Urban Setllement

8/14/2019 Urban Setllement

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J. Cobban

Uncontrolled urban settlement: The kampong question in Semarang (1905 - 1940)

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 130 (1974), no: 4, Leiden, 403-427

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JAMES L. COBBAN

UNCONTROLLED URBAN SETTLEMENT:

THE KAMPONG QUESTION IN SEMARANG

(1905-1940)

Introduction

One of the characteristics of colonial cities on Java which came to the

fore during the last thirty-five years of Dutch rule was the presence

within the boundaries of the urban municipalities {Stadsgemeenten) of

indigenous villages which existed as independent entities, self-regulating

in their internal [huishoudelijk) affairs, and whose autonomy was

guaranteed by the Dutch East Indian Consti tution (Regeeringsregle-

ment) of 1854.1 T he inclusion of extensive an d of en p opu lous villages

(both kampongs and desas) within the boundaries of the cities but

outside the jurisdiction of the city councils led to differences in whatmight be termed the areal distribution of prosperity, that is, the

juxtaposition within the cities of contiguous areas varying in physical

attractiveness, population densities, hygienic conditions and standards

of living, as well as to variations in the effectiveness of governing

authority.2

Such differentiation led to tension between the city govern-

ments and the population of the indigenous villages as both sought to

change conditions in the city kampongs and to introducé to them the

physical standards of the urban environment which the city councils

had succeeded in maintaining in the European parts of the cities.

1 T he Regeeringsreglement was the result of a series of Government decreesbeginning in 1806 concerned with the governing of the Dutch East Indies.It remained in effect, with modifications, until its replacement in 1925 byth e Indische Staatsregeling (Wet op de Staatsinrichting van Nederlandsch-Indië) also periodically modified. The law as it had evolved by 1938 isreprinted as bijlage 2 in J. J. Schrieke, Inleiding in het Staatsrecht vanNederlandsch-Indië, Haarlem, 1940, pp. 193-236.

2The desa is a village surrounded by cultivated fields and waste lands and isdistinguished from the kampong, a settlement with no fields or lands and

found usually within the boundaries of a town or city. This distinction wasnoted by L. W. C. van den Berg in "Het Inlandsche Gemeentewezen op Javaen Madura", Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, deel 52, 1901, p. 20, and is still in general usage.



404 JAMES L. COBBAN

The present article deals primarily with the indigenous settlements in

their relationship with the city of Semarang during the last twenty-five

years of colonial rule. It provides some insight into the nature of thecolonial city on Java during the twentieth century and gives historical

depth to the phenomena of squatter settlements which have been

characteristic of many cities in Southeast Asia during the past twenty

years. There is no atterhpt to imply that squatter settlements are

identical, particularly from the point of view of legal land titles and

magnitude of problems, with the urban kampongs and desas of the last

decades of the colonial era, but there is a suggestion that the latter are

predecessors of the former and that the characteristics of squatter settle-

ments are not new. The similarities between the two sorts of communities

are striking and reiterate the view that the phenomena of uncontrolled

urban settlement perhaps have only been rediscovered in recent years

because of the numbers of people involved and the greater awareness

of the impact such people have on cities. Much of the information on

Semarang was recorded in the bi-monthly Locale Belangen published

by the society, with headquarters in Semarang, which represented the

body of civic officials created after the incorporation of the urban

municipalities in 1905 and 1906 and founded as a forum for information

and communication among civic officials in Indonesia.

The problems presented by the existence of kampongs within the

cities and the solutions which were proposed came to be known as the

Kampong Question (Kampongvraagstuk). The concept was tripartite

in nature. It included abolition (opheffing) of the kampongs as inter-

nally autonomous entities, the extension of the jurisdiction of the city

councils into the kampongs, and improvement (verbetering) of such

components of the urban infrastructure as roads, sewers, sanitation,

garbage removal and water supply. The question was considered to bemost urgent in the larger cities of Java, such as Semarang, Surabaja,

and Bandung, but the smaller centers of Sukabumi, Malang, Bogor

(Buitenzorg), Tegal, Pekalongan and Madiun on Java also expressed

their desire to abolish the desa autonomy in their midst, as did Makassar

on Sulawesi and Pematang Siantar on the East Coast of Sumatera.3

The

discussions took on a flurry of activity during the few years around 1920,

3See the report dated 20 September 1922 on governmental reform in the large

cities on Java (De Hervorming van het Bestuur in de Groote Hoofdplaatsen

op Java) by the Assistant Resident of Semarang J. van Gigch, reprinted inpart in Gellius Flieringa, De Zorg voor de Volkshuisvesting in de Stadsgemeen-ten in Nederlandsch Oost-Indië in het bijzonder in Semarang, Rotterdam and

Amsterdam, 1930, p. 295.



UNCONTROLLED URBAN SETTLEM ENT 4 0 5

reflecting the problems which had existed with the formation of the

urban municipalities and the creation of civic authority at the beginning

of the century. The issue was less severe around Djakarta mostly becauseof the large area covered by private estates (particuliere landerijen),

land which had been alienated to private ownership during the time

of the D utc h East In di a C om pany and later, early- in the eigh teenth

century, duri ng the rule of Stamford Raffles.4

Perspective on the kampong question can be gained by recognizing

the process of city growth which seemed to be characteristic of the

Western oriented city on Java. Most urban centers began as indigenous

settlements, conglomerations of kampongs, intersected by straight, often

wide, streets which ran in an East-West or North-South direction.5 T h e

urban core expanded gradually by means of boundary changes and

when these were made to accommodate European interests, it resulted

in the automatic inclusion of indigenous villages within the city juris-

diction. The apparant anomaly of city expansion encompassing villages

which retained their autonomy is explained by the fact that European

urban development took place mostly along the main roads and city

expansion was dictated by the need to extend along the road system.

The result was the surrounding of desas which, in turn, gradually sold

part of their lands into private ownership as the city grew around them.

Eventually all that remained of many desas, especially those near the

center and hence in the oldest sections of the city, was the built-up

parts, that is, only land with buildings on it. With alienation of all but

built-up parcels, the effectiveness of desa autonomy and organization

lapsed and the settlements became converted into kampongs occupying

enclaves often hidden from view.

The extent to which city expansion encompassed villages in some

cities can be gauged by the comment of Th. W. van Kempen concerning

Surabaja in 1927. "There is hardly a piece of land in the whole city

of Surabaja," he wrote, "which does not belong to one or other desa

or kampong. The large city of Surabaja is a collection of kampongs."6

4Van Gigch stated that there were in Batavia no indigenous communities(Inlandsche gemeenten) in the sense of article 71 of the Regeeringsreglement.See Flieringa, op. cit., pp. 292 and 295.

5"Toelichting op de 'Stadsvormingordonnantie Stadsgemeenten Java', Batavia,1938", excerpts translated and printed in The Indonesian Town, The Hague

and Bandung, 1958, pp. 1-77. Reference from p. 35.6Th. W. van Kempen, "Over het Kampongvraagstuk in de Groote IndischeStadsgemeenten," Koloniaal Tijdschrift, 16de jaargang, 1927, pp. 441-453.Quote from p. 447.



