to Pekunden,
Bandarharjo also has a quite strong magnet for newcomers, especially those
who have psychological factors: the area is crowded with buildings. The
growth of population with all of the life aspects that continuously take
place will make these areas no longer capable to accommodate people’s
activities.
A unique horizontal growth of slum settlements occurred in
Kuburan Cina and Mrican, which are, in fact, peri-urban areas. The main
issue of these two areas are basically triggered by the spatial and social
transformation processes resulted by a very intensive urban growth. Based
on the tendency above, one of the directions of Semarang city development
that needs to be viewed is the spatial development, which can impact the
socio-economic development of residents in these two urban fringes. Two
phenomena, which require attention, are the spatial and socio-economic
transformation processes of these areas. As a transition area, these areas
are under pressure of increasing urban activities that can cause physical

200
changes, including conversion of farmlands and non-farmlands with all
of its negative impacts.
According to Howard, at the end of nineteenth century, among the
urban, rural, and suburban areas, the one that had the biggest opportunity
for productive business ventures and the most pleasant opportunity to
reside was the suburban areas. The residents who live in suburban areas
always adapt to their environment. This adaptation reflected and caused
social, economic, cultural, and many other changes (Daldjoeni, 1987).
City expansion and the influx of city dwellers to the suburban areas have
greatly altered the land use in the city outskirts, especially those directly
adjacent to the city. Many green areas transformed into settlements and
other buildings (Bintarto, 1983). This condition caused the process of
slum expansion in Kuburan Cina and Mrican.
In accordance with Hammond’s opinion (cited in Daldjoeni, 1987),
the reasons of slum area expansion in Kuburan Cina and Mrican are: (a)
the improvement of transportation service in Semarang, which allows the
people to live at distant places from their sources of livelihood; (b) the
mobility of some residents from the inner city parts to the outer parts and
the influx of people from rural areas; (c) the improvement of people’s
lives.
The slum area expansion in 1999-2006 in Kuburan Cina and Mrican
is actually lower than the period between 1980 and 1999. Particularly for
Mrican, the first logical reason is the limited availability of flat lands to
construct new houses. As outlined in previous chapter, Mrican consists of
hilly areas; and the settlements, which was originally located at the bottom
and flatter areas, gradually expanded upward in line with population
growth. At the end, the only remaining lands were areas in steep slopes,
which are unsuitable for settlements.
Particularly in Kuburan Cina, the logical reason of the expansion
decrease is the emergence of the sense of reluctance to occupy cemeteries.

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Over time, the land for grave yards also increased. The population growth
inevitably also increased the need for cemeteries, therefore unused
graveyards in this area were reused. The direct impact of this condition
was that there were many new graves that dug up right next to residential
buildings. Consequently, people became no longer eager to reside on the
existing cemeteries.
The impact of slum settlements expansion is the taudification
process in the research areas. The downtown (Pekunden), urban fringe
(Mrican), and unban periphery in the coastal areas (Bandarharjo) even have
already reached its death point. This impact is related to the purchasing
power of the poor living in the city in buying houses. They could not
afford to buy houses through “formal sector” (real estate or new housing
complex); the only way to get settlements for them is through “informal
sector”. People who could afford is capable to buy or to rent a house in
slum areas legally, while those who could not afford were forced to buy
or to rent houses or a plot of land without permission; or, even worse,
they built houses in settlements, which considered illegal or illegitimate,
such as vacant lands next to railroads, river banks, and state-owned lands
or other unproductive lands. The population growth has made these kind
of settlements to reach taudification and has led to death point and the
increasing squatter settlements.

