Combinatory Spatial Strategies in Home-Based Enterprises in Kampung Muka, North Jakarta

This study investigates possible combinatory spatial strategies of home-based enterprises (HBE) in a high-density marginal settlement in North Jakarta. Although HBE has been discussed academically since the 1980s, most literature covers its economic and environmental implications rather than spatial issues. Despite its numerous benefits, HBE is sometimes prohibited due to the dominant mono-functional house paradigm in housing policy, urban planning and architecture. Here in a case study using the snowball sampling technique and descriptive analysis, we confirm the pivotal role of HBE in increasing monthly income as shown in previous studies. However, HBE is not merely a primary but also an additional source of monthly income for the underprivileged; thus there are more types of HBE than previously thought. Although housing density determines HBE types, it does not necessarily determine spatial strategies. Therefore, each workable spatial strategy must overcome limited house size in order to accommodate not only domestic and economic activity but also social activity, as HBE owners enjoy company. Furthermore, we also reveal the creative combinatory spatial strategies used by HBE owners to orchestrate the complex arrangements of domestic, economic and social activities in houses of limited size.