4 0 6 JAMES L. COBBAN

Even the Residency house and grounds were located on the domain of

a kampong. The autonomy of the desas did not hinder the founding of

European residential areas with their wide roads and glittering houses.In fact, desa authority disappeared altogether in certain parts as the

city took over local functions. Much the same can be said of the expan-

sion and growth of Semarang, which about this time included 137

villages within its boundaries.7 The Kampong Question, thus, was

concerned with those parts of cities enclosed by the wide streets of

European residential areas and work places, indigenous enclaves which

made up a substantial area of the cities.

It is pertinent here to remember the diversity of land tenure and

usufruct rights wh ich could be found on J av a af ter 1905. Besides the

aforementioned indigenous enclaves (the so-called Government kam-

pongs) , and the pri vate estates, a. nu m be r of other categories of land

existed. These included land owned by the Government on which no

usufruct rights were granted (Vrij Landsdomein) but which was some-

times given to the urban municipalities for use in the public interest,

for example parks; land owned by the Moslem religious community

(Wakaf-grond), usually of very small extent; Government land on

which the right to erect buildings was granted (opstal), usually on

long-term lease; land owned by the cities which had been given to them

by the Government from land expropriated or purchased from private

estates; parcels of land owned by private individuals; agrarian land;

and another category of Government land over which Indonesians

could exercise rights of usage on individual parcels. Besides these there

were also city kampongs built by the cities on land which they had

in some way acquired.8

Improvement of the kampong infrastructure can be regarded from

a number of points of view. At first, it was chiefly a European concern,but over the years it received acceptance among the indigenous popu-

lation. The kampong dwellers themselves initially regarded extension

of civic authority into the kampongs as illegal encroachment into village

affairs. After some years, they were prepared to ignore the overlapping

of jurisdictions and became anxious to accept the improvements in

sanitation, road maintenance, water supply and police protection which

TSee map of Semarang showing location of desas and list of desa names in

Flieringa, op. cit., pp. 33-35.8Ibid., pp. 30-32. The "Toelichting" in The Indonesian Town, p. 55, mentionsalso "unknown lands" whose owners were not known, as well as residenceunder adat law on land belonging to another.




improvement promised. In the European community, a number of

attitudes were discernable. One was that of moral indignation over the

squalid living conditions of the indigenous population living within thecities. Another was expressed in a statement made by the Mayor of

Surabaja that the crux of the kampong question was that of making

their city a healthy place in which to live.9 A third was that of non-

interference, that the indigenous folk had their own independent life

to live and their own particular destiny. The modern student of colo-

nialism regards the kampong question as one more manifestation of

the conflict inherent in colonial society, the results of, in the words

of Albert Demangeon, "Ie contact des deux types de peuples appelés

a s'associer dans une colonie." 10 The urbanist can find in miniaturethe very problems and issues presently faced by Southeast Asian and

other Third World cities regarding rural migration, adjustment to

urban life and improvements in overcrowded conditions in squatter

settlements, all of which were present in their essence in the kampongs

of the colonial cities on Java over half a century ago. 11

The unhappy fact of kampong improvement throughout the colonial

period was the inability of the kampongs to generate from within them-

selves the capital necessary to finance the physical standards of an

urban habitat foreign to them and for which traditional society had

no precedent.12

The kampong improvers were at tempting to extend to

9 Reprinted in an extensive consideration of kampong improvement in Surabajapublished in Locale Belangen, 7de jaarga ng, 1 and 16 April 1920, pp . 674-684.Quote from p. 677, "Hoe maken wij de stad onzer inwoning tot een gezondewoonplaats ?"

1 0 Albert Demangeon, L'Empire Britannique, Paris, 1923, p. v. In his discussionof the focus of colonial geography, Demangeon distinguished between the twopeoples, the one being "avance, pourvu de capitaux et de moyens matériels,en quête de richesses nouvelles, mobile dans 1'espace, ouvert a la notion de

1'entreprise, de Paventure, de 1'inconnu et de 1'exotique" and the other "isolé,replié sur lui-même, fidele a d'antiques modes de vie, aux horizons bornés,mal équipé en armes et en outils."

1 1 General insights into squatter settlements can be found in two works byCharles Abrams, Squatter Settlements, Washington, 1966 and Man's Strugglefor Shelter, Cambridge, 1964 as well as in Aprodicio A. Laquian, Slums arefor People (The Barrio Magsaysay Pilot Project in Philippine Urban Com-munity Development), Honolulu, 1971 and Morris Juppenlatz, Cities inTransformation (The Urban Squatter Problem of the Developing World),University of Queensland Press, 1970. Further references are contained inAprodicio A. Laquian and Penny Dutton, A Selected Bibliography on Rural-Urban Migrants' Slums and Squatters in Developing Countries, Council ofPlanning Librarians, Exchange Bibliography, No. 182, 1971.

1 2 Modern squatter settlements sometimes do show an ability for self-improve-ment and community action as demonstrated in the Barrio Magsaysay Pilot




the kampongs the same level of urban infrastructure which evolved

in Western Europe, along with its advances in wealth and technology,

and which was subsequently introduced into the European sector of oneof its socially and economically stratified outposts in Southeast Asia.

The financial instability of the kampongs was paralleled by a shortage

of revenue on the part of the various city councils as well as a drive

for economy in its own affairs by the central Government at Djakarta

(Batavia), so that both civic and central administrations experienced

difficulty, with few exceptions, in allotting funds for the purposes of

kampong improvement until the end of the 1920's and even these had

to be severely curtailed within a year or two because of the effects of

the world depression. Even the recommendation of the Kampong Im-provement Commission (Kamponguerbeteringscommissie) of 1938 that

the costs of improvements be rolled back to those people who would

benefit, could not have succeeded, even if there had been time to

attempt its implementation.13

That money was the main impediment to the successful solution of

the problems was widely recognized very early in the discussions on

kam pong im provem ent. M r. S. Coh en, while Resident of Surabaja

in 1921, wrote in a report to the Governo r-Gene ral th at the kam -

pong question up to that time had been too academie and that the

so-called kampong question had one easy solution. "A single word,"

he wrote, "conveys the whole solution and that word is MONEY." 14

All that was necessary, he declared, was money, money and still more

Project in the Philippines (Laquian, op. cit.) and described by John F. C.Turner concerning Peru ("Uncontrolled Urban Settlement: Problems andPolicies", Pittsburg, 1966, reprinted in Gerald Breese, The City in NewlyDeveloping Countries, Englewood Cliffs, 1969, pp. 507-534). In Surabaja,

shortly after the Pacific War, some 200 kampongs formed a self-help organi-zation (R ukun Kam pong Kota Surab aja) for the improvement of villageinfrastructure and the combatting of illiteracy. See The Siauw Giap, "Ur-banisatieproblemen in Indonesië", Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volken-kunde, deel 115, 3e aflevering, 1959, pp. 249-276. Reference on p. 270.

