Role of Corridor in Territorial Meaning Formation in “Owned Low-cost Apartments†(‘Rusunami’) Bidara Cina, Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Urbanization and urban land shortage are crucial issues that require different solutions in every country. Development of “vertical housing†(“owned and rental low-cost apartmentsâ€) is one of the alternatives to overcome the huge demand of urban housing, especially for low-income group. The design of “low-cost apartments†(‘rusuna’) in Jakarta with a floor area of apartment units (‘sarusun’ units) 18-24 m² (private territory) inhabited by several family members, who can be seen putting their belongings on the corridor, “residual spaceâ€, and public space (public territory). These conditions finally establish patterns of behavior to adapt to the circumstances and environment that can lead to territorial issues, social conflict and “occupancy†of public space for private purposes. This research will study the sense of territoriality for residents and find the role of corridor in territorial meaning formation in ‘rusuna’ (‘rusunami’ and ‘rusunawa’), with a case study of the building block “Aâ€, “owned low-cost apartments†(‘rusunami’) Bidara Cina in Jakarta, Indonesia. The research was conducted using qualitative methods through in-depth interviews to understand the territorial meaning, field observation, activities mapping the corridor “occupancy†for private purposes, as well as reviewing the related theories from literature and journal reviews about characteristics of the territoriality in architecture. The results found that the role of corridor as manifestation of the physical needs: need of space, culture & habit, economic necessity, agreement; and physiological needs: tolerance, security & safety, perception, togetherness, social interaction; has a great influence on the formation of territorial meaning in block “A†building ‘rusunami’ Bidara Cina, Jakarta, Indonesia.