Abstract

This article presents a theoretical framework of sustainable housing in developing countries. The fast-growing population in dense urban areas represents the main problem in procuring housing in developing countries. Currently, the situation creates environmental quality degradation and not a healthy state in housing; inefficient energy consumption is causing an environmental crisis. The concept of sustainable housing, namely, conserving natural resources and creating a healthier and more humane environment, is the solution to the problems confronting dense urban areas. The objectives of the study are to construct a theoretical framework for sustainable housing and examine housing improvement programs in Indonesia using the framework of sustainable housing that is built. Furthermore, the discussion on housing improvement programs in Indonesia is expected to provide lessons learned from Indonesia’s experience in dealing with urban settlement problems for developing countries that have settlement characteristics similar to those in Indonesia. This article is a literature review with a comparison-content analysis as an empirical analysis method used in this study. From this study, it can be concluded that sustainable housing covers three dimensions of sustainability: the environmental and technological dimension, the economic dimension, and the sociocultural dimension. Economic parameters are the main parameters; however in Indonesia they are not only economic parameters but are also read in a sociocultural context. Moreover, the implementation of self-help housing procurement programs in Indonesia has met the housing parameters as in the construct in the theoretical framework of sustainable housing.