7.1.2. The Deterioration of the Environment in Slum Settlements

The direct impact of the slum settlement growth in the second spatial
context is the deterioration of environment in Slum settlements causing
quality degradation of physical and social environment of the settlements.
Yunus (2000) noticed that the growth of slum is associated with the “areas
of poverty, degradation, and crime” because of the deterioration of its
environment. The same condition also occurred in the research areas. In
general, the instances of these quality degradation of environment in the
research areas are as follows:

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1) The degradation –or even insufficient- of public facility condition
from year to year.
2) The degradation of sanitation, which is reflected by high disease
outbreaks and high frequency of disease outbreaks, such as dengue
fever, diarrhea, or skin diseases.
3) The characteristics of extended families in most of slum settlements
cause chaotic space utilization in their houses. In order to accommodate
the increasing the number of family members, they create poorly
planned rooms and buildings; consequently, the physical conditions
of their houses look messy.
4) The aging process of the houses in slum make its appearance looks
duller. This is visually apparent from the degrading quality of wall
partitions and roofs.
5) The densification process in slum will be followed by infilling process
that further will cause settlement involution. Settlement involution is
the condition where the demands for settlement land increase, while
the availability of land tends to not increase. Although the infilling
process occurs in legal lands, this will further results taudification
process and, at the end, will lead to death point.
6) Inundation in the expansion process of slum in the research areas
gave a very significant impacts toward the acceleration rate of the slum
expansion. The impacts of inundation show a special phenomenon;
these impacts can be categorized into physical and social impacts.
To explain the impacts within spatial context, settlement deterioration
can be outlined as follows:
7.2.1.1. Deterioration on Physical Environment of Slum
This research found that the environment of slum settlements
shows the degradation of settlement quality each year. This is apparent
in the public facility data, which shows degradation both in terms of
quantity and quality. The result of interview with the respondents shows
the following facts:

203
 Table 7.2. The Condition of Public Facility in the Research Areas from Year to Year

204
Public Hall for
Temporary
Facility Electricity Road Public Water Playground Meetings in a
Dump Site
Neighborhood
No.

1980
1990
1999
2006
1980
1990
1999
2006
1980
1990
1999
2006
1980
1990
1999
2006
1980
1990
1999
2006
1980
1990
1999
2006

Location
1. Pekunden v v v v a a b b 8 5 3 2 v v - - v - - - 6 4 1 1
2. Mrican v v v v t a b b 9 7 4 4 v v v - v v v v 3 3 3 2
3. Jatingaleh - v v v t t b b 15 15 13 10 v v v v v v v v 2 2 1 1
Kuburan -
4. v v v t t b b 21 21 25 25 v v v v - - - - - 3 2 2
Cina
5. Bandarharjo v v v v t t b b 6 5 2 2 v - - - v v - - 5 2 2 -
Description:
v : available
- : not available
a : asphalt road
b : concrete road
t : dirt road
 Based on the table above, the slum settlement growth, which is
analyzed within spatial context, have caused deterioration of environment
in the slum. It is quite apparent that the availability of clean water in all
research areas decreased from year to year. The clean water given by the
local government through public hydrants did not properly maintained,
therefore those hydrants could not be used anymore or, even worse, the
water supply from the government to slum areas had been greatly reduced.
At the end, some of the residents collectively built wells to get clean water
and bath/wash/toilet facilities. The water from these wells are actually
unfit for consumption. The smell of the water -and also the well- is like the
smell of gutter. The water, which is polluted by nearby gutters, contains a
quite high level of detergent. It can be seen from the considerable froth
when the water is poured to a container. Figure 7.1 displays this condition.

The water
quantity and
quality were
degraded

Water from
well, which
was polluted
by sewage

Figure 7.1. The Degradation of Water Quality and Quantity

Another fact that shows the deterioration of slum environment is
the loss of open spaces for children’s play facilities and other residents’
activities, such as the celebration Indonesian Independence Day. Now,
those activities are held on alleys. The same things happened to meeting
rooms usually used by the residents to have routine meetings to discuss
issues in their settlements. In fact, those public meetings rooms have
become a private residential building –there is a tendency to privatize

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public facilities in slum settlement.
Furthermore, the temporary dump sites were reduced or even
vanished. Those dump sites were replaced or destroyed by the residents
themselves. This was also the impact of the population growth. People
started to build houses next to those dump sites because of the limited
availability of lands. Those who live near those dump sites were disturbed
by trash, so they forbade the other residents to dispose their trash on
those dump sites; thus, those temporary dump sites vanished.
The residents who live far from those temporary dump sites are
shiftless. They are often too lazy to dispose their trash on the proper places.
Instead, they dispose it on improper places, which, in their consideration,
can be the dump sites, such as gutters. Consequently, the environment in
their settlements looked dirtier where trash scattered everywhere.

