Quasi-bridgeheaders: an alternative intra-migration stage for renters in Kampung Muka, Jakarta

This study establishes an alternative intra-migration stage for urban renters. Existing intra-migration literature focuses on increasing monthly incomes as the major determinant of housing mobility. Housing adjustment theory suggests that housing mobility results from experiencing normative housing deficit due to a discrepancy between housing priorities and housing conditions. A major factor in changing housing priorities is increasing monthly income. However, many renters continue to live in the same long-lease rental accommodation. A case study in a high-density Jakarta slum investigates increasing monthly incomes, changing housing priorities and the implications for housing mobility. Regression and descriptive analyses demonstrate that increasing monthly incomes and changing housing priorities do not lead to housing mobility because of strong social ties among slum inhabitants. Instead, renters mutate conventional intra-migration patterns with distinctive characteristics and housing priorities. This study complements existing literature, arguing that social relationships are essential and that public policy should seek physical improvements to neighbourhoods to ensure better living conditions.