Abstract
Rapid urbanization has caused many constant urban issues over the last few decades, including increasing people living in slums and informal settlements, lack of infrastructure and essential services, and other environmental problems. The growing population size, urbanization, and the lack of affordable housing for the urban poor contribute to the formation of informal settlements. Informality has been a prevalent source of affordable housing for the urban poor in the Global South. Although many efforts have been made to reduce or improve the condition of informal settlements, these communities still exist as one of the only housing options for low-income people burdened by segregation. An informal urban settlement has four main aspects of informality: uneven development of urban structure, informal legal titles, lack of important public services, and lack of public land. In Indonesia, informal settlements exist in most metropolitan areas and rural areas. It may emerge in slums, initially built in the land unsuitable for residential areas such as river banks and along the railway. In terms of population density, informal settlements are considered to have a higher density than other areas of the city. During the past decades, the increasing number of informal settlements in Indonesia indicated the lack of government capacity to provide adequate public service provision and control the distribution of the urban population. It is well agreed that some informal settlements are usually located in an abandoned land and in hazardous areas. However, informal settlement development has not been accurately observed in concerning its spatial patterns and distribution. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the factors determining the location of informal settlements, including their initial forms and spatial distribution. This research aims to assess spatial patterns of informal settlements in Indonesia. In this research comprising: 1) identifying factors influencing spatial patterns and distribution of informal settlements; 2) analyzing spatial development or informal settlements over time. A case study of Bandung Metropolitan Area will be used in this research to understand the formation of informal settlements and factors and criteria determining the location of informal settlements by utilizing GIS analysis. In addition, content analysis was used to review concepts and theories based on the literature study to identify factors influencing the location of informal settlements. Spatial distribution of population and building density in a time series data was examined to understand the history of spatial patterns of informal settlements in the city. This research provides a better understanding of spatial factors influencing the location distribution and the formation of informal settlements. Significantly, it furthers the knowledge regarding the nature of informal settlement spatial formation in the Global South.