1 3Eerste Verslag van de Kampongverbeteringscommissie, ingesteld bij hetGouvemementsbesluit van 25 Mei 1939, No. 30. This report is difficult toobtain but comments on it are made in F. H. van de Wetering, "Kampong-verbetering", Koloniale Studiën, 23e jaargang, No. 4, August 1939, pp. 307-325. Reference on p. 318. Photographs of kampong conditions in the earlyyears can be found in H. F. Tillema, Van W onen en Bewonen, van Bouwen,Huis en Erf, Tjandi-Semarang, 1913 and for a later period in 25 Jaren

Decentralisatie in Nederlandsch-Indië 1905-1930, published by the Vereenigingvoor Locale Belangen, Semarang.

1 4Flieringa, op. cit., p. 38. "Een enkel woord reeds brengt de geheele oplossing,en dat woord is 'GELD'." See also Van Kempen, op. cit., p. 446. •



UNCONTROLLED URBAN SETTLEMEN T 4 0 9

money. The Director of the Civil Service (Directeur van Binnenlandsch

Bestuur), L. J. Schippers, wrote in a memo dated 8 September 1921

that with the kampong question they were dealing with many millionsof guilders in initial costs and millions more in yearly expenses. He feit

that these funds could not be granted given the then present state of

the Dutch East Indian finances. Again, in 1924, in a note dated 27

March, the Governor-General stated that it was desirable to come to

a conclusion of the kampong question after all that had been said over

the course of th e preceding few years. Ho wev er, the greatest difficulty

was the pitiful condition of the country's finances and he reiterated that

the solution of the problein must not cost the Government any money. 15

Crowded conditions sufficient to cause breakdown of village infra-

structure, authority and organization probably had not occurred on

Java before the modernizing influence of the Dutch in the nineteenth

century made itself feit. Traditionally, villages avoided overcrowding

by a process of hiving in which daughter villages were established some

distance from the parent settlement. The harbour cities of the pre-

European and early European centuries may have been densely popu-

lated relative to rural settlements. One might question, however, whether

there existed a floating population of migrants from the Javanese

countryside similar to the inhabitants of the urban kampongs in the

twentieth century.

Housing improvement remained outside the sphere of kampong im-

provement largely because it was related to the control of contagious

diseases, notably bubonic plague. Housing came under the authority of

the city councils by means of the power transferred to them by the

Government in the Acts of Incorporation and overlapped to some extent

the goals claimed for kampong improvement. Since plans for kampong

improvement were not yet fixed, up-grading of houses was not con-sidered feasible, partially because of cost and partially because there

was no guarantee that improved houses would not be moved or

destroyed to make way for improvements in roads or drains as different

authorities exercised their jurisdiction in an uncoordinated ad hoc

manner. Since the design of the indigenous houses in the kampongs

unwittingly provided nesting places for rats, it was proposed by the

civic authorities in Semarang and Djakarta to redesign the houses so

as to remove nesting places and rebuild them at the expense of the

owners. Djakarta even sponsored a public competition to this end and

1 5Flieringa, op. cit., p. 41.




Semarang considered the same. Kampong dwellers were unable to pay

the costs of improvements in housing, so that in Semarang the city

council contented itself with regular inspection, usually weekly, to seethat houses were kept clean and that nests did not remain.

Improvement of kampongs and desas on the private estates also was

not considered as part of the kampong question. The desas lying within

the estates were not recognized by the Inlandsche Gemeente-ordonnantie

of 1906 {Staatsblad No . 83) and before kam pon g improvem ent could

be undertaken on them, the estates would have to be purchased by the

Government, a course of action begun in 1906. At the time the kam-

pong question was being discussed, the relations between the Govern-

ment and the estate owners in Western Java and between these ownersand the inhabitants of their estates were regulated by legislation in

1902, with subsequent modifications. This legislation made the mainte-

nance of roads and bridges the responsibility of the estate owners.18

The relationship between estate owners and their inhabitants in Central

and Eastern Java, and hence Semarang, was regulated by Government

ordinances of 1880, 1886, and 1913. Private estates existed within the

boundaries of the cities and sometimes were extensive. In Semarang,

just under one third of the territory included within the city boundary

was made up of such estates, covering some 3250 hectares of the total10,000 hectares of the city area. These estates, owned mostly by Chinese,

were twenty-two in number and produced mostly rice and vegetables.17

The authority to abolish the kampong organization within the cities

rested with the Governor-General. It was necessary to alter or remove

article 71 of the Regeeringsreglement, the clause which guaranteed the

autonomy in their internal affairs of the desas and kampongs of Java

outside the private estates. A change in the Constitution was made in

1918 and a decree qualifying article 71 appeared as number 482 in the

Indisch Staatsblad of 23 February. It allowed the abolition of those

kampongs lying wholly or partially within the boundaries of a city in

which a city council had been established.18

Actually, the abolition

1 6 "Nieuw Reglement omtrent de Particuliere Landerijen, gelegen ten Westender rivier Tji Manoek", vastgesteld bij ordonnantie van 3 Augustus 1922,referred to in Flieringa, op. cit., p. 17.

1 7 See maps facing p. 190, tables pp. 192-193, descriptive text pp. 194-195 inFlieringa, op. cit., and pp. 16-20.

1 8

"die geheel of gedeeltelijk zijn binnen de grenzen van eene stad, waarvooreen raad . . . is ingesteld." Re printed in Flieringa, op. cit., p. 287. In theIndische Staatsregeling of 1925, article 71 became article 128, paragraph 6,containing the wording allowing abolition. By 1938, this paragraph had seldom



UNCÓNTROLLED URBAN SETTLEM ENT 4 1 1

aspect of kampong improvement became part of the greater concernfor administrative reform in the large cities. Though abolition could

be achieved from a legal standpoint by a simple act of law, improve-ment of living conditions and village infrastructure would be moredifficult. The problems were never completely solved and the issuesmoldered for some twenty-five years until the outbreak of the PacificWar, though some progress could be claimed for the last few yearsof the colonial era.

In the Act of Incorporation (Instellingordonnantie) of the respectivecities, the position of the kampongs within the city boundaries had notbeen specifically mentioned and their autonomy had been accepted onthe basis of the general guarantees contained in the Constitution. Thequestion whether authority over the desa should be transferred to thelocal councils (locale raden), of which the city councils (gemeente-

raden) were one, had been debated in the Netherlands Parliamentbetween 1901 and 1903 during the discussions of the decentralizationlegislation which led up to the creation of the urban municipalities.The decision at that t ime was to keep authority over the desas andkampongs in the hands of the Government in Djakarta.19 However, the

vagueness of the wording in the Acts of Incorporation prompted theMayors of Semarang and Surabaja some years later to challenge theautonomous rights of the city kampongs and their exclusion from thejurisdiction of the city councils in an attempt to proceed with changesin the kampong infrastructure independent of Government approval.