Latrine

Trash that
is disposed
to gutters

Figure 7.2 displays this condition.

The result of the research shows that the deterioration of settlement
environment is more visible with the worsening conditions of the
sanitation from year to year. It can be seen that most of the residents did
not have bathrooms that meet the bathroom design and health standards.
The bathrooms in these settlements are designed only for bathing and

206
washing, and are not designed as toilets. They use latrines, which were
built in the riverbanks next to their settlements. These latrines are the only
place for them in which they have to bring clean water to clean themselves.
The direct impact of this deterioration to humans, particularly
their health, is that their settlements are becoming prone to the spread
of certain diseases, especially if the level of public awareness regarding
healthy behavior is low. Unhealthy neighborhood is the place for various
viruses of infectious diseases to reproduce, therefore slum areas are very
susceptible to disease outbreaks. The most common infectious diseases in
slum areas are diarrhea and other types of diseases, such as typhoid, ARI,
skin diseases, measles, leptospirosis, and dengue fever (Astuti MSA, 2002).
Scarcity of clean water is the major cause of this diseases. Slovenly lifestyle
and low sanitary awareness cause the intestine vulnerable to diarrhea virus
attacks.
Deterioration of slum settlement caused by inundation process
is apparent in Bandarharjo. More specifically, tidal inundation make the
settlement condition uglier. The continuous inundation caused building
material weathering. Water intrusion rapidly weathered the walls of houses;
causing nails, hinges, latches and household appliances to rust because
of high salinity of the water. As outlined earlier, the residents who had
financial capacity raised the inner part of their house, while those who did
not have money could not do anything. Ironically, the more people raised
the level of their floors, the higher the inundation in the settlements or
houses of the poor. Since most of the residents in Bandarharjo are from
lower class society, they cannot afford to make further rehabilitation their
houses after they raised the walls or strengthened their house foundation.
As the result, many buildings look very short; the ceilings can be reached
by hands; and windows are becoming doors. These conditions created
a new type of slum in Indonesia, even in the world (Yunus, 2005). See
Figure 7.3 below:

207
 The inhabited house
with conditions that
are far from being
called healty.

Inundation
occurred not only
outside, but also
inside of the house.

Figure 7.3. The Condition of an Inundated House

Inundation also worsened the quality of the settlement environment.
Wells could no longer be used; water in waterways could no longer flow;
trash and other debris, which were carried by the inundation water, scattered
around the houses. In Bandarharjo, there is a phrase in Javanese language
that is used to describe the difficulties faced by the resident everyday: “nek
udan ora iso ndodok, nek panas ora iso cewok”, which means “in rainy days,
people could not go the toilet; while, in dry days, they could not clean
themselves (using water) after using the toilet”. This phrase describes how
difficult for the residents is to live in Bandarharjo. In rainy season, the
water, which inundated their homes, reached 2 meters high; while, in dry
season, the clean water is difficult to get.

208
Figure 7.4 below displays the condition of the inundated house of the
poor.

The trestles and

roof can be reached
by hand

The furniture
supported by board

Bed above the

water

The window
became a door

The depth of the

water inside the
house reached 2
meters

Figure 7.4. The Condition inside an Inundated House in Bandarharjo

7.2. The Impact of Slum Area Growth upon Social Factors

The impact toward social factors in settlement areas of Semarang
shows an interesting human phenomena. The residents of slum in the
research areas live in big houses or buildings that resemble single-floor
tenements, which are inhabited by several families. Most of these houses
do not have water closets or bathrooms, therefore public bathrooms are
very vital –some families even share kitchen. This physical conditions
create a close bond among the residents. They –especially the women- are
used to wash, bathe, cook, or watch over their children together. The other
instances of mutual relationship between the residents are the confidence

