Live-Work Housing Concept for Rusunawa in Indonesia: Is it Possible?

Living and working in the same unit is part of the everyday life of low-income people who live in slum areas to overcome their economic situation. However, when they are evicted from slums and relocated to Rusunawa (vertical public rental housing), their live-work life is no longer possible. Empirically, living in Rusunawa puts many residents in financial difficulties. This article is aimed to investigate the feasibility of a live-work housing concept for Rusunawa. Based on observations at Rusunawa Pesakih in West Jakarta, this article revealed that only 48% of a total of 64 commercial spaces provided by Rusunawa were occupied for home industry businesses. In-depth interviews with 40 residents showed that 70% of them had a diversity of potential skills related to home industries. However, their skills were unchanneled and unaccommodated. This article also found that 35% of them did take-home work-related activities in the corridors of Rusunawa. The findings indicated that there is a potential for live-work life in Rusunawa and an opportunity to bring back the live-work life into Rusunawa. This article proposes design recommendations for live-work housing concepts for Rusunawa by increasing the percentage of workplace units from 10% to 25% and by categorizing the Rusunawa units into four types according to the characteristics of the home industry: the regular type (36 m2), the live-with type (40 m2), the live-near type (40-54 m2), and the live-nearby type (60-70 m2). This article may provide inspiration for policymakers and architectural designers for future planning and design of Rusunawa that empower residents economically.