The First Initiatives

The Government's early concern for kampong improvement focused

on five years around 1920, reaching its peak in September of 1922with the publication of a report by the Assistant Resident of Semarang,J. van Gigch. He had been examining administrative reform in the largecities of Java and included the kampong question in his enquiry becauseof the implications which abolition had for the governance of the desapopulations. The earliest mention of kampong improvement in the citiescame at the time of the creation of the urban municipalities, when the

been invoked: in Malang during 1927, 1930 and 1938 (ƒ.5. numbers 181,372 and 351 in the respective years), and in Surabaja during 1930 (I.S.number 373).

1 9 Lucien Adam, De Autonomie van het Indonesische Dorp, Amersfoort, 1924,p . 112, quoted in Flieringa, op. cit., p. 36.



412 JAMES L. COBBAN

condition of the kampong roads of Djakarta had been a matter of

concern to the Minister of Colonies. He asked the Governor-General

if it would be possible for the Government to grant a subsidy to the

city to allow improvement of the roads in the kampongs within city

boundaries. However, this early attention to the question was pushed

into the background by the larger question of increasing the Government

financial subsidies to the urban municipalities. But the existence of the

independent enclaves within the cities was not forgotten and, in 1914,

the Governor-General himself questioned whether there might be a way

in which the autonomy of the desas lying within city boundaries could

be ended, saying that he would offer no objections to changing article 71

of the Constitution.

About this same time, other members of the colonial government

hierarchy began to examine kampong abolition. The Advisor for Decen-

tralization began an enquiry into abolition in consultation with the

Assistant Residents of Semarang and Surabaja, then chairmen of their

respective city councils, the office of Mayor not yet having been in-

stituted. A Commission consisting of the Controleur and two members

of the Native Civil Service was set up to consider abolition of the desas

in Semarang and it came to the conclusion that abolition was urgentand practical and recommended that it be undertaken rapidly. The

Director of the Civil Service also became interested, but he thought

that a change in the Regeeringsreglement was not necessary, that the

cities could extend their jurisdiction into the kampongs without abolition

taking place. Even the Indies Council {Raad van Indië) agreed that

in the long run an end must come to the autonomy of the desas in the

cities and was not against changing article 71 to allow this. In 1915,

the Minister of Colonies became convinced of the desirability of aboli-

tion, at least in those cities in which procedures had been introducedfor the election of non-Europeans to the city councils, and thought that

an end to desa autonomy should be made as soon as possible. The

matter went as far as the Netherlands Parliament (Staten-Generaal)

when, in 1915, the Vereeniging voor Locale Belangen addressed a

petition to the First Chamber and the matter was subject to intermittent

discussion during the following years.20

In 1917, the Government formally indicated its interest regarding

kampong improvement in a letter dated 30 May, which was sent to

the city councils of Semarang and Surabaja.21 The letter notified that

20Recounted in the report of J. van Gigch in Flieringa, op. cit., pp. 287-291.

2XLocale Belangen, 6de jaargang, 1 March 1919, p. 563.




revision of article 71 of the Dutch East Indian Constitution was under

consideration and advised that, if changes were effected, the munici-

palities would be responsible for extending their jurisdiction over thosematters granted them by their Act of Incorporation to the kampong

areas within the city boundaries. The letter expressed the Government's

expectation that improvements would be incorporated as part of the

general upkeep of Semarang and Surabaja and not be considered as

a separate undertaking, and that fundamental improvements would be

made automatically and rather quickly, soon after the inclusion of the

former villages within the jurisdiction of the city councils. The central

issue of finance was reflected in the closing lines of the letter. Whereas

the Government would be agreeable to setting aside some money in its

budget of 1918 to help with initial costs, it did not intend to bear the

complete expense of improvement programs, such programs being the

responsibility of the civic authorities. While such a Government position

would be expected in an action which was enlarging the jurisdiction

of the city councils, it reflected also the low revenues which plagued

the colonial government and was an indication of the deterrent role

which finances would play in improvement.

Some two years later, in 1920, after the necessary changes in theConstitution had been made, the Government wrote to the Residents

of the Preanger, Semarang and Surabaja suggesting that they set up

commissions to advise the respective city councils of all matters which

might pertain should the changes now allowed by the Constitution be

invoked within the capitals of each Residency.22

By then abolition had

been accepted in principle and it would be the duty of the commissions

to consider the ways in which abolition might be undertaken, the order

in which it should come about, and to determine if new civic machinery

might be necessary to administer the settlements after they had comeunder the authority of the city council. Circumstances which might

hinder the abolition of a particular community were to be examined,

as well as financial aspects. An estimate was to be made of the money

needed to maintain the infrastructure of each settlement in its existing

condition for the first year and of the sums which would be necessary

to make urgent improvements in subsequent years. Members of the

committees were drawn primarily from among Government officials.

2 2Ibid., 8ste jaargang, 16 December 1920, pp. 378-395. Also reprinted inFlieringa, op. cit., pp. 261-272.




The only Indonesian member would be the district head of the Native

Civil Service in whose jurisdiction the kampong lay. Curiously, there

was no suggestion that any member of the village administrations beincluded as members of the commissions. Surabaja did not accept the

Government's suggestion, but Semarang responded enthusiastically. It

is because Semarang was the only large city to file a report that the

discussion of the question turns primarily to that city.

Problems of Abolition: The Example of Semarang

The report of the Semarang Commission, dated 18 October 1920,

appeared a year and a half later and strongly favoured abolition of

those kampongs lying well within the boundaries of the city because

in those communities breakdown of traditional village unity {desa-

verband) was especially marked.23

This recommendation did not apply

to the outlying desas, only recently included within the city because of

the boundary changes of 1919 and 1920. These villages still possessed

most of their rural character. In them the feeling of village unity was

strong, traditional services were still performed, the villages still owned

large tracts of land, and internal affairs continued to be regulated by

communal discussion. The report posed the question whether Semarang

should extend its municipal services to these desas anyway, to prevent

their deterioration to the squalid conditions so often characteristic of

the city kampongs. The commission did not consult with the desa

inhabitants concerning abolition even though it recognized the fairness

of doing so, as did the Mayor and the Resident of Semarang. It pre-

ferred to wait until specifically requested to do so by the Government.24

Not surprisingly, the most formidable problem which the report

foresaw was that of finance. The desa as a self-contained entity tradi-

tionally had supplied labour for public works at no cost to the village

government. In many of the city kampongs, these services for the most

part had been commuted into a money tax so that work was done by

paid labour with an accompanying lowering of work standards. The city

council would not be able to command traditional services where they

still existed after abolition so that maintenance and landscaping of

roads, care of bridges and dikes, cleaning of gutters, spraying of streets,

removal of refuse, and street lighting would have to be paid for in cash.

