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Good practice Imported

Kampung Improvement Programme — Jakarta's In-Situ Slum-Upgrading Model

Indonesia · Jakarta · See the Indonesia profile · See the Jakarta profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 22% 81/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Starting in Jakarta in 1969, Indonesia's Kampung Improvement Programme threaded paved paths, drainage, water and sanitation into existing 'kampung' neighbourhoods without resettling residents — upgrading ~7,700 hectares for ~3 million people at ~US$60/capita.

7,700 hectares
Kampung land upgraded (1969–1990s)
3 million
Residents with improved conditions (1969–1990s)
60 USD
Cost per capita (1969–1990s)
two-thirds of residents surveyed
Residents reporting infrastructure improvements (1976)
450,000 people
Kampung dwellers served by 1980 (1980)

Details

Promoter
Jakarta Provincial Government (DKI Jakarta) / Directorate General of Human Settlements
Period
1969–1990s
Keywords
urban regeneration, informal settlements, infrastructure, housing

Context

Beginning in Jakarta in 1969 under Governor Ali Sadikin and later replicated in cities across Indonesia, the Kampung Improvement Programme (KIP) took a deliberately minimal approach to slum upgrading: rather than clearing and rebuilding informal "kampung" neighbourhoods, government teams worked within existing settlements, leaving housing largely untouched.

Activities

Government teams threaded paved footpaths, small bridges, drainage canals, piped water, sanitation and basic health and education facilities along existing rights-of-way through the kampung neighbourhoods.

Results

Over its multi-decade run the programme upgraded an estimated 7,700 hectares of kampung land and improved conditions for roughly three million residents, at a documented cost of around US$60 per capita — among the lowest-cost slum-upgrading models on record. A 1976 survey found two-thirds of residents in project areas reported infrastructure improvements, and the programme received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1980, when it was already serving 450,000 kampung dwellers.

Conclusions

Independent evaluations, including a later World Bank review, credit KIP with durable, low-cost infrastructure gains and improved economic activity within upgraded kampungs, but also document a significant limitation: the programme did not resolve land tenure for most residents and did little to directly improve their access to formal economic opportunity, leaving informality as a structural issue even where physical conditions improved.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Documented at around US$60 per capita across the programme's multi-decade run — among the lowest-cost slum-upgrading models on record.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Ran from 1969 into the 1990s, spanning multiple city administrations and later replicated in other Indonesian cities.
Staffing & skills
Jakarta Provincial Government (DKI Jakarta) implementation teams, Directorate General of Human Settlements (national government)

Conditions for success

  • In-situ upgrading via existing rights-of-way avoided the cost and disruption of resettlement
  • A minimal, infrastructure-only intervention kept per-capita costs low enough to reach large populations

Common failure modes

  • The programme did not resolve land tenure for most residents
  • Physical upgrading alone did not improve residents' access to formal economic opportunity

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes ERDF — European Regional Development Fund

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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