Segregation and Gentrification of an Informal Settlement in a City Center

In this research, we investigated the instance of segregation and gentrification in Cikini, a place where formal and informal settlements coexist with walled separation. We conducted a mixed-methods research study using the following: (1) a field survey to observe the physical relationship between the perumahan and kampung settlements; (2) mapping of building age and land use patterns; (3) interviews with key respondents, community leaders, street vendors, and market vendors. We found that residential segregation in Cikini is not based on people’s racial identity, but on their socio-economic status. The spatial separation of people from different socio-economic classes cannot simply be understood as inequality. It represents some features of segregation, such as: (1) a fixed physical barrier between the perumahan and kampung, despite mutual social and economic connections between the two; and (2) the fact that there is no permanent residential mobility between the two despite the economic mobility experienced by people in the kampung settlement. Interestingly, we found that kampung settlement does not experience gentrification while the perumahan is slowly gentrifying. We attribute this uniqueness of the kampung settlement to its resilient social fabric.

In this research, we investigated the instance of segregation and gentrification in Cikini, a place where formal and informal settlements coexist with walled separation. We conducted a mixed-methods research study using the following: (1) a field survey to observe the physical relationship between the perumahan and kampung settlements; (2) mapping of building age and land use patterns; (3) interviews with key respondents, community leaders, street vendors, and market vendors. We found that residential segregation in Cikini is not based on people’s racial identity, but on their socio-economic status. The spatial separation of people from different socio-economic classes cannot simply be understood as inequality. It represents some features of segregation, such as: (1) a fixed physical barrier between the perumahan and kampung, despite mutual social and economic connections between the two; and (2) the fact that there is no permanent residential mobility between the two despite the economic mobility experienced by people in the kampung settlement. Interestingly, we found that kampung settlement does not experience gentrification while the perumahan is slowly gentrifying. We attribute this uniqueness of the kampung settlement to its resilient social fabric.