209
to entrust their children to the closest neighbors when they have to do
short term activities outside their houses; and the bond to help each other
without being asked first.
Small and cramped houses make the families can only gather together
inside only in the night or bedtime. They –the parents and children- do
most of their activities outside the house. The breadwinners –usually
father- work in the other places; and, after they get home, they will usually
go outside the house to the kampong roads and have some conversations
with neighbors, while smoking. The mothers –or housewives- do almost
all of their activities (e.g. washing clothes, cooking, etc.) outside the house.
The children play with their friends also outside their house.
These habits are the visible picture of outdoor personality in which
people are prefer to do outdoor activities. This is one of the habits,
which are inherent in the slum residents of the research areas. Distinctive
characteristic, which specifically emerges in the research areas, is the
extended family or the habit to accommodate families who just come to
the cities. Family, in this case, is close relatives, close or far acquaintance,
or even other people who have emotional relationship with the owners.
This kindness makes all the family members feel very indebted to
the owners, thus they will try to collectively support the family. Every
member of the family has a strong feeling to give some of their income to
the owner of the house. With that, each of them will try their best to get a
job as soon as possible after they arrive at the city. So, in fact, the residents
of slum settlements actually have a job.
The other impact of an extended family is the change or addition
of room function to accommodate the new family members. At first,
the additional rooms are created by making partition inside the house
to provide privacy to the nuclear family. Over time, they will construct
new building outside the main building using empty spaces, which can
accommodate new buildings. Some cases in Pekunden and Bandarharjo,

210
the residents constructed additional building in the riverbanks or even
above the rivers because there was no space left; this was the only option
they had in order to expand the main building. Figure 7.5 displays this
condition as follows:

The additional
buildings are no
longer constructed
in vacant lands, but
above the river

As the result, the river

becomes shallow and
narrow

Figure 7.5. The Construction of Additional Building above the River

Extended family in Kuburan Cina shows a quite interesting
phenomenon. The majority of residents in this area are scavengers. They
will provide places to stay for the new family or relative coming to this area
and together working as scavengers. They never regard the newcomers
as competitors. Instead, they will become the tutors for the new family
members in collecting discharged items. They later also enlist the new
family member to work to their bosses or the buyers of the collected
junks and scraps so that the new family member will get the same facilities
provided by their bosses. Some respondents, after they enlist the new
family members to their boss’s place, will look for another buyers who
can pay higher. It can be assumed that they seemed to seek replacement
for themselves so that, when they leave, their previous boss will not have
labor shortage.

211
 In Bandarharjo, a solid mutual and collective cooperation occurred
among the residents in dealing with tidal floods or inundations in their
houses. This is the implementation of fatalistic attitude of the people
reflecting their powerlessness in facing these phenomena. Put it simply,
fatalistic can be defined as a belief that humans cannot change their fate.
It further means that fatalism is closely related to psychology, particularly
social-psychology and internal/individual psychology. Fatalistic attitude
represents pessimistic –or underestimate- worldview in which people
cannot see and cope their life problems with clear and solution-oriented
mind. People who decide to escape from their problems (e.g. economy,
politics, social and culture), their apathetic and submissive attitude toward
any policy that actually make them suffer are instances of social psychology
disorder. Surrender to their conditions and do not have the will to change
their difficult life, and can only depend on God’s will are the real treat
to the individual psychology. This indicates that these two psychological
elements are attacked by fatalism parasite.
An anthropologist from United States of America, Oscar Lewis,
said that culture of poverty is formed by the socio-economic conditions
of the people who live in that society (as cited in Clinard, 1970). According
to Oscar, the culture of poverty in individuals will be manifested by
their attitudes and actions, such as fatalism, indifference, easily driven to
despair, lack of initiative, and do not have the spirit to move forward.
Consequently, they lack of accomplishments, attainments, and education.
Oscar further added that individual improvement is not enough to solve
this problem. This also requires socio-economic improvement of the
environment where they live. The environment where the poor live has to
be improved so that it can allow them to actualize themselves to pursue a
better living.
This fatalistic attitude is also strengthened by the perception, which
consider the inundation as the result of land subsidence. This cognition is

