T

he Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) '€” a collaboration between ETH Zurich and Singapore'€™s National Research Foundation '€” has proposed an alternative housing solution to land scarcity issues, introducing a low-budget housing concept for families on low incomes.

The project, called Tropical Town, is an architectural and urban design proposal for the development of the vast peri-urban regions around Southeast Asian cities.

The proposal engages the basic technical and socioeconomic processes '€” the production and consumption of energy, water, wealth and waste '€” that underpin the growth and decay of cities.

According to UN World Urbanization Prospects 2010 data, Indonesia has the largest urban population and the fastest urban area growth rate in Asia. By 2030, it is projected that more than 80 percent of Indonesians will live in cities.

During a recent symposium titled '€œFuture City Jakarta: Swiss and Indonesian Research and Technology in Practice'€, at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java, FCL scientific director Stephen Cairns, presented the Tropical Town mock-up.

'€œThe Tropical Town is a model [that is] sustainable, a more resilient town applicable mainly to the edges of Jakarta, to resist the endless sprawl of the city. But also it competes with existing density, a model of high-rise housing. We also have a model we call Rubah, or rumah tambah [expandable house],'€ Cairns said.

The Rubah encourages vertical densification up to three floors on a nested neighborhood, village and township scale. The wider planning strategies embed public space, productive landscapes and decentralized wastewater treatment systems, as well as solar energy generation and rainwater harvesting infrastructures. The concept also includes the house owner'€™s participation in developing the house.

'€œThe foundations are built to carry three floors, but the government will only build the ground floor, while the remainder will be built by the residents themselves. The residents have to invest in the development [...] That'€™s how kampungs are made: mostly self-built,'€ he stated, adding that each unit was designed to be built on a 36-square meter plot of land and could house up to 10 people.

'€œWe want to get the economic logic of kampung self-sufficiency; reliance, individual motivation [and] investment in your own home. But we want to support it with better foundations, better waste management and better public space and energy,'€ Cairns added.

He cited that the basic structure for each unit would cost no more than Rp 80 million (US$6,584.36).

'€œIt is much cheaper for the government and it is much more independent [for residents],'€ he said, adding that, '€œthe main thing is it grows incrementally and it matches the economy of the household. Your house has to grow with your income.'€

FCL assistant researcher Abdul Said Ahtar, who recently graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology, said the main materials used in the construction included bamboo.

'€œIt is more sustainable and not combustible. We will use processed bamboo so it will last for decades. We also use corrugated steel for the roof, concrete block and solar panels to generate electricity. However, the design is flexible. It can follow the local custom of each kampung,'€ he said.

Cairns said his team, working together with a private developer, was ready to build a pilot study in Jakarta.

'€œWe have been invited by [acting governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama] Ahok to do a trial. We will be working together with PT Gunung Sewu Kencana to build the pilot study. At the same time Ahok has asked us to use the model as a way of improving Marunda [housing in North Jakarta],'€ he said.

For decades Jakarta has dealt with land scarcity as the rapidly growing capital constantly attracts newcomers of various backgrounds.