2 3Ibid., 8ste j aar ga ng , 16 Dec emb er 1920, pp . 378-395. Al so r epr in ted in

Fl i er inga , op. cit., pp . 261 - 272 .2 4

Ibid., p . 307 .



UNCONTROLLED URBAN SETTLEME NT • 4 1 5

Payment meant that the Government or the city would have to institute

a tax to raise funds for the purpose. Raising money by taxes was seldom

successful in pre-war Java because of the general level of poverty whichexisted among the indigenous population. The committee found that

improvement of kampong roads would constitute a major expense.

Roads were generally in bad repair and more than mere upkeep would

be necessary before they could be considered satisfactory. The com-

missioners probably feit that the financial aspects of their report were

only preliminary for they indicated that a lengthy study would be

necessary to estimate the total cost of kampong improvements. Not only

would such a job be time-consuming, it would also require more people

for its accomplishment than the city had at its disposal.

The report also pointed out that the Semarang city council would

be unable to assume all of the authority formerly vested in the village

administration. The collection of Government revenue, such as land

rent, head tax, business tax, and the tax on the slaughtering of animals

would remain outside the authority of the council. Traditional police

duties exercised by the headman (desahoofd) would become the respon-

sibility of the Resident, under whose authority all police functions, even

those of the cities, were vested. In Semarang, the transference of the

police authority would not pose a practical problem. The breakdown

of the village organization in the city kampongs had been so severe that

the police function had already vanished and much of the maintenance

of peace and order was being done by the police of Semarang. In 1918,

the night watch had been abolished within the old boundaries of the

city. Traditional security precautions were still performed in the newly

incorporated desas on the outskirts of Semarang but even these villages

had requested that they be relieved of their police duties. Extension of

police services to the outlying desas would pose a problem to Semarangbecause it would entail expenditure for the recruitment of more men.

The committee also considered a number of minor village functions.

The religious life of the inhabitants, for example, would fall outside the

authority of the city council. The report recommended that village

mosques, where such existed, be put under the authority of the great

mosque in Semarang and village priests under the authority of religious

officials in the city. Land associated with such mosques could be

classified as religious provided it accrued to the city against compen-

sation should it be needed in the public interest. What few villageschools there were would remain outside the control of the city council.

However, village markets and cemeteries could be transferred to muni-



4 1 6 J A M E S L. COBBAN

cipal control. Whatever money the desa might possess could be given

over and used for improvements.

Disposal of village land would be more complicated. Abolition of thedesa would obviate the need for village officials and therefore render

unnecessary the village lands (ambtsvelden) used to remunerate them.

O ne suggestion for the disposal of such land wh ere it still existed was

to allow former village officials with long service a life tenancy of their

erstwhile fields. Alternatively, the commissioners thought it more

advisable for the city to assume the land directly and pay the former

officials an annuity until their death. They suggested that parts of the

ambtsvelden which the city would not want, could be parcelled out and

sold, first to members of the village and then to inhabitants of Semarang.Disposal of village communal land presented different problems. Usually

such land was burdened with shareholders' rights. The report recom-

mended that such land be converted into private property and distributed

by the village members themselves before abolition took place.

There were psychological implications involved in dismantling village

organization and bringing village populations under the jurisdiction of

the larger civic adm inistration. Th ese were recognized by the M ayor

of Semarang, D. de Jongh, and recorded in a proposal to the city council

dated 22 November 1920, some few weeks after the appearance of theCommission's Report.

2 5He noted that the residents of the kampongs

were mostly Indonesians, Chinese and other Asians whose interests were

much more different than those of the city council which, though it had

Indonesian representation, was predominantly European in outlook.

Normally, the city council came into little daily contact with the

indigenous population. lts attention was concentrated on the European

affairs of the city. With abolition, the civic authorities would be brought

into much closer contact with the kampong folk and it would be

desirable that the authorities gain the same psychological acceptanceby the inhabitants which formerly they had accorded the village ad-

ministration as their trusted form of government. Previously, the

occasional forays of the city council into the kampong had been

regarded as interference in village affairs. The relationship between

the city authorities and the villages was distant and impersonal. The

goals of the city council were often futuristic and intangible as far as

the villagers were concerned. T he M ayor thou ght th at by expand ing

2 5Ibid., 8ste jaargang, 16 December 1920, pp. 363-378. Reprinted in Flieringa,op. cit., pp. 277-285.




its activities and providing for the more tangible needs of the kampong

dwellers, the city council might be able to improve its relationship with

the mass of people and fill the void in their governance which wouldoccur with the abolition of the kampongs. This would be a new and

perhaps not an easy task for the Semarang city council, which had had

little experience in dealing with the native population directly and

en masse.

The size and shape of Semarang suggested that the distance between

the outlying desas and the city hall would add to the sense of estrange-

ment. By 1920, Semarang covered an area of 100 square kilometers

(about 36 square miles). The longest diagonal distance was 15 kilo-

m eters (a bou t 10 miles) an d the distance from th e outerm ost desasto the city hall was between six and ten kilometers (from 4 to 6 miles).

If the city hall were to replace the village administration, a person on

foot or on a bicycle would have a long way to go to air a simple

complaint. Because of this, the psychological distance between the city

administration and the kampong dwellers would probably become

greater rather than improve and the life of the inhabitants was likely

to be made more difficult. Concentration of city functions in one

building would have its disadvantages for the city as well. Government

departments easily could become encumbered with petty grievances and

petitions which would be time-consuming to solve. Individual matters,

in themselves insignificant, considered together could become oppressive.

The Mayor also foresaw problems with the desas lying immediately

beyond the city boundaries. He was concerned with the possibility that

undesirable conditions, which in the city would be subject to stringent

regulations, could thrive uncontrolled immediately across the city boun-

dary. He thought there should be some unifying principle of government

which would prevent the juxtaposition of such disparate activity andhe favored a broad ring of suburbs surrounding the city which could

be prepared gradually for incorporation within city boundaries so that

if abolition of any of these villages were to be undertaken in the future,

the municipal authority and services would be able immediately to fill

the void created by the dissolution of the desabestuur and allow smooth

functioning of the settlement. He proposed that civic authority be

extended beyond the boundaries of the city and that land speculators

be controlled, since expropriation against compensation was the means

by which Semarang expanded and obtained land for its housing projects.Two additional problems, noted by the Mayor, were liable to arise

with kampong abolition. One was the matter of communication as it




concerned the dissemination of government ordinances and decrees.

Literacy of the masses could not be assumed as it could among the

European members of the city. The kampong dwellers were not liableto be familiar with any law other than that of custom (adat). They

probably would not be able to read decrees which the Government or

the city council would enact from time to time. Hence a way would

have to be found to enable governance by verbal communication and

in 1918 such a means did not exist in Semarang. Another problem liable

to be encountered would be that of political apathy. Economie growth

had been encouraged in the city, at the expense of its social and political

life, in accordance with the goals of the European elite. Most of the

kampong dwellers displayed little interest in politics. They did not seethe city council as being representative of diem. Hence the majority

were apathetic even about election to the city council of its Indonesian

members. The Act of Incorporation of the Urban Municipality of

Semarang had allowed five Indonesians to sit on the city council, com-

pared to fifteen Europeans and three representatives of other Asians.26

Apathy was not a matter of much importance so long as the city council

had little to do with the kampongs. However, after abolition, the city

council would have jurisdiction over kampong affairs and apathy would

mean the giving up of potential influence on the city council in matterswhich might concern them, even though the Europeans would always

have a majority.

