Investigating “tiny house” in urban Kampung: Sustainable living in tiny house

Abstract

Kampung kota or urban village has always been regarded as slum area and in most cases seen as not suitable as residential area. Efforts to evict by the government has always been a major issue. In reality, houses in kampung kota have a concept that is not different from the concept of the Tiny House Movement which has already happened in many countries. For people who live in urban areas, their homes can be considered as tiny houses. The only different is their appearance compared to tiny houses in other countries which have a considerably ‘nicer’ and ‘neater’ design. Living in a tiny house does not only mean living in a small house, but also adapting to a simpler, less consumptive, more connected to nature and caring for the environment. This paper will discuss how tiny houses in kampung kota can actually form a sustainable living. We explore part of Kampung Muka, Ancol, North Jakarta to observe their domestic spaces and conduct in-depth interviews with the residents. Through this investigation, we find that sustainable living had taken place in the life of the residents living in tiny houses in Kampung Muka.