(Temporary) Appropriation (of Space), Makassar, and Urban Kampung

Abstract

This chapter will discuss temporary appropriation (TA) in the context of informal settlements and urban kampung in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It will explore ways in which instances of TA may be useful in determining approaches for design and implementation of in situ informal settlement upgrading projects by generating a greater contextual understanding of existing urban dynamics and spatial use patterns. It suggests that emergent and regular instances of TA within the informal context are a manifestation of interactions between legal frameworks, socio-spatial histories and practices, community cohesion, changing land occupancy patterns, and settlement morphologies. The chapter advances that TA is an urban phenomenon with potential to be harnessed for design development; however, simultaneously it postulates that the concept of TA should be evaluated and extended by questioning what is understood as appropriation in complex urban contexts. Further to this, the chapter questions what constitutes TA in circumstances where open or public space is non-existent, limited, or contested. It is posited that in such circumstances, TA can serve to assert public space into otherwise contested zones, and is, as such, driven by rhythms of daily practice and routine. In this way, TA can be understood as a process of resistance, manifesting in territories outside of those classified as public and may therefore encompass interstitial/transitional spaces, negotiated spaces (i.e. vacant private land, rights of access), and public infrastructure. Understood as such, TA may be useful (1) for providing a degree of insight into highly context-specific informal settlement and urban kampung dynamics; and (2) for understanding limitations of classification and administration of public-space in developing cities, and subsequently (3) for informing design strategies for in situ upgrading projects in fields ranging from public health to infrastructure. Through such an analysis, it is argued that instances of TA may serve to render visible formerly hidden social practices, needs, desires, and shortcomings of existing development patterns, and thus be leveraged and operationalised to inform the design of community engagement practices and built environment solutions.