212
intensively exposed by the local government of Semarang in which they
say that tidal floods happened because of the will of nature –high tide
and land subsidence. This government’s explanation is supported by the
several researches regarding land subsidence, which ignored the role of
private sectors with their beach and swamp reclamations in Semarang.
The result of the research shows a significant connection between those
reclamations and the expansion of inundation in Semarang.
The impact of this fatalistic attitude shaped the people’s assumption,
which considers inundation as their fate. Because of this resignation, they
could not do anything, including to prosecute those who are actually
responsible for this condition. This powerlessness had led them to form
a community called “paguyuban rumah ambles” or the community of the
subsided houses. The name of this community reflects their belief that the
inundation is caused by land subsidence, not the intensifying inundation.
Figure 7.6 displays the nameplate of this community, which represents the
fatalistic attitude of its members.
The residents’ expression
of their fatalistic
attitude resulted by their
powerlessness

The residents’ powerlessness

are considered as an
economic opportunity by the
other.

Figure 7.6. The Nameplate of Rumah Ambles Community in

Bandarharjo
A deplorable fact is that the people are basically not well-informed
by the government regarding the inundation, which they face every year;
the government let the people to find the solution by themselves. For
those who have alternatives, inundation is not a big problem; but, the poor

213
ones can only accept their “fate”. Those who have low income could
not afford to renovate or to just even raise the level of the floor of their
houses. Their houses, thus, seem to subside, because the other houses are
higher after being renovated. Figure 7.7 displays this condition as follows:

The house
whose owner
could not
afford to
renovate seems
to subside
compared
to the other
houses.

Figure 7.7. The Comparison between the House, which is renovated,

and house, which is not
The residents’ powerlessness and their fatalistic attitude were used
by the other to gain profit by pretending to “help” them to renovate their
houses. They offer arisan1 system to renovate the poor residents’ houses.
Thus, for the poor who lives in Bandarharjo, sorrows come not in single
spies, but in battalions. They were victims caused by the beach and swamp
reclamations; and, further, they were deceived by the others who pretend
to “help” by renovating their house, but with more expensive cost. Figure
8.8 below displays a house, which has been renovated.

1 Regular social gathering -or sometimes organized by certain companies- similar to

fundraising in which the members take turns at winning the collected money.

214
 The renovated
house has higher
floor level than
the other houses,
which have not
been renovated;
this makes the
inundation in this
area expanded

Figure 7.8. Renovated House

7.3. The Impact of Slum Settlement Growth upon

Economic Factors
The previous chapters have described the characteristics of the
residents living slum from economic point of view in which most of
them have a very low income (56% of the population in slum earn not
more than IDR 4,0002 per day).The place where they live are very cramped
and do not meet the health standards. Most of the houses do not have
bathroom or even kitchen; they have to use public bathrooms and kitchen
by turns. The public kitchen here is actually not a kitchen. It is just an
unused space between the houses (e.g. beside the street or above the water
channels) where they can place their stoves. They are used to do activities
together. This condition make their relationships stronger.
The extended family system creates mutual collective environment
among the residents. They always interact and help each other. While the
fathers go to work to earn a living through the informal sector; the wives
gather, have conversation, and do activities together. Particularly in Kuburan
Cina, the extended family system shows a distinctive phenomenon. The

2 USD 1,- = IDR 9,200,- (in 2006)

215
new family members were given a place and a job –usually as scavenger;
and some of them who have money were given the opportunity to open
stalls. These stalls were not to sell goods, but to buy items collected by
the scavengers. The owner of the stall, who is also a newcomer, is the
relative of the stall owner who has already been there. Those stall owner
will almost always be the buyer; and almost none of them will become
scavengers.
Besides buying from the scavengers, some of the stall owners in
Kuburan Cina also initiatively search for rosok3 themselves. However, they
do not look for those items from dump sites, but from the people who
want to sell their unused or broken items directly in their houses. They will
proactively go around the kampongs riding a trishaw or pick up car. This
creates assumption that unused items are better to be sold than dumped.
The buyers determine the rosok price, which is not fixed; and the sellers
cannot raise the price. The one who will make the bargain is the seller. This
is in contradictory to the law of market in which the seller will determine
the price, while the buyer will make the bargain.
The result of the interview shows that the new stall owners, who
also “scavenge”, are newcomers in the city, but they directly go and stay in
the suburban areas. They can earn IDR 3,000,000, - 5,000,000 each month
and own a house with middle-class lifestyle. This is a deviation from the
Turner’s theory about “residential mobility” outlined in chapter VI. Figure
7.9 displays scavengers’ activities in the research areas as follows:
3 Discharged items collected from houses that can be sold again.

