Surabaya – A modern kampung city

26 October 2018

Discover how Surabaya tackled poverty and urban challenges by empowering its kampung communities to build a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous city.

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As a growing metropolis that faces challenges in environmental and social problems, Surabaya is constantly looking for new mechanisms to drive the economy and mitigate poverty. The city successfully catalysed ground-up initiatives from its businesses and citizens to improve the environment, create jobs, and manage urban waste.

A lush, green and clean city

With population of approximately 3 million people and approximately 60% of its urban population residing in kampungs (traditional villages), Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta. The city envisions to be a services and trade city that is smart, clean, humane, and environmentally sound.

The city first introduced its Kampung Improvement Programme (KIP) in 1969 to bring urban development closer to low-income settlements, reduce urban poverty, and improve living conditions by upgrading basic infrastructure and raising environmental awareness. The KIP has successfully fostered greater consciousness among its citizens towards clean and green environment, and can be seen in the lush, green and clean city that Surabaya is today.

Aerial view of a dense urban cityscape with tree-lined streets, mixed buildings, and a hazy skyline.

Surabaya today is a clean and green city © City of Surabaya

Woman in white hijab sprays plants with yellow liquid sprayer amid hanging planters on a colorful street.

A child with a backpack walks down a colorful narrow alley lined with plants, balloons, and decorative sculptures.

Kampung Maspati © City of Surabaya

Empowering the people to empower themselves

With an aim to alleviate poverty in the city and tapping on existing resources within the kampungs, Surabaya developed various programmes to increase the economic status of lower-income settlements as well as competitiveness of small businesses.

The Kampung Unggulan Programme empowers the kampungs to transform subsistence economy into urban economy. With a ‘one village one product’ approach, the programme has benefited 10 selected kampungs in developing “home-based enterprise” specialised in different products such as bag embroidery, dresses, and cakes, and is supported by marketing training by the private sector.

The Pahlawan Ekonomi Programme empowers women and housewives in the city to become entrepreneurs and launch small and medium-sized businesses, by providing entrepreneurship skills training. The programme has since benefited more than 5,000 housewives.

The city government actively promotes urban farming on vacant public land for both self-consumption and as an additional source of income for the community. Private land owners are also encouraged to open up their unused lands for fish farming for a 1/3 return, where farmers can also profit from the sales of fishes.

A man arranges crates filled with rolled green banana leaves on an orange tarp outdoors while people watch nearby.

Rice cake Kampung, Banyu Urip © City of Surabaya

A woman sits on the floor surrounded by large piles of colorful plaid bags wrapped in plastic.

Bag prominent Kampung, Jl. Gadukan Baru © City of Surabaya

Two women at an outdoor market stall display packaged nuts in bags and containers on a white table.

A small-medium enterprise © City of Surabaya

Workers sewing fabric at industrial sewing machines in a busy garment factory with colorful baskets of cloth nearby.

Shoe-making activity © City of Surabaya

Person in a purple shirt and cowboy hat tending rows of red and green lettuce in a greenhouse.

Urban farming at Penjaringan © City of Surabaya

A table displays fresh red chilies in a basket, red-lidded jars, snack trays, and packaged food products in blue baskets.

Urban farming produce are consumed or sold to the nearby markets and shops © Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore

Creating a clean and green environment

Faced with increasing challenges in solid waste and environmental management, Surabaya implemented a 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) strategy, and established various composting, waste separation and waste processing facilities. In 2005, the city introduced the “Green and Clean” competition among the kampung neighbourhoods to drive the city’s green and clean initiatives. The competition successfully motivated neighbourhood groups in taking care of their local environment and reducing waste at source.

Surabaya’s efforts in rejuvenating its urban parks has seen the increase in the number of green spaces to about 100 spots across the city. The city now has 11 major city parks with different themes, the most prominent being Bungkul Park, which was transformed into a friendly digital park and awarded the best city park in Asia by UN Habitat in 2013. Reading corners and mobile libraries are also conveniently located in these parks to provide citizens easy and casual access to information.

A group of people in green shirts gather outdoors near a colorful orange mural, exchanging or sorting items and bags.

A boy in an orange jacket dumps a basket of green leaves into a large orange industrial machine outdoors.

Two men stand at an outdoor water purification station with blue metal frame, yellow tank, and trees behind.

A woman in an orange patterned dress sweeps a narrow alley lined with potted plants, with people walking in the background.

Two men tend to wall-mounted and potted plants lining a narrow colorful brick alleyway between painted walls.

Outdoor skate park with colorful ramps in red, blue, and white, surrounded by green trees on a sunny day.

A young child walks around a colorful circular fountain shooting a tall water jet in a park with trees.

Children in orange uniforms sit on a mat outdoors near a blue van while adults in hijabs read to them.

Children and adults in matching white shirts read books outdoors near a blue mobile library van under trees.