A sense of urgency hung over the kampong question in Semarang

by the beginning of the 1920's. The feeling was directed more toward

the city kampongs, where breakdown of the village life was great

because of the proximity to the European parts of the city and the

reorientation of occupations which such nearness allowed.27

The sense

of urgency was less strong in the outlying desas because of the strength

2 8Indisch Staatsblad, 1906, No. 120.

27 "j"he breakdown of authority in the city kampongs occurred also in Surabajaand doubtless in other urban municipalities as well. The retiring ResidentHillen of Surabaja in his Memorie van Overgave dated 4 July 1924 for theperiod of June 1922 to July 1924 reported: "Dat de desa ter hoofdplaatsSoerabaja gedesorganiseerd is, en de desa hoofden daar geen invloed meerhebben, behoeft geen betoog." The report of Van Gigch mentions the hetero-geneous composition of the population of the desas in Semarang in 1920,which for the large part came from elsewhere. Flieringa, op. cit., p. 274.H. J. Heeren, in a study of urbanization in Djakarta in 1956, showed immi-gration continuing after the war in certain kampongs of Djakarta. H. J. Heeren

(ed.) "The Urbanization of Djakarta", Ekonomi Dan Keuangarv Indonesia,Tah un Ke V II I, N o. 11 , Nopember 1955, pp. 696-736, see particularlytable 14, p. 730.



UNCONTROLLED URBAN SETTLE MEN T 4 1 9

of their village organization. In these latter settlements, the future

demands on the municipal services were not liable to be stringent

bécause the outlying villages were spacious and less crowded than thecity kampongs. Street lighting could be less strong, street cleaning sim-

pler, and roads would need fewer repairs. However, both types of

settlements had a large floating population of recent migrants from

the countryside and these people had no relation whatever to the villages

in which they settled. The control of the village headman over new-

comers was weak and probably lessened as their numbers increased

with each additional influx.

Solutions Proposed for SemarangTo solve the problems of psychological estrangement and communi-

cation which he foresaw, the Mayor proposed the creation of additional

branches of the city administration which might enable regular com-

munications with the people. He envisaged a part of the civil admini-

stration which could be substituted in the minds of the people for the

familiar organs of village government and be regarded as their own.

He hoped that the people would turn with confidence to these new

organs, to express their wants and for a verbal presentation of the

various regulations of the city council and the Government. He sug-gested the kampong areas be set up as wards {wijken), each having its

own administration and headed by a wardmaster (wijkmeester), who

would have his own personnel, committee of advisors and an office in

the ward itself. Such a reorganizatión would continue, in effect, the

old form of village government under a new name. The aim was to

bring about a reorganizatión in which the change in authority would

be imperceptible to the inhabitants. The whole ward structure could

be coordinated by a new branch of the city government to be created

to oversee affairs in the former kampongs.

The wardmaster, by living in the ward and by means of monthly

meetings with his committee and other village authorities, could remain

in close contact with the people. The police and tax functions of govern-

ment would not be part of his duties. Hence he would be spared some

of the unpleasant functions of government and be in a good position to

gain the confidence and trust of the people. His qualifications would

be those of a low-ranking official of the Native Civil Service. His office

would be in the former kampong so that people could talk to him withno inconvenience to themselves. At the ward office routine concerns of

the people could be handled. These would include enquiries of all sorts,



420 JAMES L. COBBAN

the writing of complaints, applications for building permits and store

licences which could then be forwarded to the city hall for approval.

The ward office could be the point of dissemination for information

on and propaganda for matters of general interest, such as public health.

The Mayor proposed that the ward committee have only an advisory

function. Though at first its members would be appointed by the city

council, if the system was shown to work, members could be elected

by the ward inhabitants from among themselves. The committee would

bear the same relation to the wardmaster as the village government did

to the Assistant-Wedono. The duties of the committee members would

keep the wardmaster informed of the temper of the people. They would

be responsible for knowing the problems and wishes of the people andwould explain to them Government and civic ordinances. All discussions

would be carried out in the indigenous language.

The new ward government, in the opinion of the Mayor, should be

established before abolition took place, so that members of the ward

administration could consult with desa officials and perhaps with the

people themselves. In the outlying desas the Mayor suggested that

the old village government be retained and be made a civic organization

so that the wardmaster could gain support from them. In the city

kampongs, he proposed that the committee members be chosen when

possible from the old functionaries to ensure a measure of continuity

in governance and to form a bridge to extend across the psychological

gaps which abolition was expected to create. In keeping with the

sanguine outlook on financial matters which pervaded all levels of the

Indies administration, the Mayor was hopeful that some money could

be found to give to the ward administration so that in small matters it

could have a degree of independence.

The new branch of the city government, the Gemeentelijke Bestuurs-

dienst, would assume responsibility for some of the duties of the former

village authorities, particularly in the city kampongs. It would maintain

the population register, the postal service, the tax service, and be

responsible for public health and housing inspection. It could execute

some minor police duties which would require little in the way of

professional training. It might enforce such city by-laws as those

regulating building licences, slaughtering of animals, the selling of milk,

the baking of bread and the sale of alcoholic beverages, as well as

cleanliness and general order.

In outlying desas, the new department might act at first only in a

supervisory capacity for the wardmaster in the matter of public works.



U N C O N T R O L L E D U R B A N S E T T L E M E N T 421

Inspection and maintenance of footpaths and roads on which there

was little vehicular traffic would not require much technical skill and

could be supervised by the wardmaster himself. A s the M ayor pointedout , there were some 158 kilometers (abo ut 100 miles) of such road s

and paths in Semarang and their maintenance would place too much

of a burden on the D epar tm ent of P ublic Works. S imilarly, inspection

of temporary houses and rubbish collection in the outlying desas could

be supervised by the wardmaster with the approval of the Housing

Inspection and the S anitation S ervice. T he depa rtme nts of the city

government, assuming these proposals were followed, might slowly

assume dual characters, in that a body of technically trained experts

might work inside the city with the assistance of mechanized equipment

and another body of untrained men might work in the outlying villages.

The Fate of Kamp ong Improvement

D espite the favorable response of S em arang, the problems of kam pong

abolition or improvement in the city were far from settled. By 1920,

the issue of the indigenous enclaves within the city boundaries was

recognized. T he G overnm ent had initiated enquiries for incorporation

of the kampongs into the city and placing them under the jurisdictionof the city council. Legislation had been passed allowing those parts of

indigenous settlement falling within city boundaries to be abolished and

the constitutional guarantee of control over their internal affairs with-

drawn. Semarang had investigatéd the problems and their solutions and

had examined the relations between the city authorities and the kam-

pong inhabitants. Improvement of kampong conditions seemed at hand.

