Co-habitation Space: A Model for Urban Informal Settlement Consolidation for the Heritage City of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Yogyakarta City has a sacred cosmological space formed by imaginary philosophical axes based on the centuries′ old Javanese belief system. The Kraton or Sultan′s Palace is the focal area with the space around the philosophical axes functioning as a buffer area, and the outer circle that serves as a supporting area. All are linked by the concept of co-habitation space. This paper aims to explain the spatial, philosophical principles in relation to the phenomenon of changes in the urban space in Yogyakarta today. The concept of co-habitation space is physically understood as activities showing guyub (harmony/togetherness) carried out by urban citizens. These can be seen from place attachment, livelihood, and spatial territory. The focus of this research is the sharing phenomenon (′co′) that takes place in kampong (urban neighbourhoods) spaces and their surrounding areas. This study uses a rationalistic approach and mixed methods of which the main methods employed were observation and space syntax. The results of this study suggest that the level of guyub in an area is influenced by the local spatial configuration. This study concludes that the concept of co-habitation space affected the way the Sultans of Yogyakarta utilized their kingdom′s territory for the welfare of their people.

Keywords

• historic city
• territory
• co-habitation
• informal settlement
• space syntax