216
 This new type of ‘scavenger’ uses
becak to go around the kampongs and
proactively buys rosok from the people.
Their average income is IDR 3,000,000
per month.

This new type of ‘scavenger” has bigger

capital. They bring along more than
one employee when they go around the
kampongs by car. They use loud speaker
to offer their services. Their average
income is IDR 5,000,000 per month.
Figure 7.9. New Type of Scavenger
Although these new type of scavenger can be considered as part of
the middle class society, but their houses still represent the characteristics
of slum. They live right next to the junks and scraps they bought from
people. They do not make any special places for this discharged items,
therefore their houses look dirty, squalid, and unhealthy.
The explanation above shows that, in term of making a living, the
poor who lives in slum settlements do not desperate or feel apathy as
commonly portrayed in the society. They work hard in order to survive
and to have a better life. One of its pushing factors is a motto they have
in their life that children must be better than the parents. They bear the
current difficulties so that their children will not have to deal with it in the
future.

217
218
 Chapter 8
Reflection and Follow-up

8.1. The Causes of the Slum Settlement Growth

1. In the downtown of Semarang, the essential factor provoking
newcomers to come and stay in the slum areas is the proximity
by which they assume downtown as the source of life. The other
important factor is the availability of free facilities in downtown,
such as place to do street business, proximity to customers, and
easiness to get food. One thing, which is considered as unimportant,
is the proximity to relatives. They think that they will find relatives
over time. The most unimportant –and inconvenient- factors is the
availability of land. They did not think to buy and own a house. What
they want is only to get a place to stay; as long as they can rest and
take shelter in it, no matter its conditions.
2. In the urban fringe, proximity is also an important factor, but it is not
classified as essential. The unimportant factor in deciding the place to
stay is the land availability and other factors.
3. In the hilly areas of the urban periphery, the important factor is the
social capital, while proximity is just a convenient factor. The attitude
to help newcomers in constructing new houses by giving labor
contribution or materials (e.g. bamboo) is an important thing. Land

219
 availability is not an important factor because they think that there
will always be spaces to make houses.
4. In the flat lands in the urban periphery, the most essential factor in
choosing land for housing is the availability of vast land. Since most
of the residents in this area work as scavenger and owner of stall,
they need broader land to do their job. These kind of occupation
require them to have broader land to do their activities. Therefore, it
will not be effective if they stay in the downtown.
5. In the coastal areas of urban periphery, the availability of land is
not important –or inconvenient. Similar to the residents of the
downtown, the residents in this area do not crave for houses. The
most important –or essential- factor for them is the bond with
their relatives. The bond here especially means the same profession
in which most of them work in remang-remang1 sector. This sector,
of course, violates the law norms in the society, thus they protect
each other. This makes them as relatives. The sense of security -and
mutually protecting each- other are the only things they need, even
though they do not have permanent houses and live in the unhealthy
neighborhood.

