Habitus in Habitation: Case Study in Jatinegara Rental Apartment, Jakarta

The provincial government of Jakarta province has massively increased the number of rental apartments in Jakarta to meet the rising housing needs. Consequently, social considerations regarding the design are compromised. Although considered as a prohibited transgression, building appropriation is an act of inhabitation by residents to meet their needs and overcome these social problems. This study aims to understand the influence of habitus on appropriation as an act of inhabitation in rental apartments. For this study, we utilized the case study method in Jatinegara Rental Apartment, where most of the residents had appropriated the housing components to meet their needs for privacy and social interactions simultaneously. The primary data is collected through in-depth interviews with seventy-three respondents then the result is coded and tabularized for the interpretation analysis with the crosstab. This study finds the act of appropriation of these housing components comes from habitus and allows the residents to engage in social interactions without losing their privacy, which blurs the demarcation between private and public spaces.