Sustainable Public Spaces by Kampung Kollektief

From Kampung Susun Kunir in Jakarta to Tarwewijk in Rotterdam

While the kampungs of Jakarta are characterized by strong communal bonds and a lack of public spaces, neighbourhoods in Rotterdam mostly exist of individual households while public spaces are regulated and often underused.
Kunir, a kampung -characterized by an irregular, dense layout, and strong communal bonds- and Tarwewijk - a culturally diverse neighbourhood with a high turnover- both have a history connected to the port. As the ports moved outwards, the areas faced economic and social challenges. While kampung communities are under the constant threat of eviction due to their irregular status, in Tarwewijk higher income families are favoured by the demolition of affordable housing.

In 2023 a set of movable planters was developed with the community of kampung Kunir in Jakarta. While holding some of their beloved fruit trees, the planters are being used to temporarily take back ownership and change the perception of the paved road that was once a green and lively kampung.
This year we bring the project to Rotterdam, where we use the movable planters to strengthen a cautiously growing community and test which paved areas could be successfully converted into green public spaces.

From Rujak Plaza to Tarwe Tuin

What would you like to do outside? What do you miss in your neighborhood? What is your favorite place? Would you like to spend more time outside? Which problems do you notice around you?

Asking questions helps us to understand what we want and need from public space, look for untapped potential for spaces in our community or neighborhood, and even challenge us to tackle barriers against these spaces.Through visits and workshops with the families of Kampung Susun Kunir and residents in the Tarwewijk, we tap into the expertise of the people who know the places best. Creating public spaces representing the residents' needs and their local environment.

These lead to the co-design of “Rujak Plaza” in Kunir, a modular system to support the irregular-temporary public spaces we see all over the kampung and honor Kunir’s collective memory of sharing the Indonesian dish rujak ‘Fruit Salad’ as a community. In Tarwewijk there is a common fear that creating places to meet will always lead to nuisance. With Tarwe Tuin we want to challenge this preconception and test which locations are suitable to further develop as meeting areas where communities can bloom.

Design for a community-based future

By encouraging residents of Kampung Susun Kunir and Tarwewijk to co-create their own public spaces, we strive to build an emotional connection and sense of ownership between the community and the design. Further challenging the residents to take part in imagining an ideal future neighborhood they want to create for future generations. The engagement of local residents is significant in both contexts because for so long these undervalued communities weren’t involved in decision making, thus have not had a voice in the development of their public spaces. As Kampung Kollektief, we see the output of Rujak Plaza and Tarwe Tuin are our first steps in a larger vision to prove the value of co-creation for community driven design and move toward more sustainable futures.

Our communities, both in Indonesia and The Netherlands will live on in the future! As designers it’s our role to challenge the singular view of an ideal constrained future, and create more representation with room to imagine for all kinds of futures ahead.