8.2 The Process of Slum Settlement Growth

1. The ageing process damages the building. The level of damage can
be seen from the damage level of the main building structure (e.g. the
roof truss, pillars) and other supporting structures (e.g. floor, walls,
doors, windows, and roof). The fastest ageing process occurred in
Bandarharjo because of the inundation. In this area, the part of the
house that will be quickly damaged is the floor. The walls in inundated
area in Bandarharjo are easily weathered, while the door hinges are
quickly corroded. In the other sample areas (Pekunden, Mrican,
Jatingaleh, and Kuburan Cina), the ageing process is apparent in the

1 Related to informal or even illegal occupation.

220
 roof and wall conditions.
2. The densification process. The data obtained from the analysis of
images of black and white panchromatic photos in 1980, 1990, 1999,
and 2006; and from the analysis of terametric images obtained from
google. The model of densification process can be categorized into
two. The first model is the spatial infilling process that occurred in
the established settlements (Pekunden, Jatingaleh, and Bandarharjo)
by infilling the settlement with small-scaled construction and
basically individually owned. The second model is the spatial infilling
process accretion that occurred in empty spaces or vacant lands,
which possess known legal ownership, outside the settlements with
slow and small volumes. This second model occurred in Mrican and
Kuburan Cina. In Mrican, the infilling process was correlated with
the population growth resulted by people mobilization into this area.
In Kuburan Cina, the densification process followed the pattern
of spatial infilling process accretion. At the beginning, the infilling
process in Kuburan Cina was started with land plundering system or
infilling process by means of plundering lands that was considered
no-man’s land. After the residents had enough money, they tried to
legalize the status of their settlements by buying it from the rightful
owners. This phenomenon is implemented in the four stages of
spatial infilling process accretion in Kuburan Cina: competition,
invasion, domination, and succession.
3. Inundation Process. The result of the research shows that there were
two processes of slum settlement growth caused by the inundation:
instantaneous and invasion. Inundation is a casuistic phenomenon.
No one has considered this phenomenon as a cause of the growth
of slum. In the research areas, the inundation process accelerates
the growth of slum because houses in inundated areas become
quickly damaged. In this case, the responses of the residents toward
inundation are diverse. The residents who have money would

221
 immediately renovate the whole part of their house; while those
who have limited amount of money could only raise the level of the
floor, making the house more cramped and stuffy. The residents who
do not money could not anything when their house are inundated
and could only accept this “fate”. The only thing that they can do is
making holders made from bamboo or wood, which are put on the
upper part of windows or door frame to support their furniture.

8.3 The Impacts of the Slum Settlement Growth

1. There are two impacts of the slum settlement growth in the spatial
context. The first is slum area growth viewed from spatial approach.
This approach emphasizes on the spatial process analysis and spatial
pattern analysis. The result of the research shows the growth of
slum areas in form of settlement expansion during the period 1980
to 2006, which reached 27%. From the Geographical Information
System, the total area of the whole research areas covers 122.128 ha
that is divided into five samples areas. In 1980, slum settlements in
those areas covered 22.965 ha or 19% of the research areas. In 1990,
the slum settlements expanded 8 %, covering 33.416 ha or 27% of
the total areas. In 1999, the slum had covered 46.648 ha or 38% of
the research areas; while, in 2006, it further expanded into 55.657 ha
or 46% of the research areas. The second impact is the deterioration
of slum environment that can be seen from the quality degradation
of physical as well as social environment, which, further, degrades
the quality of the neighborhood as settlements. (a) The degrading
-or inadequate- condition of public facility from year to year. (b) The
degrading quality of the sanitation reflected by high disease outbreaks
and its frequency, such as dengue fever, diarrhea, skin diseases. (c) The
attitude of the resident resulted by the extended family phenomenon
in most of the slum caused chaotic space utilization inside the houses.
The new rooms to accommodate the new family members made the

222
 physical condition of the house become more untidy. (d) Ageing
process of the buildings make its appearance worse. This can be seen
from the condition of the wall partition and roof, which decline in
quality. (e) Densification process in slum settlement will be followed
by infilling process and settlement involution (the demand for land
increases, while the land availability tends to not increase). Although
this process takes place in legal lands, but this will further lead to
untidiness and death point (no spaces or lands left). (f) Inundation
process gave significant impact toward the acceleration rate of slum
settlement growth. The impact of inundation process shows a very
special phenomena that can be categorized into physical and social
impacts.
2. The impact of slum settlement growth upon the Social factor is the
emergence of outdoor personality in which people are prefer to do
outdoor activities. This habit is one of the characteristics of the
people living in the research areas. The other distinctive characteristic
is the extended family phenomenon or the habit to accommodate
new family members who just come to the city. In this case, family
members refer to close relatives, close or far acquaintances, and other
people who have emotional connection with the owners. Particularly in
Bandarharjo, there is a collective and mutual cooperation between the
residents, which is the manifestation of their fatalistic attitude toward
the powerlessness in facing inundation phenomenon. This fatalistic
attitude is strengthened by the existing perception that considers the
inundation as the result of land subsidence. This perception is always
exposed by the local government of Semarang that tidal robs are
caused by the will of nature (high tide and land subsidence). The
local government who is supported by several researches ignores
the contribution of private sectors upon the worsening inundation
in which they conducted massive beach and swamp reclamations in
Semarang.

