Kinship and space: Socio-cultural drivers of community resilience in Malang’s Migrant housing

Abstract

Land limitations within high-density urban settlements require migrant communities to continuously negotiate and reorganize space through the strategic mobilization of both physical and social resources. This study investigates the role of the socio-cultural kinship system known as taretan in shaping patterns of spatial adaptation and strengthening community resilience within the Madurese migrant settlement of Muharto–Kotalama, Malang. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in phenomenology and grounded theory, the research explores residents lived experiences of housing while generating empirically derived concepts through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and spatial documentation conducted at both the micro (kenengan) and meso (sekoran) levels. The findings reveal three principal mechanisms of spatial adaptation: expansion, penetration, and taretan. Expansion is reflected in both horizontal and vertical extensions of residential space, whereas penetration refers to the adaptive articulation of public–private boundaries that enables residents to overcome spatial limitations. Meanwhile, taretan serves as a form of social infrastructure that facilitates collective spatial negotiation and reinforces communal resilience. This study advances a culturally grounded framework of spatial resilience by conceptualizing architectural adaptation as an internalized socio-cultural process rather than merely a physical adjustment to environmental constraints. The findings provide significant implications for the development of context-sensitive, inclusive, and sustainable urban housing policies.