However, recognition of the issues and goodwill on the part of the Go-

vernment and civic authorities was not sufficient to ensure the inception

of progra m s and their success. M ostly because of lack of money, m anyof the projects foundered, not only in Semarang but also in the other

urban municipalities of Java where kampong improvement was an issue.

T he first disappointm ent for Sem arang came after the M ayor reported

to the D irector of the C ivil S ervice {Directeur van het Binnenlandsch

Bestuur) the findings of the commission established in 1920 at Govern-

m ent request. T he D irector replied tha t further discussions concerning

Semarang would have to wak until the Government itself had established

general principles concerning abolition which could be utilized by any

city on Java.2 8 T he Gov ernmen t was waiting for the final report of the

2 8Locale Belangen, 10de jaargang, 1922-1923, 1 February 1923, p. 455.




Assistant Resident of Semarang, J. van Gigch, who was examining

the commission reports prepared by various cities in the course of his

enquiry into governmental reorganization in the large urban municipa-lities. In 1922, he subm itted his report, da ted 20 Septem ber, to the

Government and copies of it were sent to the city councils. Consequently,

on the 5th of December 1922, the Mayor of Semarang wrote to the

Governor-General enquiring if discussions of the kampong question

might be continued once more. Two years later, by April 1924, the

Mayor had received no reply and as evidence of his concern had under-

taken discussions himself with the Resident of Semarang but, in 1925,

before anything could transpire, the Resident died and it was necessary

to postpone any action until his successor had been appointed.29

During this time, the members of the city council had become im-

patient and determined to solve the problems of kampong improvement

in Se m aran g themselves. As a result of the ir mee ting of 19 Jul y 1922,

the members requested of the Governor-General control over roads and

public works in the city kampongs. In reply they were told once more

to wait for the conclusion of then current discussions on the subject.

They were also told that drains and sewers in the kampongs had always

been within the jurisdiction of the city, that improvement of such

conditons was not absolutely necessary, and that there would be no

Government money forthcoming for improvement purposes. The ration-

ale for this curious and contradictory reply was, in effect, that kampong

inha bitan ts had lived in unimpro ved .conditions for a long time and

hence could survive a while longer. It doubtless reflected the financial

straits in which the Government found itself and was compatible with

the economy drive which it was pursuing. By way of rebuttal, the

Mayor of Semarang pointed out that the unhygienic conditions which

prevailed in many of the crowded indigenous settlements on Java were

accompanied by high mortality rates. Yet when kampong dwellers •

sought amelioration, rather than receiving tangible improvements, they

were merely referred to arguments between city and Government

administrations.

The Mayor despaired of Government help and decided, rather than

passively observe the conditions which existed in Semarang, that the

city must assume responsibility for improvements. He proposed that in

its budget deliberations for 1924 the city council allocate funds for

2 9Ibid., 11de jaargang, 1923-1924, 1 April 1924, p. 557.




improvement and that work begin on the most urgent projects to the

extent which funds would allow. The proposal was praiseworthy but,

as one member of the council pointed out, Semarang also was in finan-cial straks.30

The shortage of funds brought with it the danger of

patchwork improvements. There was no guarantee that an endeavor

begun one year might not have to be discontinued, incomplete, the

following year. Since there was no overall plan for kampong improve-

ment, there would be no guarantee that a project completed one year

might not be rendered useless subsequently in the course of further

improvements undertaken by a different department. For example,

drains repaired one year might be torn up in the execution of road

improvements. In this, the city council rejected the sector approachtowards improvement of the urban infrastructure in favor of an overall

regional plan.3 1

Even if the city could provide some funds, the allocation of scarce

financial resources would pose difficulties and probably cause unrest

among the populations of the different kampongs. Whatever sum the

council might arbitrarily set aside was bound to be insufficient for the

completion of all projects and the question of priorities would arise.

Small improvements made in all kampongs would hardly be impressive

or make much change. Alternatively, particular kampongs could be

singled out and attempts made to ameliorate conditions limited to them.

But whatever decision was made, there was certain to be an outcry

from the inhabitants of the unimproved settlements, since inhabitants

of all kampongs would be contributing taxes to the city government.

Some years later, in 1927, a mee ting was held in w hich th e inha bitants

themselves were enjoined to take an active part in kampong improve-

ment since they were the people who would benefit. The Semarang

branch of Budi Utomo, a political organization for the Javanese, Sunda-

nese and Madurese, officially recognized on 28 December 1909, called

a public gathering in the city park to discuss the kampong question.32

A number of speakers addressed an audience estimated at six hundred

people and reminded them of the length of time (by then some twenty

3 0Ibid,, 10de j aa r ga ng , 1922- 1923 , 1 Feb r ua r y 1923 , p . 455 .

3 1Reject ion of the sec tor approach in the improvement of the urban inf ra-

s t ruc ture was found to be widespread among p lanning of f i c i a l s in Thi rd Wor ld

ci t i es a t t he present t ime in a survey conducted by the Agency for In terna-

t ional Development and publ i shed in a draf t of Focus on Urban Development:

Perceptions, A pproaches, and Needs pr epa r ed by t he B ur eau f o r Techn i ca lA ss i s t ance , U r ban D eve l opm en t Staff, A gency f or I n t e r na t i on a l D e ve l opm en t ,

Apr i l 1972.3 2

Locale Belangen, 14de j aa rga ng , 16 M ay 1927, p . 349.




years) during which the kampong question had been left dangling.

Speeches gave a picture of the conditions in the kampongs as they

existed in the late 1920's. Living conditions were likened to those ina slum or back street. The theoretical position of the kampong as a

legal person, free to exercise auto nom ous auth ority in its own affairs

and having the right to elect its own government, was stated to be in

great contrast with the actual facts, which showed that kampong

authority for the most part had disappeared. One speaker described

the village headman as little more than a Government bill-collector, no

longer in control of the police or the kampong roads. The villages

possessed no land and the boundaries between them and the city could

no longer be distinguished. Voluntary services had been commutedmostly into taxes and were no longer sufficient for the maintenance

of public works. Indeed, by 1927, the kampongs seemed little changed

from a decade earlier and not much of their traditional character

remained. Immigration of Indonesians from the countryside made kam-

pong management increasingly difficult. Migrants were not subject to

the customary obligations and taxes, as were the original villagers, yet

they demanded village services. A motion, tangible evidence that

kampong improvement was no longer exclusively a European concern,

was passed approving transference of authority within the kampongs

to the city council. The politicians promised widespread circulation of

it to all levels of the colonial Government.

