The Kampung Improvement Programme in Surabaya provides a low-cost, innovative and sustainable method of transforming high-density urban informal settlements into green and clean neighbourhoods. The programme has reached over 1.2 million of the city’s inhabitants and is being replicated in 500 other towns and cities throughout Indonesia. Its success has been achieved by mobilising people’s own resources and by increasing their awareness of the importance of a clean and healthy living environment.
Kampungs are informal, low-income housing areas found throughout south-east Asia. They provide homes for 63 per cent of the population of Surabaya but cover only seven per cent of the area of the city. Traditionally in Surabaya the Kampungs contain a mix of socio-economic groups with low and middle-income households living alongside each other, although the majority of households are low-income.
