Empowering Local Knowledge for Resilient Design: Rebuilding an Orphanage in Flood-Prone Kampung Gedong Pompa

Abstract

Urban climate adaptation efforts in the Global South are often dominated by top-down planning approaches that marginalize the situated knowledge of residents living with environmental risk. In flood-prone informal settlements, this disconnect can undermine the relevance of resilience interventions. Addressing this gap requires design processes that position communities not as consultees, but as co-authors of resilient futures. This research examines how local knowledge can inform and empower a community-led design process for resilience in a climate-vulnerable urban settlement. Using Kampung Gedong Pompa, a flood-prone informal neighborhood in North Jakarta, Indonesia, as a case study, the research documents two participatory co-design workshop iterations focused on envisioning the rebuilding of a community orphanage. The study adopts a qualitative methodology grounded in Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR), complemented by co-design practices and photo elicitation. Data was generated through facilitated workshops, participant dialogues, visual artifacts, photographic documentation, and facilitator reflective field notes. Across the workshops, residents from different generations articulated lived experiences of flooding, collective memory, and material practices. This research contributes to the methodological insights on co-design for researchers working in kampung context or similar environments.