223
3. The impact of slum settlement growth upon the economic factor.
From economic perspective, the characteristic of almost all the
residents who live in slum is their low income (almost 56% of the
residents can only earn IDR 4,000 per day). The result of the research
shows that the poor in slum settlements never fall into despair and
apathy as commonly portrayed in the society. In fact, they always
work hard for a better future for their children.

8.4. Recommendations and Follow-up

1. In micro level, the problem of slum is correlated to the socio-
economic and physical conditions of the residents and the settlement.
This physical problems include inadequate infrastructures (e.g. road,
electricity, clean water, and waste system, bathrooms, and other public
facilities), therefore it will be easy to overcome if there is a will from
the local government in the form of fund and technology.
2. The improvement of socio-economic conditions is quite difficult.
In fact, this is the cause of the settlement problem. For instance,
the disparity of the income between scavengers and the buyers of
the collected items. Scavengers do not have bargaining power when
they do business with those buyers, therefore they cannot raise the
price. One solution that may help them to get a better income is by
establishing koperasi2 for scavengers.
3. For the inundation problem, the local government of Semarang
should give a fair and correct information regarding the causes of
the inundation in the residents of slum settlements. They should tell
the people that the reclamation of Marina beach is also the cause of
this problem, not only land subsidence or high tide. So, the decision
makers must also take the responsibility about the beach reclamation
policy.

2 Similar to union, but the organization acts as an private enterprise in which whole
members become the legal owners.

224
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 Urban Inequality: Reclamation, Inundation and
Social Impact in Central Java, Indonesia
Dr Mohammed Gamal Rindarjono, M.Si, born in
Purwokerto August 3, 1964, was married with Dra.
Endang Kusmorowati, and has two sons, they are Fachri
Reforma Mahardika and Furqan Ahmad Borneo. Taking
Elementary School in MIM Karanglewas Kidul
Karanglewas Purwokerto, SMP N 1 Purwokerto, SMA N 2 Purwokerto, S1 in Jakarta
Geografi Department Teachers' Training College graduating in 1990, S2 UGM
Geography Department of Mathematics and Science Study Program graduated in
1994, and holds a doctorate in the field of Urban Settlement in 2010 of UGM.
Currently as lecturer Geography Department Teachers' Training College UNS
become active members Expert Forum For Urban Future (forum) South East Asia -
Germany, which is an observer of urban forum consisting of experts from the urban
areas of Southeast Asia and Germany, also the central committee of the
Association of Indonesian Geographers (IGI) 2011-2015.
International activities have been followed, the International Seminar on
Tropical Eco Settlement in Bali 2010; Southeast Asian - German Expert Seminar On
Urban Regional Networks - Urban Environmental Risk Management And In
Southeast Asia, Philippine 2011; The 11th International Symposium Asape In
Surakarta Indonesia 2010; Establishing And Managing Laboratory Schools
Indonesia 2011; Summer School: Expert Meeting For Urban Development, In
Luangprabang Lao PDR; Expert Meeting: Urban Public Space In South East Asia In
Surakarta, Indonesia; Training In Methodologies For Technical Assistance And
Rural Extension "Braganca Para, Brazil in 2012.
Establish cooperation with the author in Hp: 085867383555 Email:
mas6amal@yahoo.com, Blog: gamal.staf.fkip.uns.ac.id

ISBN 978-602-8580-37-3

Phone
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