Abstract

The increase in the number of slum and uninhabitable settlements in urban areas will gradually cause prolonged social problems, thus, their existence needs to be addressed wisely through proper handling that the growth rate can be suppressed. Procurement of rental flat buildings is one of the efforts which has been taken by the Indonesian government to overcome these problems. Although it is proven to bring benefits, its existence needs to be reviewed to provide comfort for its residents. This study aimsed to study the phenomena in the flats for low-income people. This was a phenomenological deductive qualitative study involving 32 informants from different levels of the storeys as samples. Data were collected through interviews, observation and documentation and qualitatively analyzed through mapping the communal space, and an analysis matrix of daily activities of the residents. Result of the study indicated there were three different forms of occupation to communal space; 1) occupation in the corridor in the front of living place, 2) occupation in the hallway near the stairs and 3) occupation in the ground floor.