North Jakarta Aquarium Village Wins Housing Innovation Award From Asia Pacific Housing Forum

Kampung Akuarium, Penjaringan, North Jakarta won the highest award for Innovation Awards 2023 from the Asia Pacific Housing Forum, in Suwon, South Korea, on 26-27 October 2023. (Between/HO-Rujak Center for Urban Studies)

JAKARTA - Kampung Akuarium in North Jakarta won the highest award for Innovation Awards 2023 from the Asia Pacific Housing Forum (APHF) for the category of housing program initiatives by civilians in Suwon, South Korea, on 26-27 October 2023.

In addition to winning in the main category, the Aquarium Susun Village also received an Honorable Mention on Sustainable Consumption and Production Innovation Award from the SwitchAsia.

"These two awards prove that Kampung Susun is a housing innovation recognized by the world. The Aquarium Village has also been visited and inspired hundreds of people from around the world," said Director of the Rujak Center for Urban Studies Elisa Sutanudjaja in a written statement in Jakarta, Sunday as quoted by Antara.

Before it was decided, Elisa presented the Aquarium Village in front of approximately 200 participants of the Asia Pacific Housing Forum on Thursday (26/10). In its presentation, Elisa emphasized the innovative side of Kampung Susun as a social production of housing based on human rights.

The production was carried out with a collaborative approach and a co-design method so that the process and product were finally adopted in the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government program under the leadership of Governor Anies Baswedan.

Selain itu, Elisa juga menekankan bahwa warga Kampung Akuarium hadir, terlibat aktif dan menjadi bagian pengambilan keputusan di semua tahap mulai dari perencanaan, pembangunan hingga pengelolaan dan pemanfaatan.

The Aquarium Susun Village is also able to provide design, financing and management innovations at once, through a permit mechanism for land acquisition principles (SP3L) that does not burden the APBD.

The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government also made a breakthrough by allowing the use of SP3L funds for housing innovation, while previously the funds were only used for the construction of simple rental flats (rusunawa).

Then, Elisa also said that the management of collective-based Susun Village under the Aquarium Bangkit Mandiri Cooperative with various business units was finally able to reduce the cost of living and maintenance of the residents' units.

"This village has also been a training ground for 120 ASN (state civil servants) in the housing and planning sector since 2022 through various joint planning classes in collaboration with Bappenas, and the International Field School in collaboration with Kyoto University since 2018," said Elisa.

This village is also a collective work of the Rujak Center for Urban Studies with the Aquarium Bangkit Mandiri Cooperative, the Poor City Network and Urban Poor Consortium.