The Introduction of Kam pong Improvement Throughout Java

The year 1927 became important in the move for improvement of

kampong infrastructure not only because of the positive expression on

the part of the inhabitants but also because the Government initiated

some procedures which could be applied throughout Java and which

eventually resulted in some success. After a decade of apparent in-

activity, the Government once more took the initiative. It affirmed its

old stand that kampong improvement was primarily the responsibility

of civic authorities. However, it changed its position regarding funding,

and while it reiterated that improvements should not become a financial

burden to the State, it affirmed its readiness to contribute to the

defrayment of initial costs under certain conditions. In a letter dated

10 May 1927, it proposed payment of a lump sum equal to half the

expenses required to provide for initial improvements.

33

These would3 3

Ibid., 14de jaargang, 16 November 1927, p. 923. Reprinted in Flieringa,op. cit., pp. 43-45.




include repair of such components of the urban infrastructure as roads,

gutters, bridges, dikes, as well as new construction to bring about actual

improvement such as paving of roads, construction of brick drains,erection of public bathing and washing places and lavatories and the

introduction of street lighting. Where the need for improvement was

urgent and the city council involved had no funds, the Government

declared that it would pay all the initial expenses. Annual maintenance

of improved kampong works, however, would still be the responsibility

of the city councils.

In 1927, the Government also undertook a financial study to deter-

mine what the costs of improvement might be. Up to that >car, no

estimates had been made as to the expense of widening and pavingkampong roads to enable them to carry heavily loaded vehicles. Nor

had the costs of improvement of secondary roads and footpaths been

estimated. The study was an initial attempt, but the need for more

estimates of costs was clearly necessary, as was the need for an overall

plan which would coordinate improvements in an orderly fashion. For

this purpose, a meeting of the Mayors and heads of the Public Works

Department was organized and took place early in January 1928.34

Besides accomplishing the very important task of forming a compre-

hensive plan for kampong improvement in all the cities of Java, the

meeting agreed that improvement could proceed without the need to

abolish the kampongs as legal entities.

Nonetheless, improvements were slow in coming. Between 1927 and

1934, Government funds were made available to cover fifty percent of

the total estimated costs of improvements in.kampongs in various cities.

Between these years some 1,256,769 guilders were paid from the General

Treasury to the cities. Most of this sum was paid between 1929 and 1931.

After that year, because of the world depression, Government funds were

withdrawn. Only a few cities were able to continue the work of kampong

improvement and in most of them it came to a complete standstill. Ces-

sation of work was regrettable since maps and plans which had been

painstakingly prepared were set aside and not kept up, which meant

that they would be out of date should the projects be taken up again.

Towards the end of the 1930's, interest in improvement revived once

more. The Government proposed a new law which would allow a

subsidy of some 500,000 guilders annually to the cities for the purpose

of improvements. A Kampong Improvement Commission, composed of

3 4Van de Wetering, op. cit., p. 309.




four men, was established to advise on the use of this sum. The com-

mission recommended what expenditures should be made for 1938 and

1939 and issued a report which included details of kampong conditionsin all the cities of Java.3 5

The improvements in the kampong infra-

structure which the commission recommended were somewhat more

encompassing than those considered twenty years previously. The con-

cept expanded from the familiar one of roads, footpaths and sidewalks

to include construction of sport fields, children's playgrounds, parks,

landscaping and in some cases the purchase of land for washing places

and public lavatories. Improvement funds were not to be spent on

drainage, housing, malaria control, street lighting or the care of ceme-

teries, all of which were declared to be the direct responsibility of thecivic authority. The commission estimated that it would take ten years

to complete the work outlined in its report.

In spite of the inability of all cities to find funds to share the costs,

some progress had been made during the decade of the 1930's. Before

1938, a total of 1,917 hectares in the city kampongs of Java had been

improved for a sum of 3,117,000 guilders. This was only one quarter

of the kampong area for which improvement plans had been prepared.

In 1939, some 4,700 hectares remained to be improved at a n estimated

cost of 8,000,000 guilders. Most of this area (3,500 hectares) wasconsidered to be in need of urgent improvement. What had been accom-

plished and planned was regarded as remedial of past conditions. With

further expansion of the cities and the inclusion of more kampongs,

the area needing attention would increase, as would the need for money.

In spite of these improvements, the problems were far from solved. The

Government report on Town Planning published in 1938 stated that

". . . it is clear th at the a uthorities do no t have the k am pong problems

under control."36

Improvements could not keep up with congestion and

the increasing number of people who came to live within the city and

who took up residence in the kampongs.

Conclusion

Examination of the kampong question in Semarang illustrates one of

the characteristics of the colonial city on Java during the first half

of the twentieth century. It shows that many of the problems now

associated with uncontrolled urban settlements are not new and were

3 5

Eerste Verslag van de Kampongverbeteringscommissie, ingesteld bi j het Gouver-neme nt sbes lu i t van 25 Mei 1938, No . 30 .3 6

The Indonesian Town, p. 20 . The kampong ques t ion as i t ex i s t ed about 1938

is discussed on pp. 18-21 .




present in essence over half a century ago. Lack of money was the

most important factor affecting adoption of kampong improvement and

is probably the greatest imped iment affecting change in crowded urb anenclaves today. The kampong folks' inability for self help is not always

paralleled at the present time, as reports from some countries show,

but ad hoc uncoordinated efforts were as shunned then as now and

rejected in favour of overall comprehensive plans. Overlapping of juris-

dictions at different levels of government was a threat to improvement

efforts but was overcome during colonial times in a way easier than is

now possible in most countries. The conflict of values and breakdown of

traditionalism wh ich was a chara cteristic fifty years ago still occurs bu t th e

emphasis now is more on rural and urban life under a national govern-m en t and less on the juxtaposition of Eu rop ea n an d In don esian societies.

There are, of course, contrasts between the two types of settlements.

T he most notab le difference is proba bly tha t the mag nitud e of the

present problems is m uch greater th an anything previously encoun tered.

The number of people affected is larger today but there are fewer restric-

tions preventing people from partaking in the social and economie life

of the modern city compared to the limited opportunities in the class

conscious colonial city. Certainly the potential for political influence

in most cities is much greater with the modern squatter than it was

with the token representation of kampong folk on the city councils fifty

years ago. Furthermore, the colonial government in Indonesia was

dealing with what began as functioning village entities with full legal

title to their land, in contrast to most countries today, where new

settlements spring up sometimes overnight on unoccupied, usually

government-owned, land.

Nonetheless, these differences do not detract from the historical

interest of the problems of the kampong question as precursors of thoseposed by the squatter settlements in Southeast Asia and other countries

of the Third World, nor do they invalidate the insight into one of the

processes of urban growth in Indonesia. The final outcome of the

kampong question before the Pacific War, after twenty-five years of

endeavor and only partial success, in spite of the goodwill of the

colonial officials, does lead to consideration whether uncontrolled urban

settlements, however distinguished, will ever attain the standards of

physical environment maintained in other parts of the city. Nevertheless,

it does not indicate that attempts towards improvement of the infra-structure of uncontrolled urban settlements should not be undertaken.

Ohio University, Athens, U.S.A. •

Urban Setllement

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